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
When Carr asks the question is google making us stupid, he may have set an alarm for many. In the story he gets deep explanation of how the internet influences the brain. The explanation he gives us is how computers have altered the way we work, how we organize information, share news, communicate, and how we search for, read, and absorb information. Carr's analysis incorporates research, as well as philosophy, science, history, and cultural developments. 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.
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.
In the essay Michael Bugeja essay he points out how the use of modern technology is affecting students. Online communities and the use of cell phones and Ipods are disturbing today’s college students according to
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
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.
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 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.
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.