In Nicholas Carr’s writing, “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” mentions multiple examples of why the internet and the simplicity of looking up and getting exactly what we were looking for are causing a drop in the way we think and the intelligence of our minds. Carr explains that he was once a huge reader and could comprehend ten to fifteen-page articles easily, but the directness of the internet had dulled his brain that he could not read a few paragraphs before he gave up and his mind started drifting off into the emptiness of his brain. Carr mentions that the Net is being the universal medium causing information that is read and learned go in one ear and out the other. Carr defends his positions by adding multiple examples showing that the Net
Comedian Jon Stewart states “The Internet is just a world passing around notes in a classroom”. In the chapter “Public Thinking” from the book Smarter Than You Think, Clive Thompson addresses the topic of modern day technology, and argues that the internet is an effective and useful tool which positively impacts the way people think. Thompson is a contributing writer for The New York Times and Wired Magazine, as well as author of the book Smarter Than You Think with degrees in Political Science and English. He supports this claim by referring to Ory Okolloh, a law student and blogger about Kenyan politics and corruption, and describing her positive experience with the internet. He then refers to the “audience effect” which can clarify the mind and change one’s performance.
In Nicholas Carr's article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?,” the author argues that the Internet has become a new form of acquiring knowledge in people’s lives. Additionally, the author supports his own statement by demonstrating that within just a few clicks, one can instantly gain any information or article online without the need to visit and search a physical library. However, even though the Internet ameliorates the quality and quantity of resources to gain knowledge, he believes that as the source of knowledge is replaced by a convenient web page, society becomes easily distracted. In Clive Thompson's article, “Smarter Than You Think.
In his essay Is Google Making Us Stupid, Nicholas Carr argues that our dependence on the Internet changes the way we read and think. He includes his own personal testimony to support this claim, as well as others’ descriptions, including several friends, and bloggers that Carr quote. While he lacks scientific proof supporting his claim, multiple testimonies support his claim that the internet has changed the way people think. However, Carr views this negatively, saying that “I’m not thinking the way I used to think… my concentration often starts to drift… I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text” (633-634).
Humanity is in a perpetual state of trying to make living in the world an easier place. In just a few seconds, people can access information at their disposal, instead of having to look through different books to find what you need. But the question arises; does this boundless place for information honestly make us more informed than before we had the internet? Joe Keohane, the author of the article “How Facts Backfire,” is a political journalist who has also written articles on technology and culture.
Carr pulls out a collection of his ideas on what the internet is doing to the way we think. Throughout his essay of “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, Nicholas
Social media has been long known to have effects on the sociability aspect of many people’s lives. Though, it’s often wondered how severely the use of these platforms can alter people’s minds and their outlook on life. In the article published in a popular publication for everyday users of the internet with an interest in psychology and social well being, Psychology Today, “Does Using Social Media Make You Lonely?” written by David Ludden who has a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology, the author addresses this issue by examining how one’s social life and loneliness can be adjusted depending on their use of social media. Ludden crafts a convincing argument that the effects of social media on an individual’s social well being depends on how they use
Is Google making us stupid? Nicholas Carr, author and writer, asserts that today's fascinations with everything online is changing the ability of society to think independently. Is it fair to assume that the entirety of internet users will be less intelligent based on ease of access? The argument Nicholas Carr presents in "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" is slightly flawed because of his lack of strong evidence, yet it is intriguing from the highly debatable assertion and historical viewpoints. The main evidence Carr uses to prove the internet is changing people's minds is that of the research conducted at University College London.
Typically, we think about everyday people, kids, and ourselves. Most everyone has used the internet to think for them some way, what Carr fears, never taking the time to think deeply about what we’ve found. He suggests, instead of technology enhancing our abilities, humans are using technology, as a crutch, to think for them. Carr states that “as we come to rely on to computers mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence of the world that flattens into artificial intelligence” (328). Thompson is not oblivious to the negative aspects of the internet, in fact even he “[is] hoping the trade-off is worth it.”
Sacrifice is in every part of your life. For example, you sacrifice time to study. The knowledge received is important, but what about what you lose, such as valuable time? In the book The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare, the main character, Kit, is tested through many rather unfortunate events and write something here that ties into sacrifice. Kit lost her grandfather so she has to cross the Atlantic to live with her aunt and uncle, along with her two cousins, Judith and Mercy.
In “The Internet Isn’t Making Us Dumber--It’s Making Us More ‘Meta-Ignorant’ (New York Magazine, July 27, 2016),” William Poundstone argues people think they know more than they actually do and our use of the internet makes things worse because we don’t bother to memorize facts anymore. To begin with, some people are easily fooled with or without the internet. This can be further explained by the “Dunning-Kruger effect.” To test this effect, physiologists, David Dunning and Justin Kruger gave a series of questions to students and then them asked to rate their confidence in their answers. Those whose confidence levels were high did not score as well as their peers and vice versa.
I SrA Dofonso Fernando am writing this letter on behalf of my family and myself. I believe I would benefit from a humanitarian reassignment. I am applying for reassignment to Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, Nevada due to financial, emotional, and health circumstances. This reassignment would benefit the military and I as I could focus on my health and my family’s health, organize finances and have the ability to provide for my family if I was not geographically separated. The financial burden of maintaining a household in both Hawaii and Nevada, due to our physical separation at this time, is also a hardship on our marriage and ability to exist as a family.
Rhetorical Analysis of “Mind Over Mass Media” Many people believe that new forms of electronic media such as search engines, which offer easy access to incredible amounts of information are harmful to people’s intelligence because they allow us to understand only the main idea of the information provided instead of allowing us to gain an in depth understanding of the topic. Steven Pinker, a professor at Harvard University argues in his essay “Mind Over Mass Media” that these new forms of electronic media are actually beneficial to people's intelligence and the accusations made against it are unwarranted. He is successful in doing this because he brings up counterarguments and disproves them, he offers advice in practicing self control when
In only a couple of decades, technology has imbedded itself into people’s lives, to the point it would be difficult to live without using technology. In Neil Postman’s speech “Informing Ourselves to Death,” he explains how not all technology is being used for what its original purpose was, and how people are starting to drown in the useless information technology gives. Postman also makes the claim, “And therefore, in a sense, we are more naïve than those in the Middle Ages, and more frightened, for we can be made to believe almost anything” (5). Though Postman gave this speech about thirty years ago, this accurately describes modern society. Technology was meant to help people learn and improve their lives, but it has instead increased the naivety of the world.
Technology affects almost every aspect in our life. Nowadays people use computers and smart phones in their personal social activities, business, education, medical care, politics and, most of all, in entertainment. Needless to say that technology makes our life easier and is the major reason that helps people develop, especially technically, but it certainly affects our life negatively from a social perspective leading people to feel lonely. You don’t have to be physically alone to feel lonely.
