When we talked about cyborg-style enhancements of the human brain/mind (whichever you wish) in class I started thinking about the sort of things that could happen. If information became downloadable to minds and we were able to put calcuators or complex math machines into our bodies to supplement our skills what would happen to the 6th grade math bee? The speed of calculations that I've always been fairly good at wouldn't be necessary anymore, it would make everyone to a certain degree more similar in the way they do math. How far would this go? Would having web browsers in our heads lead to a sort of normalization of technology, and therefore knowledge? Would there still be room for standouts among math-based classes? I realize that math is a more sensitive topic for me than most people, but its interesting to think about a society where the technology levels the playing field considerably.
Along with this idea another thought popped into my head: if it does come to the point that we have calculators and web browsers in our heads, will everyone be able to use them correctly and efficiently? I know from experience with the TI-82 style graphing calculators that even I only use about 20% of what the calculator can do, and few people who have them use them for more than just algebra. Will putting these devices in our heads solve these age old dilemmas of not utilizing our tools, or will they just lead to a more literal headache? I think people will still have to understand how the machine works before they go inserting it into their heads, and this will most likely tick people off.