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Chapter Overview: The Shallows By Nicholas Carr

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n Nicholas Carr’s book “The Shallows”, he argues that technology is making human beings unintelligent. Through the book, there is an analysis on how the usage of the internet is sacrificing people's ability to read, write, and think. Within the first few chapters including the prologue of “The Shallows”, he’s verifying his dispute that technology is making people idiotic. With the use of the medium “media”, the usage of it changes us, through the exposure of new content. This means that the habits that we have on the internet will continue to change the cells in our brain. Then, Carr talks about his experience with technology. Soon he realized that his thinking has altered, “I used to find it easy to immerse myself in a book or a lengthy …show more content…

With the rise of computers and the web, they created a broad medium, which sorted out all sorts of different information. This content again led to more reshaping of the minds of humans. When technology started to enhance, E-Books were one of the new creations. An online version of reading books. They changed the personal experience that people had with reading a normal book. With a paper book, you are able to concentrate and comprehend more. With an online version of a book, there are more opportunities to get distracted with. There was a research study in Kansas State University to see if multimedia disrupts the viewer's ability to learn. They had two groups of colleges students, one group was watching a CNN video that had ads rolling through the bottom on the video and the other group was watching the same video but without the ads. Then, “Subsequent tests found that the students who had watched the multimedia version remembered significantly fewer facts from the stories than those who had watched the simpler version (129).” Also, years later, after Google was created, Google was and has been the supplier of content that promoted quick skimming of information, which crushed the proactive engagement of any concept. According to Peter Suderman, “it’s no longer terribly efficient to use our brains to store information (181)”. Relying on it, gives up the use of brains growing in information of past experience. These are the examples that Carr used to show the damaging of the

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In Nicholas Carr’s writing, “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” mentions multiple examples of why the internet and the simplicity of looking up and getting exactly what we were looking for are causing a drop in the way we think and the intelligence of our minds. Carr explains that he was once a huge reader and could comprehend ten to fifteen-page articles easily, but the directness of the internet had dulled his brain that he could not read a few paragraphs before he gave up and his mind started drifting off into the emptiness of his brain. Carr mentions that the Net is being the universal medium causing information that is read and learned go in one ear and out the other. Carr defends his positions by adding multiple examples showing that the Net

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502 Words | 3 Pages

He uses the historical examples to shows the relationships between each technological evolution and “brain evolution” of human being. The interaction between two parts of evolutions exactly what Carr is concerning about, it’s slowly but actually accumulating the mental and physical effects to human’s brain. Even though it’s difficult to recognize the good or bad of this effects, Carr thinks that the effects themselves already deserve our worries. I’m of two minds about Carr’s claim that the internet makes us stupid. On the one hand, I agree that our minds, or more specific, the methods of our thinking are actually affected by the new technologies.

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1047 Words | 5 Pages

Nicholas Carr is a writer that has expanded his writing to books, periodical and even has a blog at roughttype.com; his writing focus is about technology and culture. He addressed the issue of how technology can be a great and awful thing to use at the same time in his essay, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Carr made an ongoing debate where technology is making people stupid because they are spending a lot of time researching and this is causing people considerate less while using the reading skill but at the same time technology saves times, can expand more on the topic, find any information etc. With regards “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”

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758 Words | 4 Pages

He includes quotes from large, technology tycoons who believe that advancement in technology is beneficial because it is making information more accessible and more useful. Carr counters this claim by stating that with the large advancements that technology “Is doing the work of the mind” (324). While he addresses naysayers in his argument he does not completely dismiss their ideas, instead discussing them in a calm way that builds his credibility with the reader. Though Carr believes the most important thing that technology is doing is getting close to replacing human thinking, he discusses the ideas that people believe could be a positive. His rational discussion of the opposition makes him appear knowledgeable to the reader which further builds his argument.

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Rhetorical Analysis (Is Google Making Us Stupid?) Over the years, search engines such as Google, have made it incredibly convenient to further our knowledge with just a touch of a button. In Nicholas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains,” the focus is set on proving why the Internet is to blame for the typical American mind to think differently than it used to.

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814 Words | 4 Pages

Amanda Green Mrs. Boone Eng. 111. 4236 26 February 2018 Is Google Really Making Us Stupid?

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This use of outside sources adds credibility to Carr's argument and reinforces the idea that the potential consequences of digital distraction are a legitimate concern. Throughout his essay, Carr uses a conversational tone and clear language to engage readers and make his argument more accessible. He employs rhetorical questions, such as "What if I do all my reading on the web not so much because the way I read has changed, but because the way I think has?" to encourage readers to consider the implications of his argument. By appealing to readers' emotions, logic, and sense of curiosity, Carr makes a persuasive case for the potential dangers of the internet and digital technologies on the human

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248 Words | 1 Pages

In the article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, Nicholas Carr is saying that when the internet becomes our primary source of information, it negatively affects our reading ability and our attention span. Using Google and the internet dulls our brain’s experience in the learning process and makes it hard to focus on reading. Carr gives a researched account on how using the internet is supposed to be fast and rewarding to the user. He explains that we go on the internet because it is easier and less time consuming than using something like a book or a magazine. Carr exclaims that we now use the internet as our main source for information.

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1991 Words | 8 Pages

Nicolas Carr, an acclaimed writer in both business and technology, argues in “"Is Google Making Us Stupid?” published in 2008, that the internet is altering the way humans focus. In his article, Carr states “Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages” (Carr). Using first person personal experience this permits readers to presuppose that everyone is justly and effortlessly exposed to the impacts of the internet. Additionally accrediting himself, a prosperous and educated writer, Carr adds reliability and support towards his argument demonstrating that a literate, knowledgeable man can be susceptible to the effects of the internet. Scientific studies have been done which support the theory that the internet is deteriorating

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574 Words | 3 Pages

Over generations and generations the world has seen many changes that has impacted the world and the lives of people. Some of those changes include the printing press, computers, and the smartphone. Have you ever realized that the internet might be affecting your brain? Well Nicholas Carr thinks the internet is bad and has an impact on our brain. In the book The Shallows by Nicholas Carr he claims that over many generations new technology has been created and it has been affecting our brains.

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1041 Words | 5 Pages

Because, nowadays, e-readers are developed enough, her article could play an important role in making e-readers a significant tool for education. Moreover, the author is motivated to write the article as the number of the articles which discuss the impact of e-reader on reading practice of children is low. In addition to choosing the right time, Larson shows credibility in her article because of her experience as an instructor in the field of learning technologies. Furthermore, the case study, which is done by the author, makes the information believable. Also, the author is fair and respectful by not attacking people who read printed books to show the pros of e-reader.

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271 Words | 2 Pages

Nicholas Carr, What the Internet is doing to Our Brains The Shallows (2010) asserts that, “The price we pay to assume technology’s power is alienation.” He supports this assertion by saying, “They both ultimately achieve their mental and behavioral effects by shaping the synaptic organization of the brain.” Also by, “ We long to keep it activated.” The writer concludes in order for people to improve their thoughts, they will have to cope with the new technology and how they think. Carr believes that technology is taking over how people interact with each other.

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Our way of thinking is beginning to change to the way that computers do. Advancements are made everyday. These new advancements are attempting to make life in general easier for everyone. Nicholas Carr makes the claim that, “as the internet because our primary source of the information it is affecting our ability to read books and other long narratives.” Carr suggests that using the internet is altering the way that our minds operate.

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150 Words | 1 Pages

Digital books can benefit mankind because it's more sophisticated. Digital books such as books provide more improvements. Ebooks are an example of a more advanced technology a ebook is an electronic book, because there are files you can access on your computer. Unlike a paper book an ebook can look up any genre, any length, and many formats. These are some ways digital books can benefit

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656 Words | 3 Pages

As a result, in order to keep up with the changing of reading modes, there are some medium are invented for people to read in digital conveniently. For example, people will use the Kindle, iPad, and reading apps on the computers to read books instead of reading papers. In addition, not only people read the digital books or magazines, but they also browse the information which relates to their life. For example, people checks their messages and email everyday by their cell phone. Also, people download some SNS apps like Facebook and Twitter to expand their social connection.

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