In “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr writes about how he has a challenging time reading books that after a few pages he loses concentration and that his mind wanders to other things. The reading that use to come natural to him no longer does and he believes the internet is to blame, what once took a few hours searching through multiple books in the library for information now can be found in a few minutes searched on the internet. He also mentions other bloggers that confess how they either no longer read books or do not read articles that are longer than a few paragraphs or that they just skim articles on the internet. Carr lists many posts from other people also from different years some going back to the 1980s.
In the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” Nicholas Carr talks about whether or not modern day technology is making us lazier. He starts out with a popular scene from Stanley Kubricks 2001: A Space Odyssey which is a conversation between a computer and a man named Dave. The computer is saying that its mind is going and that its artificial brain is malfunctioning. This eye catcher shows us how much we actually interact with computer technology now days is what they predicted so long ago the future would be like.
Meredith Weese D. Ballenger ENGL – 112 10 March 2023 Evaluation Essay Nicholas Carr’s article in The Atlantic magazine July/August 2008 issue titled “Is Google Making Us Stupid” purpose is to inform the readers. With the way the internet and its vast amount of information at the tip of our fingers has altered our ability to dive deep into readings. Whether it is for educational purposes or pleasure our ability to spend hours in a book have changed. Nicholas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid” achieved its purpose because the examples he used from himself and others, the writing is clear easy to follow as he makes relevant references to the way other technologies have changed our way of thinking, his writing is objective.
In Nicholas Carr’s essay, “Is Google Making us Stupid?”, he argues that the more humans rely on computers for understanding, the more human intelligence will fall. He starts his argument off by referencing the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Carr uses this movie to compare how the supercomputer in the movie feels his mind going and how he feels the same. He then gets into the specifics of this memory lost.
“Is Google Making Us Stupid” written by Nicholas Carr is a great article. He attempts to help us understand that as a society the more that the World Wide Web turns into our essential source of data, it starts to lower our ability to read books. Despite the fact that reading offers information that the internet may already have, it makes the learning process slower. One of the first things that Carr makes clear in this writing piece is that he loses focus very quickly when reading. Carr felt that the web should make searching things quick and easy.
In Nicholas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” , Carr first gives the impression that Google is making us less intelligent. Although, as he goes on through the article, he explains how this isn’t the case. In reality, it’s just changing the way we think and how we process information. Carr begins his explanation by providing a quote from the movie called “A Space Odyssey”, then introduces the reader to how his own thought processes and concentration has changed because of technology.
“Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Argument Analysis In July 2008, Nicholas Carr wrote an article for The Atlantic magazine, titled “Is Google making us stupid?” (Carr, 2008). In this paper, I will analyze the argument he presents.
In the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr he clearly states, “I can feel it, too. Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory” (Carr). This quote suggests that the author feels the effects of the Internet just as everyone else has. Most people would agree that use of the Internet is a daily task yet few can deal with life without the Internet. The Net has made life easier but as Carr suggest it is my contention that it is changing the way people think thus making us “stupid”.
Throughout “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, Carr explores the theory that the Internet, which is viewed as one of the greatest inventions of all time, is actually harming the human race, and making us less human, and more machine. This is a perfect example of how seemingly favorable change can actually have a serious, long-lasting destructive effects on the recipients. Similarly, many seemingly atrocious changes may have silver linings, waiting to be
He strengthens his argument by quoting James Olds, a professor of neuroscience, and Daniel Bell, a sociologist. Both Olds and Bell states that technology affects the brain by causing new circuits to form in place of the old ones. Since the internet is so popular, most previous media have to change in order to keep up with the internet. He went on to state that everything from the news to magazines and newspapers have adapted to the change due to the internet. Most articles in the newspaper and magazines were shortened, and there are now crawls at the bottom of the screen while the news is
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
Nicholas Carr, the author of “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” from The Atlantic, argues that the use of the internet has given people an excuse to become lazy and therefore become stupid. People have become more machine-like since they use the internet for everything. Clive Thompson, author of “Is Google Wrecking Our Memory” from Slate, proposes that people are treating technology like our friend or family and relying on it to remember details for us. Daniel M. Wegner and Adrian F. Ward, authors of “The Internet Has Become the External Hard Drive for Our Memories” from Scientific American, discuss that people turn to the internet for information, storing memories and much more. The Internet has become an easy access point for people all over to get
Genesis 1:3 from the Bible quotes ‘let there be light”, symbolizing the beginning of life. When Steve Jobs said, “let there be an iPhone”, it was the beginning of a whole new world. It turned the phone industry to another level and he took the world a step further into the future. Before the launch, people were using Blackberry; a phone with a 2-inch screen and a non-touch screen keyboard. When the iPhone was revealed to the public, people were awed by the features as it was “never before seen”.
The internet has been our best friend now a day. Nicholas Carr, a Pulitzer nominee writer, wants to inform people who care about intellectual issues, about what the internet is doing to our brains. He felt changes in his own brain, his friends have noticed it mention in his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Writer, Joe Keohane, informs to American voter around midterm elections in his article “How Facts Backfire” that we don’t really take in the actual information and it mislead us to the wrong facts. Both describe the benefits of using the internet but also how it affects our brains.
Actions when repeating constantly, turns into habits in the brain that be done without noticing. However when we stop doing those actions, it becomes hard to do, and this is what happens to our brain when we switch from reading books to clicking on web pages to get information. Deep thinking becomes a hard task for people. The brain is affected when jumping from one page to another, spending little time to gain information reduces the ability of concentration and focus, which is causing deep thinking to become harder.
