I've always prided myself on having a lot of background knowledge, because I read so much, especially when I was younger and my brain could absorb it.

Google makes that kind of knowledge obsolete, and to a certain extent, the entire idea of education is now obsolete. It seems pointless, like memorizing log tables when calculators are ubiquitous. Facts are right there, instantly available. Of course, having quick access to lots of facts is not the same thing as being well-informed, or being well-educated; but its getting harder and harder to prove that.

I remember, many many years ago, reading a book (I don't remember the name or author) that compared and contrasted four revolutions: The British Revolution that defeated King Charles and installed Oliver Cromwell in power, the American Revolution of 1776, the French Revolution of 1789 and the Russian Revolution of 1917. I don't recall one "fact" from that book, no dates, names, places, incidents, or even philosophical concept or historical insight. But I have convinced myself that I understand a little more about revolution as a process now than I did before I read that book, that it gave me some insight into the causes and results of revolutions, how they differ and what they have in common, and how they influence and are influenced by their times.

I spent a few weeks inside that writer's mind, a man who had spent a lot of time and effort trying to make sense of those four enormous historical events, what they meant and how those events are relevant to us today. Even if this guy got it all wrong, I would like to think my having had a chance to tour his mind must have had some effect on my own, that I got something out of his research, that his thinking hard and long about it changed me somehow; even if I remember hardly anything about it now.

I would like to think that, but I really don't know. All I know is if I want to know about Robespierre or Danton, I could easily Google them and learn everything I needed to know.

A quick scan of Google showed me the quote was from the 1933 film of the HG Wells classic. But I never read that book, and I don't know if the quote originated with Wells, or with the screenwriter.