Nicholas Carr’s Is Google Making Us Stupid? is a great overview of the impact the Internet is having on his (and others); life, habits, and possibly even the brain. The old days of having to spend hours researching a subject are long gone because of the Internet. Having such a powerful tool available at any time can be a good thing and a bad thing wrapped up in the same package. Home computer and smartphone ownership have been on a steady rise over the last couple decades, with most homes now having multiple devices. Therefore, having information available at all times has become a reality.
This essay is informative because it shows how habits, and the mind, are changing because of the Internet. People have become so dependent on instant information:
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Like learning basic math facts without a calculator, cognitive learning requires repeating information over and over again in order to be retained. A few decades ago, research required repetitiveness to fully comprehend a subject because retrieving the information for a second time was just as much of a task as the initial research. When information can be easily retrieved, people tend to spend less time trying to understand the information. It will enter the working memory only to be lost as more information is acquired because it no longer needs to be retained in the brain, it is retained in the history of the search engine (Myers …show more content…
It can be traced all the way back to Socrates, who was concerned about what writing would do to society’s thought process. Plato quotes Socrates, “For this invention will produce forgetfulness in the minds of those that learn to use it, because they will not practice their memory.” (Mills 386). Writing did not turn out to be the destruction of the mind the way Socrates thought it would be. Society depends on reading and writing in every aspect of life now. The Internet has yet to prove that it will be the necessity that reading and writing are, but with every advancement in technology, society is getting closer to thinking it is a necessity. “Life has become more complex, but we hardly ever notice it because technology has made complexity simpler than ever” (Chamorro-Premuzic). It used to take five to ten minutes to find a single answer; now five to ten answers can be found in a single
In his essay Is Google Making Us Stupid, Nicholas Carr argues that our dependence on the Internet changes the way we read and think. He includes his own personal testimony to support this claim, as well as others’ descriptions, including several friends, and bloggers that Carr quote. While he lacks scientific proof supporting his claim, multiple testimonies support his claim that the internet has changed the way people think. However, Carr views this negatively, saying that “I’m not thinking the way I used to think… my concentration often starts to drift… I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text” (633-634).
Summary of "Is Google Making Us Stupid" by Nicholas Carr The internet has become a necessity for many people these days, it provides quick information and is a primary source of knowledge. In the article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid", the author Nicholas Carr, is describing the effects that technology has on the human brain. Carr begins with a scene from the end of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, where supercomputer HAL is being disconnected by astronaut Dave Bowman who was sent to space on a deadly mission by the machine.
The internet has changed the way we live our daily lives. It changed the way we socialize and has impacted the way we communicate. In the New York Times article, “Addicted to Distractions” by Tony Schwartz, it discusses how the author realized that his addiction to the internet prevented him from creating personal goals that will benefit him. For example, our author found himself one evening reading the same paragraph repetitively before concluding that he just can’t simply focus on the content of the book. This horrified the author because he once found pleasure in reading books, and now instead of reading them he finds himself spending countless hours on the internet.
Nicolas Carr, an author and researcher, insinuates that people who use computers and the internet are becoming more shallow human beings and that this technological tool, despite its advantages that are applauded by many, is harming society as a whole. Carr has discussed these thoughts in his book The Shallows, on television in an interview with Stephen Colbert, and in an article in The Atlantic entitled “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” While Carr believes that the internet has its place and that it has been extremely helpful to him as a researcher and writer, he also believes that the internet encourages multitasking and boosts superficiality. I share these same thoughts with Carr. While the internet has been extremely helpful in producing a more efficient and fast-paced environment, it has at the same time produced challenges and weaknesses in our society, like multitasking and frivolity.
William Badke assessment of the article by Nicholas Carr “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” has a unique twist. As an associate librarian at Trinity Western University, he feels online search engines like Google or Yahoo restricts profound thought and retrains comprehension. Badke states “we can keyword search right to the best stuff without reading much of the book itself.” (online) He accepts research by Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan called iBrain, which submits the brain, adapts to the surrounding environment.
The modernization of the web can have positive and negative consequences on the world. It is sure in light of the fact that it gives everyone the power to access any information, that they need in second. In any case, it is contrary since individuals start to get limited focus and just focus on the things they need to see as opposed to seeing the full picture. To begin with, The Loneliness of the Interconnected is an essay on how the internet
In today’s society, technology plays a very important role in its ability to function, it helps people find information, communicate with others far away and provides entertainment. In “Fahrenheit 451”, a book written by Ray Bradbury, a dystopian future where books have been made illegal is presented. In the article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr, raises many questions about technology and its effects on society. It’s quite evident that we have become quite dependent on technology due to our overconsumption of it.
actually affects our brains and the way we use them. Many people would argue that technology has more cons than pros, however it’s quite the opposite. We use technology in our everyday lives and it helps us to gain more knowledge than we’ve ever been able to before. The technology we have today is one of the greatest advantages we could have. Andrea Lunsford, who wrote “Our Semi-Literate Youth?
The study showed “sophisticated algorithmic search engines, has made accessing information as easy as lifting a finger. No longer do we have to make costly efforts to find the things we want.” (Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips, Pg.) “The four studies found that when people are faced with difficult questions, people are primed to think about computers.” (Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips Pg.)
The Influence of Technology In the essay, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr argues that utilization of the internet has an adverse effect on our way of thinking and functioning in everyday life. Whether it be reading a newspaper, or scrolling through Facebook, internet media has forever stamped its name in our existence. Carr explains to us that the internet is a tool used every single day in today’s society, but also makes most of us complacent with the ease of having the world at our fingertips.
Our way of thinking is beginning to change to the way that computers do. Advancements are made everyday. These new advancements are attempting to make life in general easier for everyone. Nicholas Carr makes the claim that, “as the internet because our primary source of the information it is affecting our ability to read books and other long narratives.” Carr suggests that using the internet is altering the way that our minds operate.
Nowadays, the internet is the biggest marketing and media tool that people can use today. It can have various effects on people’s daily life ranging from bad to beneficial. In the essay “Is Google making us stupid” by Nicholas Carr writes about how internet usage in the 21st century is changing people’s reading habit and a cognitive concentration. Particularly, he emphasizes on Google’s role in this matter and its consequences on making people machine like. Carr also stated that the online reading largely contributes to people’s way of reading a book.
Thompson also claims that digital tools can help people’s lives become easier and connect with other people through social media. Nicholas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Smarter?”, argues how technology doesn’t make people any smarter. Carr mentions how people’s literacy is being overthrown by technology. People tend to read whatever interest they want by using a search engine rather than reading books. Another
Internet is developing day to day. Internet and networks are binding us in new ways. As Rheingold argues, “There is a huge social issue at work in digital literacy, one that goes beyond personal authority. Every intercourse creates new association in a child’s brain, every email, tweet, search, or post is contributing and nourishing connections in our global brain, changing the shape of the Internet that we billions of people are progressing together. Young child brain or an internet brain both are always trying to make connections.
Even just a couple years ago, if a student was writing a research paper, they would go to the library to read and learn about the topic, so they could complete the assignment. Now people depend on the internet to do most of the searching for them. With information easily attained, people no