What is technology and how can it be defined? “Technology is anything that wasn’t around when you were born,” and he would be right (Alan Kay). Nonetheless, it is also much more: cellular devices, internet networks, and social media, but could technology also be a ballpoint pen, door hinges, or an interstate sign? Absolutely, as it does not have to be plugged-in in order to serve a purpose to our daily lives. More specifically, the World Wide Web and social media integrate with our mind and intellectual abilities. Prior to reading “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr, the arrangement of the Internet seemed quite simple and I believed it was my fault for the distraction but, after I finished reading I can conclude that the techniques …show more content…
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
Carr describes how he thinks that the internet is making him lose his focus, he can't read for longer times, makes him uneasy and starting to look for a distraction while reading. Carr explains in depth in the article that how the internet is taking over our lives, we found
In Nicholas Carr’s, “Is google making us stupid,” Carr indicates a problem that affects a majority of the internet users; that being as time we spend on the internet increases, the more we are diminishing our intellectual ability, and loosing the ability to become intertwined in a lengthy article or an extended book. He is suggesting that the technology we are in contact with on a daily basis, has a negative effect on our cognitive ability, and is forcing our brain’s to evolve. Throughout the article, Carr argues the negative effect media, mainly the internet, is having on his capacity and concentration: he effectively argues his point through the uses of many rhetoric appeals, that draw in the reader. His use of logos, compares the past and
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
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
Today, computers frequently assume both parts. Nicholas Carr, the writer of the 2008 Atlantic main story "Is Google Making Us Stupid?", As its title recommends, the book additionally stands firm on whether such technology imprisons or frees its clients. People are progressively confined, he contends, however, the unseeable of the innovative catches gives people the deception of opportunity. As proof, he refers to the instance of Inuit seekers in northern Canada. More established eras could track caribou through the tundra with amazing exactness by seeing inconspicuous changes in winds, snowdrift examples, stars, and creature conduct. Once more youthful seekers started utilizing snowmobiles and GPS units, their navigational ability declined. They started believing the GPS gadgets so totally that they overlooked glaring threats, speeding over bluffs or onto thin ice. When a GPS unit broke or its batteries solidified, youthful seekers who had not created the way finding abilities of their older folks, were
In his writing, Carr explains how his mind has become much more erratic since his use of the internet. “I get fidgety, lose the thread, [and] begin looking for something else to do,” Carr says (572). The availability of information that people have these days is astonishing, and their intake of it is even more considerable. In connection to the information people have access to in our day and age, it has promoted a culture of disinterest and boredom. You are able to see this clearly in a study of online research habits, conducted by scholars from University College London. The subjects displayed “a form of skimming activity,” jumping from source to source. They normally would read no more than one or two pages of a book or article before they would go to another site, seldom returning to any source they had already viewed.
Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr talks about the way technology is effecting
Each and everyday around the world there are new advances in technology attempting to make life more simple. In the article by Nicholas Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, Carr explains his beliefs on how the internet is causing mental issues in today's society. Carr starts with his own opinion, he says the Internet is causing him to lose focus quickly. He cannot stay hooked to a book. He writes about his life being surrounded by the internet and how it has created problems, like not being able to stay focused on a reading; but it is interesting how he says the Internet has been a ‘godsend’ in his chosen profession. Carr uses a great deal of rhetorical appeals to try to connect with the audience. He compares the past and the present and how it has altered the
In The Shallows Carr includes a tale of Phillip Davis, a doctoral student, introducing his friend to the internet and becoming frustrated when his friend kept pausing to read web pages she found. Davis recounts, “ ‘You’re not supposed to read web pages, just click on the hypertexted words!’ ”(Carr 7). This statement may seem brash but it is not wrong, the Internet is not the ideal environment for individuals who want to pause and assess ever bit of information given, if that were the case one would turn on his or her computer to write an email and within three hours have gotten nowhere. From all the pop ups, side ads, and recommendations along a web page taking the time to evaluate each and every bit of information would take ages, and this discourages a mentality of linear reading and full analysis. Moreover, Carr describes how an Israeli company allows users to view the amount of time people spent on their website from around the world, the result showed that now matter were they were located they all spent a minimal amount on each website before clicking away. Carr states, “ On the Web, there is no such think as leisurely browsing. We gather as much information as quickly as our eyes and fingers can move”(Carr
In the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” Nicholas Carr explains how the Internet is somewhat removing the way humans tend to concentrate on certain things. He also explains how people think differently then they usually would because of how the Internet may cause them to view things. Even though the Internet may help in a variety of ways, it does influence the way humans may think and learn as a process together. Carr’s argument is effective because he shows the affect the Internet has on humans in ways such as, not being able to read lengthy articles and books, the use of a type writer, and the lack of his own creditability within the article.
There is no denying the incredible library of knowledge the internet has made readily available for all to use. Having such a resource is transforming modern society in many ways, as it brings insight and news across the world at a moment’s notice, all the while enhancing educational and technological advancements. However, according to Sven Birkets, an American essayist and literacy critic, in his essay, “The Owl Has Flown”, it is not without fault as observations are to be made on how this new resource has transformed people’s intelligence and wisdom. The author theorizes that the large, almost unlimited, library that is now being offered by services such as the internet, reshapes the public’s knowledge. Knowledge is transformed to be horizontal or insubstantial compared to the much deeper lateral understanding pertaining to older generations because of the amount of time they spent dwelling on a much smaller set of resources. This observation made by Birkets in the late 90’s is expanded upon, and modernized by Nicholas Carr, an American writer and author, in a more inflicting and self-reflecting article for The Atlantic magazine entitled “Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet is doing to our brains”. Carr does not just blame the Google search engine in this claim, but the internet as a whole on how it impacts concentration and our ability to contemplate. These cognitive impacts are observed and explained in more scientific terms by Eric Jaffe, a regular Observer
Nicholas Carr’s 2008 article in The Atlantic, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, argues that the Internet and access to vast amounts of information is corroding the attention spans and thought complexity of the billions of Internet users around the world. As Carr himself puts it, “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.” (Carr) He proposes that having many different sources at once will cause readers to skip around sporadically rather than thoughtfully consume information, and that Google has an agenda to cause this behavior due to their economic interests. Overall, Carr paints a cynical outlook on the prevalence in Google and any societal changes stemming from its use. David Weir’s 2010
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.
Technology: a broad term that can define anything that aids human’s ability to complete tasks or increase an individual’s quality of life. While technology is commonly thought of in a digital sense, it can be much more than that. All technology, however, has a potential to impact society in some way, whether significant or minuscule. It can affect many different tracts of our cultures around the world such as medicine, government, agriculture, science, business, and education. Education could be the most powerful, however, because of the weight it holds to mold the future generations and how they will impact all other areas of our economy.
All technological advancement has its advantages and disadvantages, but one can attest that most of this advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Is Google making us stupid? Does finding information easily make you dumb? No. Google as a search engine has enable the world to easily separate the chaff from the real information needed, it has enabled people acquire resources that could have been impossible to access. I use google daily to make very smart choices in most of my daily life, from my homework to online shopping. In this day when one is spoilt with choices sometimes making just a regular purchase can be very overwhelming, example: television sets come in so many brands and sometimes for a purchase to be made one may resort to google for brand types and reviews to make their decision.