He points out, “When I mentions my troubles with reading to friends, many say they’re suffering from similar afflictions. The more they use the Web, the more they have to fight to stay focused on long pieces of writing” (315). Even though he thought he was the only one suffering from no longer having the ability to read at his former level, he learned that his friends were also having trouble. Carr continues explaining how some have totally lost the ability to read and absorb long articles on the Web or in print (316). He says how some are having a difficult time and will not read more than three or four paragraphs because it is “too much” and they will skim
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). He suggests that due to his internet usage he has a more difficult time being able to read and think critically about lengthy readings. He mentions having difficulty analyzing long articles or books and states his friends also complain of similar difficulties. He believes when a person is attempting to read an internet article and it is riddled with ads, pop-ups, and hyperlinks, it is challenging for readers to read such an article without being led or pushed onto different pages and websites. Carr relies heavily on his and his friend’s personal beliefs and fails to reference legitimate studies done in order to determine the causation of shorter attention
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
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.
2) The author feels that someone has been tinkering with his brain, making it change. He no longer enjoys reading a book of any length because he cannot sustain concentration on the book. 3) He feels that all the time he now spends online is affecting his abilities to concentrate. He recognizes that the Internet has been a useful tool for him to search for information and communicate. He notes that, unlike footnotes, links send you to the information rather than just refer to it.
One point he addresses is this generation focuses too much with online sites and needs to approach things as they did in the past. They need to approach situations by involving themselves physically and not online. Another point Friedman discusses is that the rising generation is putting themselves out there by exploring the world, and helping others. Finally, a third point he addresses is that “Generation Q” needs to be worried on problems from the past generation, “the Greediest Generation” (Friedman 8). If “Generation Q” does not approach and pay any attention to some of the issues from the past generation, people in the youth are going to waste most of their lives “digging out from the deficits” left behind from the previous generation (Friedman 8).
I’ve always been a curious individual who requires reasonable explanations for almost everything I come across in my life. In spite of my inquisitive nature, I had lacked the yearning to constantly be reading. Over time I realized what a massive disadvantage I was creating for myself. Television and social networking had taken over all my free time. I was beginning to notice a deficiency in my vocabulary and I was no longer aware of current events.
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."
In what ways has it not been successful? Wikipedia is an open source collaborative online encyclopedia that changes every day says our text (Bowles 2010). And I do believe that Jimmy Wales had a great idea in starting Wikipedia. I know whenever I want to look something up, like an actor’s birthday, Wikipedia is the first website I search. The website has been successful because millions of people reference it every day, and even though it is not a credible source, it can lead you in the right direction.
The human mind, as powerful as it is, gets tarnished daily by the use of technology. Thinking for oneself has become a sporadic concept, and many, without realizing it, go straight to technology for answers to their questions without first consulting their most powerful tool they possess which sits right behind their eyes. Technology has the ability to help people in many ways in fields such as medicine, academics, and sports; however, digital technologies also have several negatives to go along with its positives. The internet is both distracting from priorities, decreases the likelihood that one thinks for himself, and modify humans’ lives altogether. Technology has the power to prevent humans from using their critical thinking skills.