It’s been 30 years since personal computers burst on the scene, and it’s meant major changes in our daily lives.

I remember back before it was called the Internet. At first it was the Information Superhighway, a name that pointed to the seemingly unlimited potential to have information at our fingertips.

Has the Internet reached its potential?

In some ways it has. In other ways we still have more work that needs to be done.

When people have home libraries of hardbound and paperback books, they surround themselves with their favorites. They’ve probably read most of them cover to cover. They know them in depth.

It’s impossible to totally master the Internet. There’s an enormous amount of material. We have to search through long lists of results before finding what meets our needs. The first several items on the list might not be the best sources.

Information needs gatekeepers. They need to sort the good stuff from things that are superficial or misleading.That’s not always easy.

Google has built up a good system. Sometimes it even seems intuitive. It’s possible to search out virtually any subject, all of which have plenty of web sites.

Anyone who can type can Google search. Facebook is similar in that it’s easy to use. Other aspects of computers are sometimes harder to work with.

When they first came out in the 1990s, futurists predicted that almost everyone would attain a substantial proficiency. It was a faulty theory. Some people just don’t have much of an aptitude for electronic gadgets.

There’s something to be said for keeping our printed resources. In many households, however, the computer has almost totally replaced them.

Gone are the days when you could just pick up a telephone and dial a number. We no longer have complete phone books to look the numbers up.

Many people don’t read a daily newspaper. They don’t watch the nightly news. There’s been a change in the way most people get their information.

There’s so much to choose from on the Internet that people tend to focus on their own particular sites, the ones their friends like or the ones that express their own opinions. Therefore we often don’t get the same news. That’s contributed to the political and social divisions of the modern era.

It’s more important than ever that people think for themselves. They need to think critically and to consider different sources of information.

It’s important to understand views that are opposite from ours. We don’t have to agree, but it’s important to understand. It won’t happen if everyone just goes to their favorite sources of information and lets the providers do the interpreting.

Critical thinking is a class that’s often not taught until college. It’s worth having as part of a high school curriculum. It’s at least important to incorporate critical thinking into a variety of high school classes.

We’ll have to see what the future brings. It would be nice if we could all watch the same news like in the days of Walter Cronkite. It would be good if people could talk about the news without having a complete disagreement.

It will be interesting to see if our standards improve, if the need to be fair in our thinking can lead to a higher level of objectivity.

I hope it comes true. If we’re going to be a united country, we’ll need to thoughtfully gather information and thoughtfully consider all the angles of topics and issues. I believe it’s still possible.

— Jim Muchlinski is a longtime reporter in southwest Minnesota