Nicholas Carr's 'Is Google Making USupid?'

As Carr continues, he speaks of his extended use of the internet over the last decade, explaining that all information that he once painstakingly searched for is done in minutes with the use of search engines. In doing this, Carr places blame on the internet for breaking his ability to concentrate. Carr presents his arguments in a way that his readers could easily agree. He gradually works up to the idea that the internet has weakened his ability to focus, and as he does this he makes several general statements about the internet’s nature. These points on the net’s nature are so basic that any reader of his article would be inclined to agree with them, and this lends itself to help readers believe the argument Carr wishes to propose. Because it would be hard to provide factual evidence to support his claims, Carr effectively uses logical reasoning to convince the reader.

Nicholas Carr’s Is Google Making Us Stupid? explains the impact the Internet is having on his (and others) patience with in depth reading habits, and possibly the way their brain is processing information. The old days of having to spend hours researching a subject are long gone because of the Internet. Having such a powerful tool available at any time can be a good and bad thing wrapped up in the same package. Over the last couple decades, home computer and smartphone ownership has been on a steady rise with most homes now having multiple devices. Therefore, having unlimited information available at all times has become a reality.

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

Carr states that we have become so immerse online today that our brains have become almost infinitely malleable (Carr 736). All of the information we need to know can be easily accessed through Google online; according to Carr, we need to go back to the old fashioned terms of research and gathering information. He follows up by mentioning how our brains are being used in a negative way by using Google too much. The way we process information and the way our brains are being used has become considerably less effective. As Carr mentions, the net has become a universal medium for us all, and that’s why he says it has changed us for the worst.

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)

In, “Is Google Really Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr (2008), he validates how people are heavily relying on the internet pushing for Artificial Intelligence. Carr also talks about how it is changing the way our minds work with negative side effects. He demonstrates how the internet may be shaping our thought process by giving observational examples as well as personal experiences. Beginning with his personal experiences he says how he finds it difficult to keep focused on a book, as a writer, this is rare to him. He tries to find a reason to his inability to stay focused and comes to a conclusion it is due to the internet. Carr is very persuasive in his article, although his point of view maybe seen as an opinion, he does show and support

Nicholas Carr is the author of books concerning technology and culture. One of his most recent bestsellers regarding the topic is his work titled What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. In the summer of 2008, Carr’s piece, Is Google Making Us Stupid?, was published in The Atlantic Monthly. In this essay, Carr declares that the Internet is altering the way people think (500). Carr writes that the Internet lowers the ability for concentration and consideration (501). He believes the ability to read and understand a lengthy piece of writing has also been practically entirely lost (Carr 501). Carr additionally states that the Internet has severed our capability to interpret text (502).

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

In an article by Nicholas Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, the author is questioning the readers about the internet and making suggestions that the internet is changing how our brains operate. Throughout the article, the author's main point is to inform us about the negative effects of the internet on humans.

Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid” shows how the use of a computer can truly affect our thought process. Carr’s point of view shows us that he believes that these computers are changing us for the worst. Although I would have to take the opposite position on his work, and feel the internet has changed society for the better. First, the internet has become such an essential piece of technology in schooling. Second, being able to talk to someone over the internet in an entirely different country is a huge advantage; think about how long it could take to send a letter or even inconvenience someone with a phone call. Being able to talk with someone on the

In one second; 58,779 web pages were searched; 68,166 YouTube videos viewed; 2,564,746 email sent; 766 Instagram pictures posted; and 7,513 tweets tweeted(Lee). Day to day, the Internet is becoming an important part of daily life, but it comes with a price. Some people think the Internet makes us less efficient thinkers. In the essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?,” Nicholas Carr asserts that the Internet is distracting, and it changes the way we think. I did not agree with Carr that the Internet affects our ability to think efficiently before reading the article; however, I know think that it has negative impacts on our contemplation, and I agree that artificial intelligence will

In his essay, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, author Nicholas Carr discusses his belief that the internet is negatively changing the way people’s brains process and consume information. Carr describes this phenomenon when he writes, “as we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence” (328). Carr’s point is that the less effort put into reading and researching caused by societies constant access to the internet, lessens deep thinking and mental growth, which in turn results in a loss of individualism in our society. Incidentally, in his article, “Smarter than you Think”, writer Clive Thompson agrees with Carr’s statement by saying, “Today’s multitasking tools really do make it harder than before to stay focused during long acts of reading and contemplation” (355). However, Thompson goes on to argue that the benefits humans derive from the advancements being made in technology outweigh the possible risks in changes to cognitive functions caused by the melding of man with machine. Thompson builds his argument by examining how the game of chess has evolved

In Nicholas Carr's article “Is Google Making Us Stupid” the point he is trying to make is that the internet has become the worlds main source of information and entertainment, and its starting to effect how people read and how fast they can find and interpret information. The author states that even though internet makes the process much faster and more efficient it makes our brains miss the learning curve that helps us fully understand the deep and thought provoking novels or articles.

Internet is getting a lot of criticism, although it is becoming a worldwide medium and the main source for most of the information conveying unto our minds. The internet is being criticized for its impacts on our minds, whether we are turning out to be more scattered and superficial in our thinking! The Internet is known to be an unlimited strong computing system that is containing the biggest part of our other intellectual technologies. It's becoming our clock and our map, our telephone and our calculator, our typewriter and our printing press, and our TV and radio. In the July-August 2008 Atlantic magazine, Nicholas Carr published "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" Like other critics, Carr negatively regards the change caused by the Internet as

Nicholas Carrs article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” makes points that I agree with, although I find his sources to be questionable. The article discusses the effects that the Internet may be having on our ability to focus, the difference in knowledge that we now have, and our reliance on the Internet. The points that are made throughout Carrs article are very thought provoking but his sources make them seem invaluable.