When trying to see what he is reading and understand it completely, it is hard for him because he often finds his mind wandering and wanting to do something different. He believes this is because of all the technology that we rely on, especially google. I don't think that Carr actually thinks google is making us "stupid", but just more lazy, and just causes more distractions which gets in the way of learning. In my own opinion, I think the internet, google to be specific, is a great tool for learning. Instead of reading through long texts, sometimes reading pointless information to get to the information you want, you have the specific information you need in seconds.
They might instead skip around, scanning for pertinent information of interest… I can’t get my students to read whole books anymore…” (318). Students are not focusing on reading a book from beginning to end. Instead, students tend to skim through and miss the important information which is a negative impact on them. Carr agrees that using the Web so often is having a negative effect on him because he is having a harder time focusing and reading articles which are more than a few sentences. He points out, “When I mentions my troubles with reading to friends, many say they’re suffering from similar afflictions.
King get his own column in the college news paper called Kings garbage truck. It was Called Kings garbage truck because it was so unpredictable. King then graduates College on June fifth, 1970. King followed that success with a completing a novel. He finished the novel “Getting It on” in 1971, that novel was later rejected but it didn’t phase King, he just kept on writing (39).
He wasn’t able to get a library card, so he asked one of his co-workers, Mr. Falk, if he could borrow his library card to read books written by H.L Mencken. After reading a couple novels from Mencken, Wright states, “Reading was like a drug, a dope” (Wright 432). He was addicted because reading created feelings he has never felt before, and he felt like he knew what the white men were feeling. The books he read gave him a better understanding on the way the white men live, and their lifestyle. Reading changed his attitude that the white men noticed; they figured out he was reading novels and questioned him about reading such deep and narrative stories.
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).
The doctor then continued to question me about my organization. Obviously, I don’t have autism, but apparently obsessive compulsive disorder is something that links to tourettes. I guess I never noticed it at first, but my room is organized by color, and it needs to be that way or I freak out… Maybe the stress puts pressure on my brain? Who knows? I try to write my journal entries to the best of my abailty because I cant see a lot fwhen I’m trying to wtite or type.
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.
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.
Another article titled “How Has Google Affected the Way Students Learn?” by Zhai Yun Tan references an article titled “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr who argues that “what the [internet] seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation.” The quotation shows how other authors are making this connection that humans’ access to the internet makes it substantially harder to retain information when the goal of the internet is to help people remember. In addition, the use of technology affects the way people learn material. Tan also states in her article, “How Has Google Affected the Way Students Learn?”, “[the students] tend to have a better memory of how and where to find the information -- instead of recalling the information itself.” The results portray the notion that the use of technology changes how humans retain information. The change is that before the internet, people remembered the facts rather
Nicholas Carr and Clay Sharkey debate whether or not the internet is actually making us smarter or dumber. “Never has a communications system played so many roles in our lives- or exerted such broad influences over our thoughts, as the internet does today. “that is one of Carr’s viewpoints. Shirkey believes that “every increase in paperback book to you tube, alarms people accustomed to the restrictions of the old system, convincing them that the new media will make young people stupid. 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.