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Summary Of Is Google Making USupid By Nicholas Carr

942 Words4 Pages

In the article Is Google Making Us Stupid?, Nicholas Carr asserts his claim that the Internet might have negative effects on cognition, potentially tapering with our capacity for concentration and contemplation, therefore making us incapable of holding a long attention span especially while reading a lengthy text. In short, Carr is trying to argue that the Internet has shaped our way of thinking and attentiveness. Though technology may have changed our way of thinking, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we are unable to understand and make connections with long texts.
At one point in his article, Carr quotes James Olds as saying, “The brain has the ability to reprogram itself on the fly, altering the way it functions.” In making comparisons …show more content…

People searching for immediacy and skimming through texts might play a role in the lessening of attention spans but it seems to be more of a product of choice and self discipline, rather than a product of using the Internet. Carr’s argument about the Internet causing these effects on cognition seems to be an excuse for an individual’s own habits. Sometimes, I almost feel the need to be distracted and compelled to check my phone, email, Facebook etc. However, I found that to be my choice. Whenever I tell myself that I need to get work done before indulging in an Internet-savvy society or when I put my phone somewhere that is out of sight, my urge to use technology has diminished almost completely because of the self discipline I have enforced. I have discovered that I am most distracted when there are multiple tabs irrelevant to my work open on my computer. Normally this occurs when I have shopping and social media windows open, which is a big red flag for me when I am trying to do work. What happens is I get the urge to check in on everyone’s lives on Facebook …show more content…

Since he found himself skimming online content, rather than reading it carefully and to its fullest potential, he said, "I'm not thinking the way I used to." The only instances that I have found myself skimming for immediacy in text was when I have not done my work and am in a time crunch right before an assignment is

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