Utopia within a Click

How has technology affected mankind over time? How has it affected the youth of our country? How has it affected the adults? We rely on the internet for almost everything, do we still have the power to detach ourselves from it? The article, “The Virtues of Reality” written by Ross Douthat caught my attention with a thesis that is quite realistic. Douthat theorizes that the main cause of both the youth becoming safer over time along with the adults growing more immature is the virtual reality that the internet provides us with. Douthat then leaves the readers with a thought to ponder about. He questions if we as human beings have become so reliant on technology, that we can’t take a step back. What I wish to know is why should we need to take a step back when the world that we live in has infused technology along with the internet into everything that we do in life?

A utopia sounds like a wonderful thing. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “utopia” as an “imagined or hypothetical place, system, or state of existence in which everything is perfect, esp. in respect of social structure, laws, and politics.” (OED, 2015, entry 2) But what happens when someone tries to bring this imagined land of perfection into reality? Both in fictional literature and in real life applications, utopian dreams destroy societies.

In the book by Nicholas Carr, The Shallows, he is arguing how the internet has changed our brains. The thoughts, mental processes, and even the physical brains is being restructured to fit into the new technology that we are being the guinea pig of the testing. Carr informs us that it’s more to it than just knowing that are brains and the human condition are changing, but that the internet isn’t this evil machine. As the people we are making a choice to use this new technology knowing we are losing but also gaining new benefits that the internet provides us.

New technology around the world is being developed and improved every day to make people's life easier. In the article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, Nicholas Carr explains his thoughts and beliefs on how he feels that the internet, especially google is making people rely more on the web to find information and making them full with artificial knowledge. The author begins his article by explaining personal side effects that he has experience due to the use of the web, like losing focus, not being able to deeply understand a book anymore, and the reasons why he gets distracted when reading. The author then talks furthermore about his life being surrounded by the internet and how it is to blame the web for the issue that he has experience; but then he explains how and why the internet has been “godsend” to him because of his profession as a writer. In order to draw

In the novel The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr, he argues that the internet is slowly limiting our physical and emotional interactions with both ourselves and our loved ones. Although in some aspects, people might believe this is true, we cannot possibly classify the internet as a negative platform in total. To look at it in another perspective, the internet is also a positive tool. There are two sides to everything and however the author, Nicholas Carr, did acknowledge that the internet has its perks, he didn’t go further in detail. The internet is a place where everyone can interact with other people living all over the world, be socially aware of current news, and it’s a part of evolving as a species.

Since the rise of technology and smart devices, the public has seen controversy over the benefits and drawbacks of internet usage. Nicholas Carr shared his opinions in the article “From The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains.” In the text, he claims that it seems to be “chipping away” his “capacity for concentration and contemplation” (Carr 5). In addition to that, he does not hesitate to state how “some worry they’re becoming chronic scatterbrains” from using the web (Carr 6). His views are painted purple in this piece of writing, as any reader could infer that Carr possesses a slightly bitter tone when it comes to the interwebs. He displays his dislike for the way it is reshaping our brains and mental function, even going

Over the years, technology has developed into something that we cannot live without. Society is constantly being dictated and reshaped by the newest technology. In Nicholas Carr’s article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, he expounded on the uncomfortable sense that someone, or something was tinkering with his brain. He realized that he’s not thinking the way he used to. Additionally, he explains how our brains aren’t familiar with critical thinking anymore. He also introduces the idea that the Internet is doing more harm to us than good. I believe Carr’s ideas on the negative effects of the Internet are well founded. The validity surrounds us daily.

Following suit with the chapter I neither agree nor do I disagree with the extremes of the topic at hand. To say that technology holds no value and only presents problems for those who use it, is being close minded to the potential value that technology holds for us. On the other hand, saying that the use of the technology holds no back lash or consequence is acting in a naive manor towards the situation. There are faults with both but there is also a lot of truth to both. In my experience the use of technology in too high of a quantity can often lead to self absorption and disconnect throughout a society. In the article, "Small Change" by Malcolm Gladwell, he states that "The platforms of social media are built around weak ties. Twitter is

In Nicholas Carr’s news article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” (2008), he expresses his concerns on how technology is changing the mental capacity of our minds. The author first provides anecdotal evidence by giving relevant quotes from reputable sources, then he introduces notable historical trends as examples to support his claim, and to conclude he challenges his readers to rethink their views on the internet. His purpose is to inform readers on the negative effects of using the internet. He seems to have a younger, more tech-savvy audience in his mind, as they are exposed to technology at a young age. One can agree with Carr because as technology such as the internet evolve, our minds adapt at the cost our cognitive abilities.

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.

Being able to instantly gather information is easier than it has ever been before. People can go on the internet, press a few buttons and are given an endless amount of information. Do not anything about the topic, just Google it and it will provide the information that is needed. It has come to the point where people rely on the internet daily. However, there are downsides to having technology surrounding society most of the time. In the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid? ” from the July/August 2008 edition of The Atlantic, Nicholas Carr, a writer and former member of Britannica’s Encyclopedia editorial board of advisors, expresses how technology is negatively changing how we think and act because of the influences people get from the technology

People are introduced to a new technological advancement almost everyday. Some of them make our lives easier; however, every good thing has a bad side. Some influential events may be causes of really adverse effects on the way of our lives. Without doubt, invention of the Internet is one of the most powerful events world-wide. Thanks to the Internet, lots of things such as communication, research, bank transactions, shopping, etc. can be done within just a couple of seconds. While the Internet provides us these incredible conveniences, some negates would be inevitable on people. In the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, published by The Atlantic Magazine, in 2008, Nicholas Carr talks about these adverse affects of the Internet. He claims that the internet is changing our research habits and the way we reach information in a negative manner.

Nicholas Carr writes on how the Internet has changed the way people now think in his is article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”. Carr says “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a jet ski.” He is trying to express that their once was a time that even he was guilty of the internet taking over. He was a guy who would once bury his self in books, read every word, and let it soak in and understand every detail of the book, but now will skim across it to just understand the basics of it. Further into his article Carr goes on about how the internet is becoming our map, clock, typewriter, calculator, phone, radio, and our TV. The internet is “subsuming most of our other intellectual technologies” he says. What was once all separate things we needed to use our brain

Politics is the process of making decisions and applying them to the members of each group and setting the law. A utopia is an imagined community or society that paints a perfect world and perfect or near perfect qualities. A utopian society is where everything and everyone is equal and no standards set between people. Utopia is your ideal world setting and ideal standards that you want in your society. Utopia is your ideal world and the way you make it to be. The political system I would use is Democracy because Democracy is a system in which ordinary people determine, directly or through representation, the system that governs the society they live within. Democracy is a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people

When it comes to the topic of technology, most people will readily agree that it has been growing non-stop at a significant pace. About 16 years ago, technologies, such as computers were not a necessity in mainstream life. Since then, technology has progressed and people have become extremely reliable on. In the essay “What’s the Matter with Kids Today?” by Amy Goldwasser, she talks about the positive aspects of the Internet. Although she mainly focuses on the positive she also contradicts herself and mentions some negative aspects. “Twenty-plus years ago, high school students didn’t have the Internet to store their trivia”(Goldwasser 238). Those unfamiliar with this school of thought may be interest to know that it basically boils down to