Well, I am really not asking you how many hours you spend on the internet doing the same mundane things we do every day. Let me put this simply, are you an internet zombie? 90% of internet users are zombies, totally blind to the magic that is the World Wide Web.

When the zombies sit on a computer, their fingers proceed to open mailbox and Facebook. Their eyes read some status messages. Sometimes they even do a google search or two.

A smaller percentage of the zombies also click on advertisements and occasionally buy things off the internet.

Some people even use the internet for entertainment– watch videos on youtube.

In India, a large number of people use the internet to download movies and songs.

Is this all that can be done with the Internet? I refuse to believe that if used in a better way, the internet could not improve everyone’s quality of life. The problem is, we are not actively trying to implement the internet in our lives to improve things. We assume what we are doing is all that can be humanly done with the internet.

This is very similar to what we do with our bodies. Every man and woman are born with great genetic potentials. It is difficult to say how much of the genetic potential is realised with respect to our mind, but gene research shows that physically the average person does not even reach 50% of their genetic potential, and only super-athletes perhaps do so through lifelong training. Instead, we pretty much live with the worst type of body we could live with.

In comparison to the training and hard work needed to reach our genetic potential, the planning and work needed to maximize the utility of resources in our life is far lesser. It seems to me that the good uses of the internet is limited only by your imagination. Every time I think of a problem, I wonder how the internet can solve it for me. You can do the same, and the internet could become your private genie over time.

Need a passive income? Nothing can beat the internet on this front. Read Tim Ferriss and his bestseller Four Hour Work Week.

Don’t know where to find buyers for your services, products? The internet can do it for you. Or even better, use the internet to find affiliates who can do your marketing for a cut of what you charge.

Need to find the right exercises? Use the internet.

Need to know if the taxi driver is charging you the correct fee? Use the internet.

Need to buy stuff that no shop in your locality keeps? Look at eBay. For gods sake, at many places now you can order your grocery over the internet! It will be home delivered.

Use google search to find the answer to any question you may have.

Check on your doctor – is he giving you the right advice?

Learn the law from iPleaders blogs, perhaps.

Buying books off Flipkart or Amazon is always cheaper than bookstores, if you didn’t know.

Listen to almost any possible music on last.fm or grooveshark.com

use google searches to find an answer to any question you may have.

How much of the internet have you used so far?