Is Google Making Us Stupid Summary

Technology has evolved so much over the course of 82 years. People who were living in 1935 would have no clue what a computer is or what it could potentially become. Education itself and how we learn has come a long way. Everything was hand written. Now in 2017, we have every answer with just one touch of a button. Google is a search engine that holds almost every answer in the world. There are many opinions on the way humans in 2017 function, and process information. Nicholas carr is a respect author who writes about the relationship between technology and culture. He has written for the Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, etc. He has written two great essay that have won The Best American Science and Nature Writing, The Best collected in Several Anthologies, The Best American Science and Nature Writing, and The Best Technology Writing. One of them which is titled, “Is Google Making Us Stupid.”  Nicholas Carr argues that Google is not making humans stupid, but as technology progress our minds must adapt and change the way we think and process information. This essay has many rhetorical approaches. Nicholas Carr uses imagery, opinion, ethos, and pathos to persuade his audience, provoking a doubt on whether google is making humans stupid.

Over history technology has changed mankind’s overall culture. From clocks to computers the use of electronics and tools is occurring every day in almost all situations. In Carr’s article “Is Google Making us Stupid?” he introduces the idea how the internet is changing our lives by making us mentally process information differently from the past, based off previous changes in history. Carr explains how we think less deeply and rely on quick facts, versus using critical thinking and research. Also he explains how our brain is malleable, and may be changed by the internet’s impression. Lastly Carr talks about what the

Nicholas Carr, posed the question, “Is Google making us stupid”, and asks his readers to give it some thought. The article made suggestions such as the internet changing the way the mind works and that the internet has negative consequences on the human brain. Carr wants everyone to be cautious of the internet because of the many different ways it has affected and will continue to affect the way we think. When I think about this article, I can see the many different tactics Carr used, such as fact vs fiction, cause and effect, and the clearly stated argument.

In our culture today we see the progression of how technology has affected our social makeup. In “Is Google Making us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr, the writer makes clear that our current use of technology has diminished our ability to think critically. While one could agree with Carr’s point, there is also an issue that has a greater level of concern. Our ability to think critically about the information we gather is only a resultant consequence of the population’s new-found focus on technology rather than relating intentionally. Why is it that our current social constructs are made up almost entirely of technology? What happened to the time when humans interacted outside of their obsession to seek comfort from what lacks any empathy (their phones), rather than real humans?

Although its intention was to nourish our minds with an instant unlimited source of valuable information, the internet has caused some people to lose their appreciation for long texts and their ability to concentrate. Within the essay, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr, the author feels that someone has been tinkering with his brain and that he can no longer enjoy reading a book of any length because he cannot sustain concentration on the book (Carr 1). This is a result of the fact that when people use the internet to find information, they habituate themselves to skim along the lines to quickly allocate their answers and once they have gotten what they needed, they close the browser without any further analysis of the information.

“Is Google Making Us Stupid?” effectively adapts to its audience by creating a worrisome and disturbing tone. The tone helps this article, as it satisfies a worrisome attitude because it forces its readers to feel scared that the internet is hurting them. Furthermore, the author uses examples within his article that are meant only for those who use the internet and are-- rather, were-- avid readers. Specifically, he uses a testimony within his writing to express the disturbing fact that people are finding it harder to read, “Scott Karp, who writes a blog about online media, recently confessed that he has stopped reading books altogether” (Carr 2). This sets the audience to be people like Karp: smart, once were dedicated readers and internet users. This is effective because reading is essential for day-to-day life and no one wants to lose this skill. This is a prime example of Carr using fear to appeal to his audience.

In the article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, the main argument the author, Nicholas Carr is trying to make is to explain how the Internet becomes our only source of information. Carr is also trying to warn oncoming generations in how the Internet has affected our ability to read long pieces or to be able to retain information for a long period of time. Carr provides personal experience, imagery, and a professional analysis that is backed by research to hook the audience in and persuade them that in today’s society, the Internet is only causing problems rather than any solutions.Throughout the article Carr provides an abundant amount of rhetorical modes by giving examples and studies from different organizations . Carr gives an insight on the positive ways the Internet had influenced his life.

In the essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” the author spends time on telling the reader the possible harms of the internet and how it can shorten the attention span of constant users of the internet. while reading more and more into the essay, one will notice many instances that make me believe that the author of the essay fears technology and dreads when artificial intelligence comes out in the future.

In the essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, Nicholas Carr expresses his beliefs and personal experiences on how the internet has altered our brains and how we think. He addresses the fact that, although our brains’ abilities to deep read and concentrate are suffering, the internet is extremely beneficial and convenient. Because of the easy accessibility, it takes little to no effort to find information, and therefore, a minimal amount of thinking is required. Carr highlights that people are more impatient because of the internet and that our minds are becoming more erratic. The author used research, conducted by a U.K. educational consortium, to show that a new form of reading is developing over time; rather than reading every word on a page, it has turned to more of a skimming method. Nicholas Carr realizes that we may be doing more reading than ever due to the internet, but it is different in the way that people have to interpret the text. Reading, unlike talking, is not a natural ability. One must learn to deep read, make connections, and translate the underlying meaning. Overall, Carr believes it is a mistake to rely fully on computers because in the end, it will just be our own intelligence that morphs into artificial intelligence.

The debate over the internet's influence on human minds has been long running. Nicholas Carr's "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" article successfully defends both opinions on this issue. He has plenty of history on the topic and has seen much success in previous works. Carr uses his past to impact the present issue society is challenged with every day. With his background on the subject, Carr is able to establish credibility as a speaker before he reasons for both sides of the debate successfully.

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

Nicholas Carr’s Atlantic Online article “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” discusses how the use of the computer affects our thought process. Carr starts out talking about his own experience as a writer and how he felt like “something had been tinkering with his brain, remapping his neural circuitry and reprogramming his memory”. Since starting to use the Internet his research techniques have changed. Carr said before he would immerse himself in books, lengthy articles and long stretches of prose allowing his “mind to get caught up in the narrative or the arguments”(July/August 2008, Atlantic Monthly). Today Carr has found that “his concentration drifts away from the text after several pages and he struggles to get

His essay is a predominantly convincing essay, in that he attempts to explain why Google is creating an attention-deficit society. He develops the argument through mainly focusing on the logical appeal of the reader although he also delves into the emotional appeal of the reader through beginning his article with a section of 2001:A Space Odyssey where HAL 9000 cries out mimicking Carr’s own feelings on the internet’s effect on his mind, “Dave, stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dave. Will you stop, Dave?” (Carr, 1). This section is the initial pointer into his argument that the internet is corrupting people’s minds. He further explores how the Google affects the mind creating an attention deficit through diving into a collection of facts, studies, and historical examples to prove that each new technology, especially the internet, changes the way people think. For instance, Carr’s references Nietzsche and his typewriter, by stating that Nietzsche bought a typewriter which had a ‘subtler’ effect on his work. One if his friends noticed that his writing style had changed and he (Nietzsche) replies that ‘our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts”. (Carr, 10). This short statement provides support to Carr’s claim that the internet can change the way we think.

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

The internet is our conduit for accessing a wide variety of information. In his article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” Nicholas Carr discusses how the use of the internet affects our thought process in being unable to focus on books or longer pieces of writing. The author feels that “someone, or something, has been tinkering with [his] brain” over the past few years (Carr 731). While he was easily able to delve into books and longer articles, Carr noticed a change in his research techniques after starting to use the internet. He found that his “concentration often [started] to drift after two or three pages” and it was a struggle to go back to the text (Carr 732). His assertion is that the neural circuits in his brain have changed as a