Nicholas Carr's 'Is Google Making USupid'

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

While reading a famous article by Nicholas Carr titled “Is Google Making us Stupid?,” I have concluded that it is not. I disagree with Carr’s argument because his view point corresponds with how technology is advancing. The way that the internet has shaped our lives has taken a great toll on the way we view the world now. There are a couple of ways that technology is improving. One would include books that are paperback turning into nooks and kindles along with blogging and texting. Another study shows that our brains are also changing and growing along with the internet. This shows that technology had advanced from the 70’s and 80’s when there wasn’t widespread access to the internet.

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.

In the end, Carr gives Google’s viewpoint on the argument. Sergey Brin, a founder of the Google search engine, stated in an interview, “Certainly if you had all the world’s information directly attached to your brain, or an artificial brain that was smarter than your brain, you’d be better off.” The founders of Google say it is better to have information at your fingertips because it makes life easier. Then, Nicholas states, “Maybe I’m just a worrywart.” The author gives the other side of the argument to show that his stance is not one-sided and to makes the readers think about what they are

In “Is Google Making us stupid”, Carr explains how the brain is malleable and how the internet might be shaping it by literally rewiring the brains network. Carr gives a brief example of how neurons can be made and broke depending on what things shape the way things are done. By being used to instant searching and internet preferences, the brain reprograms itself in being used that certain way. He thinks by using the internet so much, we will become more and more objective and quick thinkers, and ultimately emotionless computers. He also gives examples of how the clock and typewriter changed our way of thinking in the past. Adapting this way will rewire thought processes and continue to dictate how we act. Carr’s theory may be more obvious as we continue to be reliant on technology. (Carr)

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.

It is true that people are becoming more and more reliant on the internet to do everyday tasks. I feel that Carr addresses the issue perfectly in his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid”. If we continue to use technology for everything, we will eventually lose all ability to deep read and make those critical connections that are necessary for true comprehension and application. He indicates that “the more [he] uses the web, the more he has to fight to stay focused on long pieces of writing” (736). Knowing how difficult it was to read and analyze Carr’s article myself, I fully agree with his claims. Having grown up in a world that has always had technology, I must be hyper-cognizant of the task at hand when it comes to something such as reading, particularly if it is something that I deem less than interesting. When I was finally able to get through the entire essay, I started to think about how much I use the internet. I must admit that

The main issue is the debate over what his point actually is on this topic, and, therefore, he succeeds in educating his audience on the topic. Instead of telling them what he believes and influencing their perspectives, he provides them with the information needed to form their own opinions. The title of the article is "Is Google Making Us Stupid"; the title is not "Google Is Making Us Stupid." By phrasing the title in a question, it leaves the audience to answer the question. Carr's job in this article is to inform readers, not make decisions for them. He merely provides both sides of the argument and allows them to take what they are given and formulate their beliefs. By arguing for both sides, he easily appeals to all kinds of people reading his

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

The internet is a technology which has had a significant impact on the way many people conduct their lives. Information once contained in massive volumes at libraries or in private collections is now available by typing words into a search engine and clicking “search.” One must no longer pick up a phone to call a friend, relative or colleague; e-mail, instant messaging, Skype and the like, have enabled people to communicate in non-traditional ways and across boundaries previously inaccessible. Nicholas Carr addresses the wonder that is the internet in his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The general direction of the article is a discussion of how intelligent thought patterns seem to be changing; attention spans and critical

Nicholas Carr, in his article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?," questions whether or not Google is benefitting society or destroying the ability of people to concentrate and think for themselves. In this day and age, Google is a lifeline, and it can be argued that without it, society would fall apart. Carr gives Google adequate credit for its positive benefits and revolutionary developments in the recent years, but he also points out how it may also be detrimental to this generation and future generations to come.

Technology, especially the Internet, makes humans’ life easier and more effective. A quick access to information brings people a huge opportunity to explore the world and develop them. However, Nicolas Carr, in “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” argues that technology affects people’s life, it changes their mind and actions, and humans start to lose abilities of “deep thinking and deep reading”, which are essential skills of being humans. In other words, our world becomes more simplified that people are unable to be smart and creative as they were in the past. For him, today’s people think and act in the frame of programmed world of the Net. Moreover, although Carr worries that the Net based corporations, such as Google, are seeking to replace human’s

Towards the beginning of Carr’s essay he contradicted himself by saying, “Research that one required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes.” (371) Within the next paragraph Carr states, “The advantages of having immediate access to such an incredibly rich store of information are many.” It is not Google alone, nor just the Internet that we need to worry about, it’s the technological advancement overall. Throughout history people have criticized technological advancements, but look past the endless possibilities it created. Now we are only one click away from information that we need, instead of looking at the information that we use to carry inside our heads. Frederick Taylor created a system that created the best outcome for factories but the Internet is a machine designed for the best outcome, “the perfect algorithm, to carry out every mental movement of what we’ve come to describe as knowledge work.” (375)

As the internet offers us the benefits of quick and easy knowledge, it is affecting the brain’s capacity to read longer articles and books. Carr starts Is Google Making Us Stupid with the closing scene from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey when Dave taking apart the memory circuits that control HAL, the artificial brain of the ship. Carr feels the time he spends online is rewiring his brain. He is no longer able to concentrate long enough to read more than a few paragraphs. Even though the internet is useful, it seems to be changing the way our brain takes in information. He feels as though this brain wants to take information in the same way the internet disperses it: in

“Is Google Making Us Stupid?” is a magazine article written by Nicholas Carr in 2008. In the article, Carr argued about technology,