Are readers to believe that the internet decreases one’s intelligence? Nicholas Carr, a prolific writer, argues that the more people use the web the harder it is to concentrate and stay focused. Is it fair to say the internet decreases people’s intelligence just because it can be more difficult to focus? Nicholas Carr’s argument in “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” could be problematic due to flawed evidence and assumptions and possibly failure to address different points of view.
First of all, Carr does provide some flawed evidence. “And we still await the long-term neurological and psychological experiments that will provide a definitive picture of how the internet use affects cognition” (737). Carr by his own words acknowledges that evidence that is more definitive is needed. In addition, who is doing this experiment? Where is it taking place? The pieces of evidence that Carr does provide could be true, but without a source for all the evidence provided, that cannot be determined. Nevertheless, Carr does identify many of his sources. “As we use what the sociologist Daniel Bell has called our intellectual technologies- the tools that extend
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For example, Carr states that the internet is affecting people's ability to concentrate: “And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation” (737). Carr validates his experience as a result of using the Internet to that of others: “When I mention my troubles with reading to friends and acquaintances-literary types, most of them- many say they're having similar experiences” (737). He later provides the name of Bruce Friedman, a regular blogger, who has experienced similar difficulties. While Carr does provide the experiences of numerous other people to support his assumptions, further scientific investigations would help validate his