Old ways

Today’s kids spend an astounding 300% more time in front of a screen than in 1995, a fact given by Rawhide.org. This statistic alone gives people a reason to question the amount of dependency the human race has put on screen technology, as well as if screen technology has come too far. In my opinion, screen technology and human dependency on technology have both come too far and will soon cause us more harm than good.

The internet has made an immense impact on every generation since its existence as it continues to grow throughout time. Its effectiveness is prodigious; the internet allows people to gain information that once took days to retrieve it in a few minutes (Carr 1). Writer Nicholas Carr, in his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, explains that the use of internet and technology causes harm to people and their brains. Carr’s purpose is to address to internet users that Google (or any electronic helpers) is making them “stupid” and lazy because it minimizes their concentration and willingness to think. He attempts to adapt to his audience, dedicated internet users, as he uses the rhetorical appeals to try to convince them of his purpose. However, this was not enough. Nicholas Carr’s article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?,” is ineffective because of his poor use of ethos and logos despite his good use of pathos.

Nicholas Carr is an American author who writes the majority of books and articles about the continuously evolving world of technology and how it is effecting our society. Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, was a 2011 Pulitzer Prize finalist and a New York Times bestseller. In this essay I will be rhetorically analyzing Carr’s essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid” published in 2008. The purpose of Carr’s essay was to bring light to an issue that many of us face but only a meniscal few have come to terms with; and that is that technology is mentally incapacitating our society and simultaneously making us lazy. This essay was intended for anyone was has been consumed in today’s culture by new technological advances to the extent of not being able to function without some sort of device, IE cellphone, laptop or tablet on a daily basis.

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

They do not use technology to enrich their minds with useful information, but only as a tool distraction. Although technology may seem like rainbows, it comes with a cost many people don’t notice, it hurts the mind. Nicholas Carr, a writer, says, “And what the net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation” (D). The author uses an idiom to illustrate that although technology may provide shortcuts, it has a devastating effect. The term “chipping away” means that it happens slowly, a little by little. This little “chip” is not noticeable until it turns into a “hole”. This is important because concentration and contemplation are vital skills we need for everyday life. Without focus, it is hard to do many tasks academically, as well as physically. Similarly, the dependence on technology for everyday use has snatched away the ability to “soak in” information. R. Smith Simpson, a writer for the U.S government journal, expresses concern by saying, “How did the United States acquire the Panama Canal? What is its status now? Who started out war with Spain (or Mexico) and what came

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.

Carr states a point that I have previously mentioned: “[a]nd what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation” (Carr 1). Not only do I relate to this reaction, but I deem it true for any person attempting to use the Internet for research, writing, or seeking specific information. Given that the preceding few weeks I have been in this online course, and up until this reading, I had not taken notice of how horrible my concentration became while on the Internet. Nicholas Carr lets the reader in on a fact that I was negligent of, explaining, “…the more links we click and pages we view—the more opportunities Google and other companies gain to collect information about us and to feed us advertisements” (Carr 1). If this statement does not make one feel “stupid,” let me expand a little further. Did you know Google and “other companies” hire minions to take a look at what pages we spend the most of our time viewing and then use that information to feed us more unsolicited internet propaganda? Essentially internet users have become a group of clicking guinea

The internet is one of the many technologies to come about in this fast pace and ever evolving world. Within these new technologies, such as the internet, one can see how even people have evolved and changed their ways of thinking to keep up. One aspect of this change is the way people understand and think about what they read or see. In Nicholas Carr’s Is Google Making Us Stupid, the author present the idea that the use of the internet is the reason behind the changes within the minds of its users. This idea points towards the internet being both a mind altering and convenience mechanism; as well as being easily abused by its users. This allows Carr to effectively propose the idea that the internet, and technology in general, is used not only as a convenience mechanism, but also has a way to change how its uses think. However, Carr ineffectively represents how this change comes about due to user abuse of new technology like the internet.

According to CNN news the average American spends more than 10 hours a day using technology, 9 of which is on social media! This is a staggering 42% or more of our time spent in front of a screen tweeting, posting, and sharing; so what are the effects? While technology has its benefits making life “easier,” such as a way to quickly find information and the ability to easily communicate with people on the other side of the world, the drawbacks are more pressing. It is getting worse as we keep diving headfirst into our societies technological revolution. This is why we as a school should participate in “Shut Down Your Screen Week.” Critics oppose “Shut Down Your Screen” because in life today it is necessary to have technology, however by putting down our phones and other electronic devices we get a break from the harmful effects that the overuse of technology has on our brains. According to scientists, technology even rewires our brains according to Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse, it even happens on a chemical level causing it to become addictive. People should shut down their

These tech-enthusiasts propose ideas to refute the rationalization that technology is too addicting; technology is needed in order for us to survive because everything is technological, ultimately forcing us to rely on it. Technology, however, is not perfect, and many times the important forms that we depend on fail. A perfect example of such is the use of Blackboard. In college, professors use Blackboard or other forms of online communication in order to post assignments, quizzes, and grades. What if the Internet crashes? How will you reach a professor, find your assignments, retake the quiz you were automatically kicked off of, or know that your class was moved to main classroom instead of the business building if the Internet is down? Additionally, this reliability takes away from our common knowledge that is essential in instances where technology has failed. Society depends on typing instead or writing, using GPS instead of reading a map, and watching the news instead of reading a paper. These simple tasks could be completed without technology, yet we rely on devices to do these tasks for us. In fact, children are being taught to type rather than to handwrite a paper, and almost everyone has a GPS on their phone or in their car. Technology allows life to be much easier and allows us to complete projects more efficiently, but it is not guaranteed to work one hundred percent of the time. As a country that strives for success, it is important for us to have intelligence and knowledge of the world around us at all times; however, our focus on technology and technology only puts us at a disadvantage because of the errors it often

In today's society there is no escape from technology. We are completely submerged in our iPhone, ipads, computers, and gaming systems. These gadgets give us the opportunity to be connected to each other and the rest of the world at all times. But, this is not a glorious step in history. Technology blinds us from the real world. As John Tudor said, “Technology makes it possible for people to gain control over everything, except technology.” We may run our lives with the help of our iPhones and computers, but do these forms of technology in turn control us? At first glance these new advances are greater steps to making our lives easier. But, when examined closely a large portion of technology is the cause of many problems in our society.

Technology has advanced society medically, educationally, and socially; however, its overuse has caused users to become overly dependant. In particular, the internet provides an exponential amount of articles, tutorials, videos, and question and answer blogs which have made cheating and finding “the easy way out” readily available to users. The internet's main purpose is to research unkown facts, provide down-time entertainment, and update users on most recent news, however, workers use it to their advantage when confused about their job or when they lack interest in a task. The internet has lead to a downfall in the workforce by robbing employees of their independence by providing them with basic information, doing their job, and causing

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.

The utmost, overriding facet of our society has been placed in our hands, perched on a stand, and then plugged into a socket: modern technology. Today, individuals without up to date technology are christened anomalies that are late to the ‘smart era’ of smartphones, smartwatches, and smart televisions. In Is Google Making Us Stupid? by Nicholas Carr, and Be a Gamer, Save the World by Jane McGonigal, it is made comprehensible that, as a society, we have begun to intertwine ourselves in the tangles of our electronics, which we cannot seem to relinquish. Our generation has been advancing with technology nonstop to the point where a new gadget is practically released daily. Recently, the latest technological fixation that has rapidly spread like wildfire is video streaming: whether it be video-on-demand or live, it has concurrently seized and fashioned jobs, as well as intermixed communities and individuals alike.

Technology has changed so many of the ways in which we live our lives, from the invention of the wheel to the advanced systems we use and take for granted everyday. Technology was once taboo in most house holds while people still clung to the idea that life was built on life experiences. Nicholas Carr stated in, Is Goggle making us stupid? "Back in the fourth century, BCE, Plato complained that writing (then a fairly new technology) was destroying peoples memory, yet he wrote dozens of books. For half a century, television has been accused of rotting our brains and making us fat and lazy, but most people depend on it for info, news and entertainment." Technology has changed our understanding of the way things work and