I have an average memory. The really smart people I know all have amazing memories, some even posses eidetic ones. One thing that makes them come up with really good solutions to difficult problems is their ability to naturally entertain several incongruous and opposing ideas at the same time. (Roger Martin calls that "integrative thinking.") Google can help with this.
I have "played" in the online crowdsourcing platforms since 2009. Prior to that (2004) I created content for digital-product portals. AKA image stock banks. I can't even begin to calculate the hours of effort put into all of this, but I can tell you it that it has improved my capacity for creative and critical thinking.
Google (and Google Scholar) makes certain that we spell correctly and check our facts (Yes, Bill Murray really does have 5 kids and was born, September 21, 1950.) but more important than any that, it off-loads that part our brain that may not be so good at keeping our ideas vivid and lively. If our short-term memory is under par, google pics up the slack. If we get stuck, roaming the net refreshes our neural-networks. The only thing missing is the "physicality" of thinking. Since we are just typing at a key board and not roaming the aisles of a library. Moving the body is also good for the brain. For now I will just take many walking breaks between my binges of googling and thinking.
