Summary Of Is Google Making USupid By Nicholas Carr

In, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” (2008), Nicholas Carr maintains that the advent of the Internet produced a shallow generation of information consumers who lack the ability to deeply engage with a text and think critically about it. Carr supports his claim by drawing on numerous personal and historical anecdotes and one scientific study. The purpose of Carr’s article is to open dialogue about the potentially adverse effects the Internet could have human cognitive processes to allow individuals to begin to question the impact that the Internet is having on their lives. Carr establishes an informal, causal relationship with the audience. The audience of The Atlantic is generally well-educated, upper-middle class individuals who are likely approaching the article with a relaxed, non-critical lens (most likely embracing the article as a form of “think piece”). The author’s use of logos is flawed at best, with numerous unfounded premises, poor evidence, and several logical fallacies; however, due to the non-critical nature of the audience, they are likely to find the article persuasive due to the other non-logos rhetorical methods employed.

The primary issue with this essay, however, is that several of these premises either lack evidence all together or are backed up by irrelevant or weak evidence. Several pieces of evidence are illogically connected to their premises, which places the conclusion’s soundness at jeopardy. An argument that properly appeals to logos has strong reasoning, avoids logical fallacies, provides reliable data, cites reputable sources, and provides a methodology or theoretical framework. Carr’s article fails on all these