Recent arguments about whether hyperlinked online research is affecting our intelligence has left me feeling like Forrest Gump's mother—stupid is as stupid does. Any new tool, when used as a crutch instead of a lever, can be abused. Up until now, I've found the voice of reason hard to find in the media, but fortunately Steven Pinker speaks up. No form of knowledge can make us stupider unless we consume it uncritically. But thinking is such harder work than consuming!

NYTimes.com: Op-Ed – Mind Over Mass Media, 2010-Jun-10, by Steven Pinker

It’s not as if habits of deep reflection, thorough research and rigorous reasoning ever came naturally to people. They must be acquired…