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.
He investigates how the media and tools we use shape the development of our thinking and considers how we relate to and think about our brains. Carr explains the cause and effect of how Internet impacts our thinking, reading, writing habits, and how our brains react to the media. Carr gives his explanation with many arguments; he starts with his own personal acts. Throughout the beginning of the story, Carr argues whether our reading and writing habits may be affected by the internet. Nowadays, within one minute searching with the toolbars, the great databases of the Internet will immediately bring the information to us.
He compares and contrasts how his life was with the Web and without it. For example, “Just as Microsoft Word had turned me into a flesh-and-blood word processor, the Internet, I sensed, was turning me into something like a high-speed data-processing machine, a human HAL (325). The Web has changed him in such a way that he felt like a machine. He wanted to stay connected, therefore, he would yearn to check his e-mail, click links, or explore on Google. He noticed the Net was having a much stronger influence over him than his PC ever had (324).
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).
Although both bloggers blog on different topics, they had both described themselves as readers, and, through the invention of blogs and the internet, find it much harder to sit down and read through a three page article. Using two different writers and avid readers was a very strong way for Carr to build credibility in his article.
THE WORLDWIDE WEB AND INTERNET BUBBLE Jenifer R Ecom210 August 1, 2012 Entrepreneurs of the late 1990’s had an unrealistic expectation concerning the success of the internet, much of which was influenced by companies such as Amazon, eBay and many others during this period. The entrepreneurs of this period included individual dreamers to that of major corporations, Internet entrepreneurs who was enamored with dreams of becoming “dot-com millionaires or billionaires (Smith, 2012), but such expectations led to the “Dot-Com Bubble” or what is known as the Internet Bubble”. In Robert J Shiller’s book, Irrational Exuberance, the study of many factors which influenced the boom, skyrocketing after 1995 is discussed and I will like to discussed in this paper three of these factors (Internet Culture; Effect of the News Media and A New Era of Economic thinking); the influence of the World Wide Web (www) on the bubble and companies that both gain and lost as a result of the internet’s bubble burst. The Internet’s Journey The introduction of the World Wide Web gained a lot of attention in its innovative change which expanded technology and enhanced an already existing internet. E-Commerce Entrepreneurs both old and new took advantage of this new dotcom frenzy and as the companies went public, a number of investors made risky decisions based solely on the hype of the dotcom.
The internet connects people closer to each other, thus, the barriers of distance between people narrows or in some cases, even disappears. My life without internet is hard to imagine. I would not have ventured into US for my further education if I did not spend long hours reading and asking questions in the online chat forums on tertiary education. My family and I used to generalize US as a dangerous country with legalized weapons such as guns. Internet has allowed me to see a bigger picture, and changed my perspective so that
Computer-Mediated Communication November 28, 2011 BMG 210 Organizational Behavior Evaluation_____ Computer-Mediated Communication: From Facebook to Twitter, from email to e-meetings, from texting to streaming video, information technology is the driving force behind our personal and business life. Advances in information technology have allowed for the immediate exchange of information across geographical boundaries and times zones once impossible. This exchange of information or any communication that occurs between two or more networked computers is known as Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC). Indeed these advances have benefitted many people throughout the world, but they also changed the face of communication forever. Generally CMC is impersonal in nature and results in participants becoming uninhibited in their communications.
You can send and receive messages, access a great deal of information, and participate in ongoing discussions with people all over the world. You can also play games, look at pictures, listen to music, watch videos, chat with people, go shopping, and find lots of free programs for your computer. The Internet is a complex collection of resources (Harley Hahn Teaches the Internet, 1998
Online Harassment and Cyber Mobs Online harassment is an issue that has received quite the publicity and media coverage lately. As the Internet and everything that involves it has grown into our everyday life and routines, it has become the most used form of communication. Everyone from toddlers to retirees knows about the Internet and what its basic uses are. Nowadays teens spend most of their time online in comparison to watching TV or reading books. The Internet can do everything, and it is an incredible way for people all over the world to stay in contact and learn about each other.