Nicholas Carr's Argument Against The Internet

Carr emphasizes this point by stating in his novel, ““The Net’s interactivity gives us powerful new tools for finding information, expressing ourselves, and conversing with others. It also turns us into lab rats constantly pressing levers to get tiny pellets of social or intellectual nourishment” (Carr 117). To further explain what Carr means in this quote is that he does not expect us to completely abandon the internet but he believes that we are becoming way too overly dependent on the internet. His quotes describes how the issue is that we are in an where we are just relying so much on the internet when we would be benefitted so much more by seeking information and analysis traditionally found in books. Another quote that further emphasizes how the internet is causing us to become more shallow is state by Carr; “What the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation.

Clay Shirky, the author of “Does the internet make you smarter?” wrote about how ignorance has poisoned the internet with incorrect information. Not only does technology has its flaws, but so do books and novels dating back to the Protestant Reformation. Even though many people are against the internet Shirky reassures that if used correctly and appropriately, then it can become a very useful tool that can “tap our cognitive surplus”. The increased collaboration of technology is important to society for the reason that the internet is full of valuable knowledge that can be claimed very quickly and easily.

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. A large percentage of Americans are indeed addicted to the internet,

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.

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.

Imagine being in a room full of people, but no one talks or looks at each other. In fact, each person is plugged to a machine. This is how technology has affected society. Some people believe that technology has begun to manipulate our brains, while others claim it is taking intimacy from our relationships. The writers, Nicholas Carr and Sherry Tunkle, explain in their articles how internet use is affecting the way humans think and feel.

When you see “Pleasantville” for the first time,it doesn’t strike you hard enough how much sociological theory has just been served to you.Thus,when I was watching it for the first time my mind was going in circles about the following pattern.

“With the exception of alphabets and number systems, the Net may well be the single most powerful mind-altering technology that has ever come into general use. At the very least, it’s the most powerful that has come along since the book.” From The Shallows : (Carr: 118). States that The internet is by far the best invention on all of human creation. The internet is a great source for multitasking, gain of knowledge, and saves a lot of time.

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. He starts his argument by telling us the effect the internet has had on him and others he has come across. The internet has changed his train of thought and his ability to focus and concentrate. He believes our brains have been reprogramed over time to adjust to the speed and convenience of the internet. Our ability to retain and digest traditional media has also been compromised since we are used to receiving information so rapidly. This is a strong opening argument for his essay.

In this article, I sensed some rhetorical strategies used. For example, Carr explains that he wasn 't the only one experiencing the problem of not being able to concentrate on his readings. His acquaintances, impressive bloggers, and friends also claims to have the literary types—struggles for fighting to stay focused on long pieces of writings. However, just proving this point won’t solve anything, so Carr points out rhetorical techniques like logos. According to the prominent pathologist Bruce Friedman, admitted, “I’ve lost the ability to do that. Even a blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it.” Carr cites a few studies of internet behavior that is influencing our brain to lack concentration. He proves

Everyone has a different view of technology and the internet, and how or if it is affecting us as people. In Nicolas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid” he offers his views on the subject. He expresses his concerns about what humans excessive internet use could be doing to the actual functioning of their brains. Lauren Brown and Kay Sanborn, both have their own ideas on the subject some of which agree with Carr and others that disagree. I believe that the internet and technology have their pros and cons and whether we see both views or just one is up to us.

Nicolas Carr writes in his essay ‘a few Google searches, some quick clicks on hyperlinks, and I've got the telltale fact or pithy quote I was after'. Mr. Carr is telling us know that we no longer have to go to a library, spend hours going through card catalogs, or haul piles of books to the table in order to search through thousands of pages of text to find the information we are in search of. Instead, we have places online like Google, Yahoo, and Bing which allow us to sit back and literally, at our fingertips, have any and all information humanly possible on the ready. The days of going through an index in an encyclopedia book, sitting in front of a card catalog, or microfiche are days of the past, extinct if you will. Mr. Carr also writes 'my mind now expects to take in information the way the

Nowadays, technology devices become plays an important role in our daily lives, especially in adolescents’ categories. While there is a very clear argument for how the technology is effected on us and causing social isolation as we know, but in another way is also the argument that these technologies are helping us to become more social in our society. This is very probably because we have a good and perfect ability to communicate with each other. Despite long distances. We all know that the goal of technology is to make our lives easier and more efficient. I think that every future may bring technology, it will help us, but the same time, mobile phones may bring us some bad things that will leave a bad fingerprint in our societies

Attention has always been a prized commodity. The brain knows it and cognitive psychologists know it, but the average person has yet to fully grasp the concept. Articles on how to multi-task still flag the covers of popular magazines, and distracting cell phones and tablets accompany students to class on the forefront of their desks next their notes. It has been verified time and time again that the mind simply cannot attend to two things simultaneously; one can pay attention to one thing or another, but not to two things at once. People know that neutralizing distractions will yield invaluable minutes of clarity and focus, but for most, the application of such, is nearly impossible. With the internet access reaching farther into our lives from smart watches to televising pumps at gas stations, distractions are everywhere and increasingly difficult to ignore.

Billions have taken this religion along with their already-held beliefs, practicing both side by side. This new and fast-sweeping religion that we are all a part of is the religion of technology, where people worship the new gods of the internet and the television.