Does The Internet Make You Dumber Analysis

Now that technology is quickly advancing, it is really easy to find information with a click of a button. One highly used search engine in the internet is Google. Many people believe that using Google has made people not use their brains therefore making them stupider. I on the other hand, believe that the internet is a great resource and tool for many things if used right and can actually help you learn and make you smarter. For example, having a question and quickly going to Google to find your answer before thinking about it first and coming up with the answer yourself, is not using it right and we shouldn 't take advantage because in this way it may make us stupider instead of making us learn and expand our knowledge about a particular subject.

On the other hand, Steven Pinker’s article strongly disagrees at the fact that the internet affects the human brain. His defensive points primarily explain how without the internet a lot of today discoveries and new inventions wouldn’t be possible. Also he defends the fact that distraction or addiction is not a new phenomenon. Regardless of whether the internet is a popular utility or not, distraction would still be an occurring issue. It is quoted: “If electronic media were hazardous to intelligence, the quality of science would be plummeting.” Also, “Yes the constant arrival of information packets can be distracting or addictive, especially to people with attention deficit disorder. But distraction is not a new phenomenon. The solution is not to bemoan technology but to develop strategies of self-control as we do with every other temptation in life.” Steven Pinker is trying to get the reader to understand that the internet doesn’t essentially make you dumber but it does hinge at one’s attention span. Outside of the internet distractions are common everywhere. One can become distracted by their job, parents, work, internet, ect. Because of these interruptions Steven Pinker’s makes it known that all distractions require self-control. If one doesn’t have self control over an issue they will

Nicholas Carr’s Is Google Making Us Stupid? explains the impact the Internet is having on his (and others) patience with in depth reading habits, and possibly the way their brain is processing information. 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 and bad thing wrapped up in the same package. Over the last couple decades, home computer and smartphone ownership has been on a steady rise with most homes now having multiple devices. Therefore, having unlimited information available at all times has become a reality.

According to Nicholas Carr, the internet has had an effect on how we read, think and live. He provides examples of this throughout his essay. In one of his statements he says “the net is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information [we receive]” (732) He gathers this information from other colleagues and friends he knows. People can access the internet and in a few clicks to have all the information they need and more. We are no longer limited by local sources to gather our data. At the speed of light, the voices of millions can be heard by all. It is the quick access and our human desire for knowledge that feeds the need for the internet. It has damaged our level of patience and causing our minds to wander. “And what

Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, questions the impact the technology has upon our lives. He argues that the internet prevents our ability to engage in deep reading and thus restricts our ability to think critically. He says this is due to the idea of neuroplasticity, which is where our brains change in order to adapt to the different stimuli it encounters. When books were first introduced, our brain had to rewire itself in order to achieve the ability to focus for long periods of time on text and to think deeply about it. This resulted in a literate deep thinker. However, the internet has forced our brain to rewire itself again. Carr says that “there is evidence that the cells of our brains literally develop and grow bigger with use, and atrophy or waste away with disuse” (22). Our brain has many structures that perform specific functions and the structures associated with deep thinking can decrease and eventually will serve no function if we don’t use it. We are much better thsn our ancestors. According to Carr, “the oral world of our distant ancestors may well have had emotional and intuitive depths we can no longer appreciate” (56). In other words, Carr believes that people in the past engaged in focused, immersed thinking. I believe that Nicholas Carr is right when he says that the internet is changing the way we think, however I don’t believe that we need to turn off the internet in order to reduce the chances of losing

After reading the article “Literacy Debate: Online, R U really reading?” by Motoko Rich, I believe that the internet is very beneficial in many ways but I also believe reading books is important at certain times. As being a teenager the internet has become a far better source when it comes to research. The internet is very quick on answers unlike books where you have to flip through pages for an answer to a simple question. Now why would someone choose to do more when they can do less with a simple click of a button? The internet is very useful; without the internet we wouldn’t have been able to have the opportunity to have this discussion here. On the contrary, the internet might be much faster with information but it is not always reliable.

“Is Google Making Us Stupid” by Nicolas Carr, argues that using the internet to read is less thought inciting then reading books. Carr has focused on the various claims that support the argument above. The writer claims that the Internet causes lack of concentration as it is full of ads, hyperlinks, and other media which is meant to distract us. This he gives the example of someone reading the latest headlines in a newspaper site when suddenly a new e-mail messages announces its arrival with a tone of some sort. He says that the “The result is to scatter our attention and diffuse our concentration.” The next claim he makes is that the way we read on the Internet is changing how we use our brains to think; therefore making us less contemplative. Carr mentions Maryanne Wolf who works as a developmental psychologist at Tufts University. Wolf believes that when we read online we become “mere decoders of information”. I believe that Carr uses this example to give the illusion that when we read online we don’t truly gain knowledge but instead we just gather more information.

In his article for The Atlantic, “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, Nicholas Carr gives the argument of how the internet is changing the way people are now reading less than they used to a century ago. People all over are becoming less interested in reading material that is longer than a few pages sometimes they can't even comprehend to finish reading a paragraph. The concentration someone had while reading a lengthy book is now gone, one of the smallest distractions can get your attention even just boredom itself can make you drift away from your reading. The more time people spend online, the more their ability to concentrate on their readings diminish until they no longer can stay focused on reading something that is longer than three sentences. Because of the way the use of internet on a daily use has made it more efficient for people to search and find what they were looking for right away, the need to be searching through books or other types of informational mediums, is no longer something that is done as often, sense it would take less time and effort to look something up rather than read through a book to find the

I believe that the Internet is changing how we as a society think and comprehend information because I have experienced this in my personal life. “My mind isn’t going--so far as I can tell-- but it’s changing” (Carr par. 2). Carr recognizes that his mind is changing and I recognize that as well because of such heavy Internet and technology use. When I was younger, I used to be a fairly avid reader. Then I was introduced to the Internet and became more dependent on it for schoolwork, projects and really just for everyday life. My affinity for reading is pretty much gone do to my dependence on the Internet. A lot of my friends experienced this too. “When I mention my troubles with reading to friends, many say they’re suffering from similar afflictions” (Carr par. 6). A great majority of my friends would agree with this quote as much as I do. My friend circle have given up reading because of their major dependence on the Internet. It also does not help that my generation was born into this world of overwhelming technology. We have grown up with the world at our fingertips, and reading books has become a secondary way to obtain information. It is even an annoyance to read sometimes because books are cumbersome and heavy. While the Internet is handy for many things, it appears to be altering our minds even if we are oblivious to it. It changes how information is presented and processed by our brains. The Internet is a great tool for finding information, but its distractions and sheer overwhelming volume of websites creates shortened attention spans and lack of

Internet usage is damaging our brains and complicating the way we consume information. Your brain is taking a toll from the consistent changing of our neural pathways and endless redirections on the Internet. So the question is, why do we keep doing this to ourselves and falling deeper into an information, consuming hole? Most people are oblivious to the consequences that come with using the Internet, such as, “scattering our minds, lessening our focus, and diminishing our aptitude,” says Kabir Sehgal in his article, The Internet Makes Us Stupid and Here’s Why. Others have an addiction to the Internet and cannot cease, even if they are aware of the consequences, much like drug and alcohol addicts. Books do not cause these negative effects on our brains and could be a positive alternative.

Is the internet making you dumber? According to Nicolas Carr, the answer is yes. Carr addresses in

Is the internet making us smarter or dumber? People continuously argue whether this rise of electronic use and internet in our lives is a negative or positive aspect. In June 5, 2010 Wall Street Journal article, Nicholas Carr raises and answer the intriguing question,“Does the Internet Make You Dumber?”Nicholas Carr argues that the internet has bad effects on our brain. He says that the internet makes it harder to remember anything, and that is harder to move memories into long term memory. Those who are continually distracted by emails, alerts, and text messages understand less than a person who can concentrate. Nicholas Carr points that the internet can change the way our brain acts. He states that those who use the internet are shallow, and the internet is causing irreversible damage to our thought processes and making us stupid. A week later, Steven Pinker counters Nicholas Carr’s assertions in his own New York Time article,“Mind Over Mass Media.”He argues that electronic technologies are not as horrible as some may make it seem, and he starts his article by addressing how“New forms of media have always caused moral panics”(199). Throughout his article, Pinker explains why critics, who accuse electronic technology as harming to human intelligence, are wrong. He suggests that,“these technologies are the only things that will keep us smart”(200). Through media and social networking, the internet brings people closer together and provides convenience for people’s life.

Are we to busy searching the web to realize how dumb we are becoming? We live in the age of technology, where there is easy access to the Internet. Nicholas Carr, the author of “Does the Internet Make you Dumber?” stated a good question that is relevant to our generation. Since we have easy access to the Internet, it is making us dumber instead of smarter. I believe individuals have taken advantage of the Internet and it is costing them their thinking skills. Sometimes individual don’t realize the impact that the internet has on our brain and education. The author states that the internet comes with distractions, many information, and it models our brains.

The clock is ticking, the work is piling up, and with only a few hours to go before sunrise you stop and realize that you have just read some fifty pages and absorbed almost nothing. Some would agree when I say that this situation epitomizes one of the common problems of the Net Generation. With the help of the Internet, not only has every aspect of life gotten faster and more efficient, but it has changed the way people process information and perform tasks. In addition, while technology does have its benefits, the extensive use of the internet is affecting the way people think.

Using the internet for so long has made us addicted, and we constantly rely on it. If you are doing a simple task, such as reading a book, it is a lot harder to concentrate because of the distraction that comes with the Net. Carr’s take on this is