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."
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.
It was one of his favorite things to do, but over time he believes the way he thinks changed. He gives examples of how everything has become so much easier for us and instead of picking up a book and really getting into the details of it he just skims. He also states how the internet is like searching for a prize and finding instant information then moving on. The essay starts with a part of a movie, "A Space Odyssey". In the beginning, the guy has an artificial brain that he feels is disconnecting.
Nowadays, within one minute searching with the toolbars, the great databases of the Internet will immediately bring the information to us. Besides, the printed books became the past thanks to the e-book and other online works on the Internet. Writing becomes a real challenge even to a writer since we spend too much time on the media. “Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it’s
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.
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. The internet is making a lot of people lazy, it takes all the work and effort out of reading, writing, and even thinking. What used to be time consuming can now be done in a shorter period of time. With just a few clicks and typed words. Most things are made much simpler by just googling and searching for words and stories.
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 has helped reading to evolve. Who would want to wait around for a newspaper or a magazine to come out when clicking on just one link brings the latest news up with in seconds for reading pleasure. Carr says, “It was Hungry” (Carr16).What he is trying to say is that after using the internet his brain is constantly searching for new information. The more he used the internet to gain information or to read, the more his brain wanted new
Internet capable technology is extremely affordable, and people across the world are adapting to this new wide world of communication. The world is changing, and experts are divided about the consequences of the fast-growing new ways people have to reach out to each other. Social media is now the most popular way to keep in touch with old friends, new friends, and family. Text messaging, along with its altered lingo, has almost replaced telephone calls and voice mail messages entirely. Business meetings have been replaced by emails or internet based conference applications such as Skype.