Internet: A Cancer to the Brain

Nicholas Carr, author of the novel “The Shallows: What the internet is doing to our brains” explains in his works that media and technology is affecting the way our brain works and is used in our daily lives. Carr states, “The price we pay to assume technology’s power is alienation. The toll can be particularly high with our intellectual technologies. The tools of the mind amplify and in turn numb the most intimate, the most human, of our natural capacities - those for reason, perception, memory, emotion.”(Carr, 211) Carr continues to explain an interesting phenomena that occurred in society within the

In this new age of technology, information is becoming more readily available to practically everyone. This revolution has raised one major concern for the students of our generation: that we will not be able to think at all. That this generation will rely so heavily on the ability to access information immediately that we subsequently lose the ability to think for ourselves. This will not happen, however. Although many believe the internet is spoiling our generation, the fact of the matter is that the internet actually enriches our education and aids us in coming up with more educated solutions.

The internet is an excellent place to explore our mind and put our thoughts together; however, it also has a negative effect to our brains, and the more we use it the more it decrease our intelligence. In this essay “Does the Internet Make You Smarter or Dumber?” by Nicholas Carr, he argues about the immoral side of the internet. According to Carr, “When we’re constantly distracted and interrupted, as we tend to be online, our brains are unable to forge the strong and expansive neural connections that give depth and distinctiveness to our thinking” (22). Carr’s pint of view about the internet is that it does not make us smarter in any way; if anything it make us dense and slow. Scientific study have shown that most people who stayed on the internet quit a lot are more likely to damage their brains mentally. According to Carr, the internet is also a place to waste our time. Carr backed up his arguments with studies from scientists, researches and even books. In these essay, Carr’s appeals to logic and understanding is the strongest; whereas his appeals to ethos and his appeals to pathos are finite.

In the article“Mind Over Mass Media” by Steven Pinker he covers the controversial topics of the effect that the new forms of media have on our mental capabilities and moral opinions. He refutes that media has not taken a toll on our intelligence, but, in fact, it has increased it, even to the extent of raising our IQs. Although there are likely negative impacts like addiction or distraction, he indicates that these impacts can be controlled, so hence the title “Mind Over Mass Media.” Pinker’s central claim is that new media technologies increase our intelligence and through their use, more discoveries are being made. Through the powers of his persuasion, Pinker draws us in, by appealing to his audience using historical and scientific evidence,

With new technological advancements occurring more rapidly each year, it is no surprise that there is an extensive conversation about how these new progressions impact the brain’s development and cognition. One trend is evident: there is a universal acknowledgment that technology is indeed changing the way we think. Among the members contributing to this conversation, two strikingly different outlooks on how these changes will affect the future exist. Either we should be terrified, or worrying is premature. Articles written by experts specializing in psychology and the brain, such as Pinker’s “Mind Over Mass Media,” as well as "How Has the Internet Reshaped Human Cognition?" by Kee and Loh, as well as and finally “Children, Wired- for

In Nicholas Carr’s, “Is google making us stupid,” Carr indicates a problem that affects a majority of the internet users; that being as time we spend on the internet increases, the more we are diminishing our intellectual ability, and loosing the ability to become intertwined in a lengthy article or an extended book. He is suggesting that the technology we are in contact with on a daily basis, has a negative effect on our cognitive ability, and is forcing our brain’s to evolve. Throughout the article, Carr argues the negative effect media, mainly the internet, is having on his capacity and concentration: he effectively argues his point through the uses of many rhetoric appeals, that draw in the reader. His use of logos, compares the past and

The internet has revolutionized the world. The internet users can easily access from any data from around the world. However, the internet was also made the users less critical thinkers since the data obtain can be easily found online instead of reading it from a print book. Two sources in particular, Nicholas Carr, “Shallows” and Michael’s Aggers, interview with Clive Thompson “Smarter than you think” have recently argued how the internet has changed our memory and ways of thinking. The internet is bad for your brain because it limits your knowledge of memorization and XXXXXXX .In the book Shallows by Carr, he states. “The arrival of the limitless and easily searchable data banks of the Internet brought a further shift, not just in the way

Carr said “What if I do all my readings on the web not so much because the way I read has changed. i.e. I’m just seeking convenience, but because the way I THINK has changed?” (Carr, pg 7). Since the internet has come into play people have stooped reading books because is easier to just google what they are wanting to know. The internet can change the way someone can process the information on a screen than in a book and how much is actually being consumed by the person. Not only is it changing the way we understand but every technology is an expression of the human will. This allows us to reshape nature to better serve our needs and desires. The internet has the greatest power over how and what we think

In Steven Pinker’s article, “Mind Over Mass Media”, the author illustrates the intellectual benefits obtained from mass media and argues that the media doesn’t have a negative effect on our brain. His examples are the great American crime decline not because of new technologies, the predictions that the new technologies would be harmful were wrong. Not only just the crime rate decline but also the I.Q. level rose continuously. With any new media that has emerged some people continually believe that our brain power and skills will plummet. The article points that people need to use new technology with self-control. As the author concludes, that “the Internet and information technologies are helping us manage, search and retrieve our collective

The Internet has indeed changed how we read and think. But does that really matter? You can just Google for facts and figures but the human intelligence is determined on recalling our long-term memory. Creativity requires engaging our long-term memories, in order to create new and creative pathways and associations and by reading incessantly on the Internet, we scatter our minds, lessen our focus, and diminish our tendency. In his article “Mind Over Mass Media”

Carr’s premise is that the Web is interfering with our ability to focus on lengthy material. On the contrary, the internet is actually aiding our ability to focus on reading. This holds true for younger children, who are known as the digital natives in our generation. In a research conducted by The National Center for Education shows that “by altering the mode of reading material from traditional paper-based reading to online reading,” the interest of elementary school children increased (Wright 367). Because children of the 21st century are surrounded by technology, they are more likely to gear towards digital media for their mode of learning. Contrary to Carr’s view that the internet “is chipping away [the] capacity for concentration and contemplation,” these children are more likely to read and focus as a result of

The reason people are able to communicate, connect, feel, and understand the world around them is because of their highly intelligent minds. People often take this gift for granted, and do not fully comprehend how capable their minds are of absorbing and processing information. Two authors with two very different circumstances for their essays are able to support their arguments through psychology and ongoing brain research. In “Embrace by the Needle” (2001), Gabor Mate explores the psychological reason behind why addictions can develop in drug users. While in “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” (2008) Nicholas Carr, explores the ongoing research on how digital media affect people’s cognitive development, in order

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.

What effect does modern digital technology have on individuals who rely on it heavily in their everyday lives? Innovations such as video games, internet search engines, and online databases receive great praise as well as great criticism depending on who answers this question. Nicholas Carr and Steven Johnson have both written pieces stating their opinions on technology’s effect on the human brain. Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” explains how accessing information quickly and easily through search engines like Google negatively alters the way people seek and read information and think. Johnson’s book “Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today’s Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter” covers the positive attributes of digital technology, video games in particular. He explains how video games are intellectually stimulating and help develop complex skills. Digital technology has interesting effects on the different processes of our mind.

Over the years, technology has increased in usage within many ways and has caused successful changes in a person’s lively routine. However, technology has evolved since the very beginning which concern has grown over the negative effects of its excessive use. Nicholas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid” addresses the tendency of technology to create a sort of mental laziness where people look for instant answers rather than thinking for themselves. Daphne Bavelier, C. Shawn Green, and Matthew W.G. Dye have written in “Children, Wired: For Better and for Worse” on the transient and persistent effects of technology on children, particularly in terms of media exposure of television, movies, and video games. Additionally, Matt Richtel, writer for The New York Times, states in “Attached to Technology and Paying a Price” that the tendency of the brain to respond to immediate stimuli has a negative impact on the average user, ranging from disinterest to daily tasks to the risky behavior of texting and driving. Ultimately, these three articles agree that regardless of potential conveniences of heavy technology use, the tradeoff is something to be strongly considered.