Summary of “Is Google Making Us Stupid” by Nicholas Carr Nicholas Carr argues in, “Is Google Making us Stupid?” that the internet is changing the way we think. The internet looks to be slowly taking away the ability to focus very long, and is becoming the most widely used medium for information. Carr has the feeling that he no longer thinks like he used to. Reading a long book or article is no longer enjoyable to him. He attributes this feeling to the extensive use of the internet and computers, even though this usage of the internet has been to help him write.
Carter Campbell Mr. Abedinifard ENG 102 (AS25) 31 Oct 2014 In his essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, published in The Atlantic, Nicolas Carr expresses his opinions on the effect the internet has on people’s attentions spans and their intelligence. Carr talks about how reading lengthy articles has become more challenging for him as his internet usage increases. “Immersing myself in a book or article used to be easy. That’s rarely the case anymore” (92). Not only does Carr believe this but states others, including friends and colleagues are also experiencing this affect.
Is Google Making us stupid? The essay's thesis is: "The following essay appeared in the July/August 2008 issue of The Atlantic.While the title asks if Google is mak- ing us stupid, the essay examines how not just Google, but technology (typewriters, clocks, the Internet) changes the way we think. Nicholas Carr is author of The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains." Carr begins by writing about how he used to be an avid book reader. It was one of his favorite things to do, but over time he believes the way he thinks changed.
Carr thinks that this is bullshit. They underestimate the qualities of our human brain. Of course, it’s true that because of Google, we have more time to daydream, but we don’t do it because our brain is to busy processing all the vibes we got from using Google. Recent research expelled that daydreaming (short periods of psychic suspence) can give you a lot of creativity. They give you new ways of thinking, associating and ideas.
The Inception of the internet and World Wide Web has changed how we research and gain knowledge. Before its introduction to society, libraries were utilized to reference scholarly works by previous intellectuals, but now they are used for computer access and social media. Google and Wikipedia have leaded the charge of information services and the fingertips of our culture. While a great resource in conjunction with other academic sources, they are not the best example of accurate and reliable material. Google is by far the worst example of an information supplier, in that, a search on Google can inundate the reader with an outlandish list of results.
The Internet is a technology that changed the way we read. The Internet causes us to loose focus or to just skim through information really quickly. The need to get information quickly, rather than spending the time to read a book, is due to the Internet. When I need to read something for a class I would much rather go to Spark Notes on the Internet, rather than read a complete book. The Internet has helped reading to evolve.
Is Google Making Us Stupid? 9/30/2012 ENG140 Introduction to Writing Kanesha Howard In Nicholas Carr’s story “Is Google Making Us Stupid” his main point is the question, is quick access to the internet making humans more impatient to read and want to skim through stuff more. This story is a very well informative story. Carr uses google as a metaphor for the wider internet. When Carr asks the question is google making us stupid, he may have set an alarm for many.
One of the first points that Hornsby tries to make is that Carr’s argument has not been proven by any long term studies. Carr is just basing his essay’s argument off of his own experience and personal opinions. In 2008, however, a study was done at UCLA that gave sufficient evidence that searching the web actually aids and improves a person’s brain function. The article states that”UCLA scientists have found that for computer-savvy middle-aged and older adults, searching the Internet triggers key centers in the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning. The findings demonstrate that Web search activity may help stimulate and possibly improve brain function.” (Internet Altering our Brains .1) If this study is accurate then it
Google, a revolutionary search engine that has altered the way the world surfs the internet and accesses it's many other pleasantries has been thee "go-to" search engine for nearly a decade. It's popularity has even gained itself an entry into the Oxford English Dictionary as a verb. So why is it that Nicholas Carr, a successful writer and blogger, finds it necessary to publish an article entitled: "Is Google Making Us Stupid?". The article is a direct attack at not only Google itself, but the internet and technology as a whole. Carr argues, in reference to Stanley Kubrick's: 2001: A Space Odyssey, "as we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence."
Nicholas Carr and Clay Sharkey debate whether or not the internet is actually making us smarter or dumber. “Never has a communications system played so many roles in our lives- or exerted such broad influences over our thoughts, as the internet does today. “that is one of Carr’s viewpoints. Shirkey believes that “every increase in paperback book to you tube, alarms people accustomed to the restrictions of the old system, convincing them that the new media will make young people stupid. This fear dates back to at least the invention of movable type.” I tend to agree more with Sharkey because there are a lot of learning toold we can gain from the web.