Not only does Carr believe this but states others, including friends and colleagues are also experiencing this affect. Carr’s goal is to push readers to think more critically about the negative impact internet usage can have on one’s ability to read and articulate articles. Although Carr provides some anecdotal evidence it is not sufficient evidence to prove that Google is making us stupid. In completing a critical analysis of Carr’s essay I will examine both the weaknesses and strengths of his argument and provide research and literature to support my belief that Google is not in fact making us stupid. Carr begins his essay by saying “I’ve had the uncomfortable feeling that over the past few years someone, or something has been tinkering with [his] brain”(91).
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.
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.
Carr does this to show just how big of an impact that the internet has not only on the literary society, but society as a whole. This essay is primarily a convincing essay, in that Carr is attempting to explain why Google is creating an attention-deficit society. He states that, “Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy.”(603) Nicholas then goes on to mention how his concentration starts to wonder after reading two to three pages. The intimate relationship between the reader and the text is lost. Carr feels as though he has to constantly find his way back to the original text because of distractions.
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.
What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains: Is Google Making Us Stupid? by Nicholas Carr Thesis: As the Internet becomes our primary source of information, it is affecting our ability to read books and other long narratives. This process of rewiring our brains carries the danger of flattening human experience even as it offers the benefits of knowledge efficiency and immediacy. 1) The author begins the article with a description of the closing scene in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey when Dave dismantles the memory circuits of Hal, the artificial brain that controls the space ship. 2) The author feels that someone has been tinkering with his brain, making it change.
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." (Carr, 2008, p.1). Carr believes that the constant need the human race has shown for such technology, will end up stripping humans of their humanity. The article fights to explain how the days of old are being tainted by these new technological advancements and how in the end, humanity will become "artificial". The article starts by explaining the effects that technology has had on both Carr and his close friends.
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.
Michael J. Bugeja, director of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University and author of the article “Facing the Facebook” in The Chronicle of Higher Education, argues how informational technology has become a distraction rather than an educational tool in the classroom. Although, he acknowledges that social networks such as Facebook are “fascinating” innovative forms of social interaction; he argues that they have affected all levels of academe (Bugeja 1). In his article, Bugeja points out how students' addiction with technology is reflected in their enrollment in institutions. He says that students instead of basing their decision on the reputation of the institution; they rely their decision on the level of technology these institutions offer them. In addition, the author also mentions that technology has created a distraction to students.
Either way he tells the story of how he discovered the internet and how he could simply hide behind his digital mask and saying things he probably wouldn’t have said if he was confronted with these people in real life. Aleks also talks about how religious and racist groups use the internet to recruit members and form a virtual weapon against anyone who doesn’t agree with their beliefs. Despite Aleks Krotoski uses the tools of relation for example his opening section: “I remember the first time I logged into a chatroom. It was 1996, and I was using my mum’s AOL account to mooch around the World Wide Web, which was