In his writing originally published in the Atlantic “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, Nicholas Carr demonstrates that our increased internet usage is impeding our ability to concentrate and read deeply.
Carr begins his writing by bringing in a reference from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey which highlights the contrast between a cold human and a computer who is able to feel its mind going. Similar to the computer, the author can feel a change in his mind because he is no longer able to read deeply; a skill that used to come easily to him. Another thing that has changed in the past few years is his internet usage. He now spends more time online doing research or looking for entertainment. The vast expanse of information found on the internet comes at the expense of the author’s “capacity for concentration and contemplation” (315). After talking to others, Carr found that they also attribute their decrease in concentration to the internet. The author includes studies on internet habits that indicate that people do indeed jump from page to page, never really reading deeply into the content. Carr summarizes the findings of experts that demonstrate that the internet promotes a type of reading that does not
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Carr explains that because our brains are constantly changing, the technology we use has an effect on us. He uses the invention of the clock as an example. It caused us to rely on time to tell us when to do things instead of our senses. The author writes the many tools being replaced by the internet now include various distractors. He has noticed that the influence of the internet has extended into traditional media, which has become shorter to rival the convenience of the internet. As demonstrated, the internet plays a great role in the author’s life, yet there is little information about its