Complex Thinkers In Fahrenheit 451

Importance of Complex Thinkers in Society Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 presents a dystopian world where humans lack individual thought, because they’re expected to follow the societal norm of loathing books and using technology instead. Bradbury teaches readers that without literature, individuals fail to form ideas of their own and they all conform to the same way of thinking. In the article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” Nicholas Carr writes about how people who would once be able to quickly interpret information now find it difficult to cognitively function the same as before, because of the increased use of technology. Therefore, both Bradbury and Carr would agree on the fact that complex thinking is important for interpreting and challenging

The book demonstrates the dangers of simplistic thinking, by providing an insightful conversation between a wise character and the main character, and the article talks about how the ability to process information fades the more we use technology. When Montag goes to Faber for help, Faber explains to him that, “‘the magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us. Of course you couldn’t know this, of course you still can’t understand what I mean when I say all this.’” Faber clearly tells him that he knows Montag can’t understand anything he’s saying, because he hasn’t even grasped a concept of what the universe actually is. He’s belittling Montag, because he doesn’t have the capability to think for himself. This is an embarrassing interaction for Montag, and it wouldn’t have occurred if Montag demonstrated the ability to challenge his job as a book-burner and explored his own morals. Faber continues on with the dangers of technology, saying that, “‘it rushes you on so quickly to its own conclusions your mind hasn’t time to protest, ‘What

The ability to read simple text for a long period of time is fading away, which brings light to how much of an impact technology is making, and how society is losing complex thinkers. Carr uses himself as an example and claims, “now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do…The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.” The future of this generation is in danger, because people are developing a low attention span and low interest to delve deep and research different topics properly. Carr continues talking about his own experience and explains, ““They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles.” Technology plays a major role in shaping our thinking, because it results in us thinking less about what we’re seeing online and just assuming that it’s true. It’s depriving us of the ability to challenge the information, which puts us in danger of misinformation and lack of individual thought. Furthermore, in the book, Beatty explains to Mildred how fast-paced news media is, and how people view the information but they don’t actually