Browsing¹ the internet for information gives people a ‘widely inaccurate²’ view of their own intelligence and could lead to over-confidence when making decisions, experts warn. 

 

In a series of experiments, participants who had searched for information on the internet believed they were far more knowledgeable³ about a subject than those who had learned by normal routes, such as reading a book or talking to a tutor. Internet users also believed their brains were sharper. 

 

 "The Internet is such a powerful environment, where you can enter any question, and you basically have access to the world's knowledge at your fingertips," said lead researcher Matthew Fisher, a fourth-year doctoral candidate in psychology⁴ at Yale University. 

 

"It becomes easier to confuse your own knowledge with this external source. When people are truly on their own, they may be wildly inaccurate about how much they know and how dependent they are on the Internet."

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