In Nicholas Carr's piece "Is Google Making Us Stupid?", Carr questions the quality of intelligence in today's society. Carr argues that having access to virtually everything at the touch of a button is weakening our ability to concentrate on long pieces of writing. He recognizes that getting the "gist" of the information he is searching for in a headline and maybe a paragraph is decreasing his ability to absorb longer pieces of writing (314-315). He adds to this point by discussing the fact that internet browsers deliberately attempt to distract readers. When reading an article online, Carr points out that there is little chance that the article you are reading is the only thing on your screen. He notes that within the article there …show more content…
There is very little in life that can be accomplished now without the use of technology and the internet, and people do not always want to do the things that do not require the technology. The most brazen example of this was in Gladstone's piece "The Influencing Machine", in which she depicts herself injecting herself with data from an iPhone in the same way one would with heroin (Gladstone 335). This depiction is a very large conclusion to jump to. Gladstone using your iPhone all the time to a highly addictive, deadly drug. When I first read through Gladstone's piece, I did not even notice this extreme graphic. I merely tried to focus on the points she was trying to make. However when I noticed it the second time around it came as a real shock. Even now when reading a third and fourth time it still surprises me to see an image like that. It is such a strong comparison to make; it is something that really resonates with you. I think it was extremely clever for Gladstone to make this depiction in order to get her point across because it is something that a reader cannot ignore when looking at the whole picture. Nicholas Carr makes a similar point when discussing the two men who founded Google. He notes that the two "speak frequently of their desire to turn their search engine into an artificial intelligence, a HAL-like machine that might be connected …show more content…
When new technology is released into society, we need to learn how to use the new products and how to adjust our lives around those products. This adjustment is both something we physically have to change in our lives and also something our brains need to adapt to. While these changes can be fairly easy, older people may struggle. Gladstone sheds light on this idea at the very end of the excerpt when she quotes author Douglas Adams when he makes the point that "Anything that's invented between when you're 15 and 35 is new and exciting and revolutionary. Anything invented after you're 35 is against the natural order of things" (Gladstone 338). I mostly agree with both Adams and Gladstone with this point. It makes sense that once you are settled into your adult life that you do not want things to keep changing and evolving. Your brain has adjusted who knows how many times between those glory ages of 15 and 35, and now you are settled and do not want to accept anything new. However, new things will keep coming and your brain and your routine will still have to adjust. Nicholas Carr for example is currently 59 years old and was 49 when he wrote the piece "Is Google Making Us Stupid?". Along with this, Brooke Gladstone is currently 63 and was 56 when she wrote "The Influencing Machines". This aligns perfectly with Adams point
Exerting personal anecdotes on the way the internet has changed him; Carr begins his book in a subtle manner. He begins describing one of his first dilemma’s, “I had become trapped, not unhappily, in the “upgrade cycle” I retired the aging Plus in 1994,
He gathered research from several credited writers, studies, and universities who have done research about the effects of reading on the web. Carr uses his own personal experience, ideas we can relate to, and analysis backed by research to connect to the audience and persuade them that the internet is causing reading focus and comprehension problems in our current society.
Consistently there is some new innovative progression advancing into the world trying to make life simpler for individuals. In the article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?", writer Nicholas Carr clarifies his contemplations on how he trusts the web is risking making individuals loaded with simulated information. Carr starts by clarifying how he feels that the web is bringing on his center issues, how he can never again be totally submerged in a book, and the motivation behind why he gets restless while perusing. He then goes ahead to discuss how his life is encompassed by the web and how that is the fault for the issues he has towards not having the capacity to stay associated with a content; however, in the meantime says how and why the web has been a
Nicholas Carr's Atlantic Online article "Is Google Making Us Stupid," talks about how the utilization of the PC influences our point of view. Carr begins discussing his own particular experience as an author and how he felt like "something had been tinkering with his cerebrum, remapping his neural hardware and reinventing his memory". Since beginning to utilize the Internet his exploration strategies have changed. Carr said before he would drench himself in books, protracted articles and long extends of composition permitting his "brain to become involved with the story or the arguments"(July/August 2008, Atlantic Monthly). Today Carr has found that "his fixation floats away from the content after a few pages and he battles to get once again into the content". His reason is that since he has put in the previous ten years working internet, looking and surfing and composing substance for databases" his cerebrum hardware has changed. He shows that some of his kindred scholars have encountered the same sorts of changes in their perusing books and looking after fixation. Some of them said they don't read books as effortlessly on the grounds that their fixation and center has get to be shorter.
When assessing the risks of digital technology’s role in our future, many reflect on the developments of new technology throughout history. Nicholas Carr, author of “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” uses historical examples to support his claim that we should fear technological advancements. In contrast, Brooke Gladstone and Josh Neufeld, authors of “The Influencing Machines,” examine both sides of the issue and ultimately conclude that we should not fear technological development. One technological development Carr as well as Gladstone and Neufeld examined was the printing press. Carr asserts that most of the arguments about the printing press turned out to be correct including that it “would undermine religious authority, demean the work of scholars
In Nicholas Carr (Is Google Making Us Stupid?) he expresses his thoughts of the internet, and how it is effecting our minds. He goes in on how it becomes hard to comprehend long articles and books. It seems as if our brains start to become unfocused as we try not to skim the words; yet, or brains do as they please causing us to become distracted from the writings in front of us.
In, “Is Google Really Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr (2008), he validates how people are heavily relying on the internet pushing for Artificial Intelligence. Carr also talks about how it is changing the way our minds work with negative side effects. He demonstrates how the internet may be shaping our thought process by giving observational examples as well as personal experiences. Beginning with his personal experiences he says how he finds it difficult to keep focused on a book, as a writer, this is rare to him. He tries to find a reason to his inability to stay focused and comes to a conclusion it is due to the internet. Carr is very persuasive in his article, although his point of view maybe seen as an opinion, he does show and support
In his essay, “Is Google Making us Stupid,” Nicholas Carr addresses the fears that many people share about the World Wide Web: that it is rerouting our brains, making it difficult to concentrate effectively. Carr uses personal experiences about his loss of concentration that has become more evident after using the internet. Rather than reading texts in-depth, our brains have become accustomed to skimming over information. Carr’s view on technology is that by relying on knowledge that we are being handed, we are becoming humans with artificial thoughts. He fears the internet could be a monster living in our homes. He is afraid of technology making us an indolent race. I think that the internet can make us lazy, but that doesn’t necessarily correlate to becoming “stupid.” Carr only focuses on the negative altercations that the internet has on our lives. Due to this, he comes off as oblivious to the transformation that we are undergoing with this new technology. The internet is making us change our focus from absorbing time consuming information. Instead, we have shifted our attention to learning information in a timely manner. Over the years, more ways to access the internet have emerged, opening up a whole new world for us. Instead of socializing and working in print, we are delving into a “visual world.” Alternatively, we are being introduced into being able to personally create, develop and consume information. Hearing information from a teacher is being substituted for
I found the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid? “, written by Elizabeth Carr, very interesting (Carr, 2005). I enjoyed how it provided different examples of the increased dependency on technological advances in today's society. This increased dependency has also cause an increased demand for the ability to have access to the internet in almost any place; you can now have a car that has a continuous connection to an internet source so you’re never off the grid.
Nicholas Carr’s essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” is a piece that will open the eyes of any internet user. He explains his own issues with lack of focus when reading long novels and says it is a product of the interweb’s shaping. As Google becomes more and more part of our daily lives, it is having a negative effect on our information processes and interpretations. In effect, its current use is preventing us from retaining information and to be able to think, comprehend, and be inquisitive.
In an article by Nicholas Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, the author is questioning the readers about the internet and making suggestions that the internet is changing how our brains operate. Throughout the article, the author's main point is to inform us about the negative effects of the internet on humans.
He explains how when reading on the Internet, we go from page to page affecting our concentration. Carr believes that the Internet has caused a lack of concentration in people’s ability to read long articles. Carr gives many examples of the studies that had been done on the enduring effects of the Internet on concentration and contemplation. People’s minds expect to process high speed data like the way the Internet hands out it, so the Internet is doing the work of their minds. Carr admits that the Internet had covered the other intellectual technologies that people use. As a result; it is becoming more important and valuable. Moreover, Carr discusses the role of Google in Internet usage, and its work on building an artificial intelligence which has the potential to display human agency in a variety of industries because of its ability to complete tasks in a much shorter time. Ultimately, Carr concludes that people should not rely on computers because it will demolish their own intelligence with relying so much on the artificial
In his essay, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, author Nicholas Carr discusses his belief that the internet is negatively changing the way people’s brains process and consume information. Carr describes this phenomenon when he writes, “as we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence” (328). Carr’s point is that the less effort put into reading and researching caused by societies constant access to the internet, lessens deep thinking and mental growth, which in turn results in a loss of individualism in our society. Incidentally, in his article, “Smarter than you Think”, writer Clive Thompson agrees with Carr’s statement by saying, “Today’s multitasking tools really do make it harder than before to stay focused during long acts of reading and contemplation” (355). However, Thompson goes on to argue that the benefits humans derive from the advancements being made in technology outweigh the possible risks in changes to cognitive functions caused by the melding of man with machine. Thompson builds his argument by examining how the game of chess has evolved
In “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr (2008), the author talks about how the internet affects our life in many ways. He states his argument, “And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation” (4). People associate with the internet everyday as a daily habit, but they do not know that it is slowly changing their life in some ways such as our reading behavior, attention and an actual knowledge people have.
In the essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” by Nicholas Carr argues that google is indeed making us stupid. Carr first introduces his argument stating: “the more they use the Web, the more they have to fight to stay focused on long pieces of writing,”(Carr 315). But right after introducing his personal opinion, he mentions the opinions of other bloggers and scholars that think the internet has indeed had that effect on them. But, in order to order to prove his argument, Carr relied on evidence derived from studies and by relating what google is doing to us now to what occurred in the past.