In Clive Thompson’s essay, “Smarter Than You Think”, he argues that computers and search engines such as Google actually improve our memory and therefore our ability to analyze information. Thompson bases his theory on the concept of Transactive memory, a social system in which information is shared collectively in a group, with different people assigned key pieces of that information to remember. In Thompson’s opinion, the internet has become that “collective memory” for the people that use it, storing and dispensing knowledge and details more efficiently and accurately than any human could. Though he admits that when humans store information on a computer we’re less likely to personally recall it, he persists that historically human beings
In our world today, dependence on technology is extremely prevalent. Lives are becoming bombarded with electrical gadgets. The negative effects of technology have become obvious over the years. Since 2010, “pedestrian injuries caused by cell phone use are up 35 percent, according to numbers from hospital emergency rooms” (“Walking While Looking down”). Clearly, people are choosing electronics over their own safety. In 2012 alone, 4,700 people walking in big cities were killed (“Walking While Looking down”). This surprising number is due to the fact that men and women are becoming greatly distracted by their handheld devices. Social
In Nicholas Carr’s article, “How Smartphones Hijack Our Minds” (November 10, 2017) Carr discusses the implications of allowing our smartphones to have such a huge effect on our lives. Smartphones serve many purposes, and have created massive societal effects throughout the world despite being introduced roughly only two decades ago. One can converse with anyone in the world at any given moment, they can watch any television show they want, and they can receive alerts so they no longer have to put effort into remembering things themselves. However, with so much control over people’s own lives, one begins to wonder about the negative consequences of the smartphones themselves. Carr brings up the question of how our minds can be negatively affected by this when he asks, “So what happens to our minds when we allow a single tool such dominion over our own perception and cognition?” While Carr is aware that the smartphone serves a countless number of useful purposes and tasks, he believes we should think deeper about the lesser known effects of our smartphones which people so easily allow to take over their lives.
Carr opens up his argument with his personal struggle to focus on reading the text. Unlike the past when he enjoyed reading lengthy articles easily, he acknowledges that his mind constantly drifts away from the text and that he looks for something else to do. “I’ve been spending a lot of time online, searching and surfing and sometimes adding to the great databases of the Internet....Research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes… Even when I’m not working, I’m as likely as not to be foraging in the Web’s info-thickets”(Carr 348). He realizes that the increasing amount of time spending on the Internet has caused his intellectual pain. By exposing his personal experience and analyzing it, he successfully points out the issue he faces.
Imagine living in a world without any internet. Imagine the amount of trouble a person would require to go through in order to find out the simplest things. The internet nowadays has become an essential part of almost every human being’s life. Cutting the internet off for just one day my actually leave the world in a state of commotion. Every type of technology may be used in either a way that benefit’s a person, or a way that may harm a person. The author, Nicholas Carr (2010), in “Does the Internet Make You Dumber?” argues that the internet, which is usually looked upon as the most abundant source of information, is actually what is leading people to become “superficial thinkers.” People who are always on the internet tend to not be very productive or creative. Even with the advantages using
In the present global world, we are living in the era of advanced technology like computes, smart phones, TV and so on; and I love that. As early day goes by technology is changed. Technology makes things happen so faster. In the article, “Meet your iBrain,” the authors Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan talk about the current explosion of digital technology and how is changing the way we lives, how we communicate, and it is also rapidly and profoundly altering our brains. “Our brain is evolving right now at a speed like never before” Gary and Gigi. In “Defense of Technology” Andrew O’Hagan talks about how technology is making life get better as time goes by, technology is improvement and improvement like never before. Every part of our daily life
The Internet plays a major role in our daily life and has enormous effects and influence on the life of many people worldwide. These days, we cannot imagine the world without an Internet. Furthermore, before the Internet was invented, the life was completely different. I remember as a teenager in the late 1990s, I always like to go out to watch the movies with my friends. At that time, the Internet was not so popular, and not many people had knowledge about the use of the Internet. For that reason, it was always challenging for me to keep track of the movie timings. I always spent hours on the phone, trying to get numbers of different movie theaters, and finding about the movie timing and the locations. As the new technology and the Internet
In the article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr, the author argues that the internet is changing the way we think. He starts talking about himself and how he felt that something is changing his brain. The author states that people don’t read as deep as they used to be. His research techniques have changed in several ways. I don’t agree with him. While it is true that internet is changing the way we think, but it is not making us stupid.
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.
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. He is extremely focused on the online reading’s distraction that most affects people’s mind.
" Is Google Making Us Stupid" By Nicholas Carr refers to the ways technology is negatively affecting our brain function. Carr starts his argument talking about how the internet is a resource we can use for almost anything. As a result, we are becoming more and more dependent on it for simple everyday tasks. Carr states that technology is a distraction and just a "shortcut". According to the article, technology is becoming more important than people. This article should be read by anybody who spends a good part of their day using technology to make their life easier. Carr is easily persuasive in his argument with his middle diction and how well he relates to the average person.
Nicholas Carr argues in his article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” that the internet is changing the way we think and work for the worst.Many people disagree with this argument, and I think the internet is changing us, for the better. The internet has become a great resource in terms of education. It has allowed for communicating across the world intercultural experiences that used to be impossible. Lastly the the younger generation has grown up with the internet and is better suited for using it.
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.) This is proving the point Socrates made in his quote “Writing down their thoughts and reading the thoughts of others had written down, they become less dependent on the contents of their own memory.” (The Shallows, Pg. 173). That the knowledge of the world at the fingertips of anyone and everyone. The fact that a keystroke will take give access to any information and no need to remember anything in long term
Nicholas Carr endorses the argument that the human mind’s attention span is shortened due to the convenience and swiftness of Google and the Internet itself in his article, Is Google Making Us Stupid? Carr effectively utilizes the works of others as well as anecdotes to provide evidence of how Google and the Internet itself hastens and oversimplifies the learning process for the human brain.
Rachel Champeau explores a study that explores the effect technology on brain function among middle aged and older adults. The study suggested that adults that use the internet are demonstrating increased brain stimulation and function. A series of tests were conducted on a group of adults that had internet experience and some that did not to see if brain function was affected. The internet savvy adults showed improved function in both decision-making and complex reasoning and this increase was twofold what the non-internet using adults experienced. This study shows that there is the promise of technology to help increase brain function and stimulation of our aging population and that further research is