Nicholas Carr Is Google Making USupid Summary

Even though Internet is the new way of communication and also helps one to keep in touch with the loved ones even when they are miles apart; technology is slowly changing us. We used to use our intelligence before for things and now we are depending on the internet and technology. In the article, “Is Google making us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr talks about what the internet is doing to our brains. He explains, that internet is taking over our intelligence, and taking over our thinking ability. Carr talks about his own experience of how he used to read a long, length article very easily and now since everything is online, he is having difficulties concentrating in article because he is forced to use a technology. “Immersing myself in a book or a

Carr has a more negative opinion about new technology than Cascio. Carr believes the internet and previous technological advancements have caused many changes in society, including reducing people’s ability to focus. Carr says, “What the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation.” This is just one of the many times that he blames the internet for the changes that have occurred in the past decade.

In Nicholas Carr’s essay “All Can Be Lost: The Risk of Putting Our Knowledge in the Hands of Machine’s” he brings up the ethical problem of technology. Technology is all around today, but people are starting to wonder if this surplus of technology is starting to make the world less smart. Carr’s primary argument is as technology becomes more prevalent, people are losing knowledge to do certain tasks. Carr claims this is bad because people are putting their lives at risk and dying due to this lack of knowledge. People are starting to get lazier because of technology. They start to care less and think they are gaining something extra by using the technology, when, in fact it is the exact opposite. Carr states, “most of us want to believe that automation frees us to spend our time on higher pursuits but doesn’t otherwise alter the way we behave or think. That view is a fallacy” (5). This fallacy is affecting how people think and how current children are being taught in schools. Children as young as preschoolers are now starting to use tablets and computers for learning instead of having a teacher doing their job fully and actually teaching them. Instead of adding something to a task or helping to get it accomplished technology, “alters the character of the entire task, including the roles, attitudes, and skills of the people taking part” (5). Throughout his entire essay, Carr argues mostly why he believes too much technology could be harmful in the long run, but also states

The printing press and development of writing were another example where people’s way of thought changed. However, Carr makes the statement that writing would go on to “expand human knowledge” and the printing press brought a “myriad of blessings.” Such statements could undermine Carr’s entire essay. He continues to say that the Internet could be such a success as well. However, he then states that the Internet is different from such inventions. Carr notes that what people would lose because of the Internet is much more valuable than what was lost from writing and the printing press. Such a refutation is a major appeal to logos. Additionally, in the beginning of this section, Carr calls himself a possible worrywart. By accepting the possibility that he may be wrong and then going to show how he cannot be wrong greatly appeals to ethos. Finally, he turns back to the use of fear as an appeal of pathos by stating that the Internet could transform humanity into “pancake people.” In effect, this section holds Carr’s entire thesis: to not rely too much on computers and the Internet.

Carr mentions his personal experience with technology and how it has affected him. He points out his “concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages” (961). Carr isn’t the only one who has been affected by technology; he tells us that even his “acquaintances” have had similar experiences. His acquaintances say, “The more they use the Web, the more they have to fight to stay focused on long pieces of writing” (962). What once used to come natural to us has become difficult. People used to rely on books for multiple reasons when it came to research but now that technology has been used more frequently books are not that common. Carr says “Research that once required days . . . can be done in minutes” (962). Carr is mentioning the benefits of the Internet, for his argument he is using both sides so that the reader can relate to his article and understand where he is coming from. Carr quotes Marshall McLuhan when he points out that “the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation” (962). Although fast research is great and easy to access it has its flaws. Carr mentions that

In the Shallows Nicholas Carr shown his side of the argument that technology is overpowering our minds. How he proves this fact is that whenever we learn something new on the computer it takes less than 2 days for the brain to reshape itself to adapt to the new learning environment. The brian has a plasticity to being able to mold itself into a new challenge to adapt to a new circumstance. We become dependent of the internet addicted to see what is new with our friends. Finally it shows that we can’t be offline for a certain time period or we will get withdraws like a drug. This shows how the internet and technology has affected us in a terrible manner.

The internet, in short, is our everyday savior when in distress. Technology is our main source of communication in the 21st century. However, according to Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, published in the July/August 2008 issue of the Atlantic, the internet is reprogramming his memory, and remapping his neural circuitry. Carr accuses the internet of taking away his focus and concentration.Even though Carr uses logos intensely and multiple rhetorical approaches in convincing the reader of his point of view, he fails to make a logical, persuading argument for multiple reasons.

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.

He tries to use a persuasive tone in this text because he does not want the generations to come to be inadequate of the wiring in people’s brains to change with what the person does to it. He tries to make the audience feel the same as him towards the Internet, especially Google. He does put a little humor through out his text bashing on the idea that Google is ruining our brains. Even though he tries to appeal spite of dislike in his text he comes off that the readers are thinking the same, and he as well wants to raise a connection of sense that he is right. Carr quotes that he can “Maybe I’m just a worrywart” for what’s to come for the new generations in using Google. Nicholas Carr does provide a good argument with many different supportive studies in this text but he struggles to persuade his audience enough in using pathos. He does have a strong input about how he feels about the usage of Google but he only see’s one side of his argument and not how much the web has helped and impacted people today. He is very one minded about this situtuion and uses to many different studies trying to show that Google is the main reason to making us stupid but his studies aren’t strong enough and the evidence he uses can go both ways from a con to a

With the rise of technology, society is beginning to wonder if it is helping or hurting us. Many people privileged enough to have technology, argue that though technology is helping the world advance, it is altering our thoughts and perceptions. In Nicholas Carr’s article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid” he blatantly calls out the current generation and expresses his concerns about how the internet is changing the way people interpret information. Carr’s main claim is that the internet is causing people to lose their ability to concentrate and think on their own. Google can affect our cognition but depending on its uses it can make people smarter.

Carr not only uses his personal experience with technology, but he also uses vivid imagery and analysis from other authors that also support his main argument to persuade the reader. In the article, he states “ Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do” (Carr 314). Technology has changed the way of peoples thinking and reading. Nowadays, people can't finish reading a good book without yawning on the first page. It has become harder for people to think for

He is actually a fan of technology. Carr believes that humans need to take a step back and question how technology can have a negative effect on technical and cognitive skills. In his mind, Carr believes that technology is automating too much, which is the reason humans become too complacent, which in turn leads to the degradation of technical and cognitive skills. Technology is no doubt a fantastic tool for assisting humans in their everyday lives, but technology should not take over the vital portions of a task. If technology is only there to assist during the vital portions of a task, humans will be able to work with technology rather than just be a monitor.

This is where the different approach of Carrs and Raja essays become obvious. Carr’s argument for negative impact of computer technology and our distraction by it versus its benefit and positive points in Raja’s essay. The thought of losing our focus and “intelligence” because of computer technology versus our lack of understanding and how to interact and benefit from computer science. Carr may be right or at least have a point about the negative impact of computer technology, internet and google for that matter, but “These technologies do not exist independently of the human persons who design and use them.” (Wellmon). May be it is us rather than the technology itself that bring this negative impact among us, how we interact and interpret

Carr discusses the effects that the Internet has on our minds and the way we think, as well as the way media has changed. Our minds no longer focus. When in conversation with people we are constantly distracted by the technological advances our era has brought. Text messages, emails, pop culture drama has all taken

I, myself, feel as if Carr and all of the experiments performed, along with the results, were all completely spot on. Not only do I see these adaptations in others but profoundly in myself. My smartphone distracts me every single day, and not just once or twice but many times. Compared to other teenagers I may not be as bad, but I still see the shortened attention span and losing the ability to be creative, critically think, and problem solve to be quite a huge issue. I agree with the bit about video games enhancing visual literacy because I have numerous friend who avidly play them and are always extremely fast to respond or can maneuver around technology faster than I ever could. I think the people and experiments he used as evidence in his