Do Search Engines Scare You?
Do Search Engines Scare You?
What do the words "Search Engine" make you think of? I get
immediate mind-pictures which vary but all have similar themes.
Sometimes I see one of those tiny submarines which are used to
explore the deepest parts of the ocean bed. I have this picture
in my mind of the tiny submarine underwater in complete darkness
apart from the beam of its searchlight which is probing the
gloom. Other times I see a horse-drawn carriage driving through
dense fog with only its weak lamp relieving the darkness. This
scene is from a movie where the police are racing through London
in search of Jack The Ripper. The final picture is of a line of
policemen in old-fashioned uniforms advancing across a moor in
darkness through rising mist with only their flashlight-beams to
light their way.
It can get a bit scary inside my mind at times. If these were
dreams rather than passing thoughts, they would probably be
analysed as meaning an obsession with darkness and getting lost.
Maybe the lights penetrating the darkness symbolise a fear of
ignorance (or maybe a fear of getting found out). The obvious
link is that these pictures all relate to a search of one kind
or another. The first one might represent a search for
knowledge, the second one is obviously the search for a criminal
and the final one a search for clues at the scene of a crime.
Why would the words "search engine" conjure up these dark
visions? If you look at the words we associate with search
engines, I think the connection will be clear. We talk about
"submitting" our websites to search engines. We don