The rise in popularity of the Internet to conduct daily activities is having a direct effect on the way people process and store information. It has never been easier for one to gain instant access to information whenever needed. This information comes from all over the world, and is accessible right at our fingertips. With the convenience of instant information access, the question needs to be posed as to how this is affecting our way of life and processes for storing information. The rising use of social media is also beginning to negatively affect people’s thought processes; we are losing the ability to think critically, perpetuating belief perseverance and confirmation bias. As people surf the web, they increasingly build a repertoire of beliefs based on the information they relate to. Often they will choose to believe false information simply because it follows the pattern of their preconceived notions. This leads us to a burning question: Is the Internet dumbing us down? As technology is developing at faster rates than ever, the Internet is proving to be quite the wonder. Never before has it been easier for a person to have instant access to nearly all of the information in the world, right at their fingertips. In 2012, the Internet had 2,405,518,376 users (Internet World Stats, 2012). But, with this convenience of instant information, one must stop to ask what the negative repercussions may be. Does all of this mindless surfing inadvertently lead to the loss of sustained attention and reflective thought (Tucker, 2010)? As noted by Clark (2010), cognitive psychologists are concerned over the development of behaviors directly tied to people's need to be in constant connection, including directing their attention toward their... ... middle of paper ... ... (2012) point to the positive factors that the Internet brings to us by offering social networking sites that contribute to the positive well-being of users. Carr (2011) points out the double-sided coin of neuroplasticity. As evidenced by Graham and Metaxas (2003), it is easy for Internet users to fall for inaccurate information, including advertising claims, government misinformation, and propaganda. It would be prudent for schools to focus on teaching students how to accurately conduct Internet searches and identify reliable information. At this time, there may not be an answer as to whether the Internet is dumbing us down. It is important, as with any good thing, to observe moderation. Works Cited Bargh, J. A., & McKenna, K. A. (2004). The internet and social life. Annual Review of Psychology, 55(1), 573-590. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.141922
In The Shallows by Nicholas Carr, he asserts that the evolution of information and communication technology (ICTs) is having a detrimental impact on our brains despite the many benefits and advances we have made with it. His main focus is on the internet which he commonly refers to as the “universal medium” (92). Carr presents a very detailed but biased argument in which he views the internet and other technologies as the adversary of critical thinking and progress. To Carr, we are sacrificing our ability to think logically because we are choosing the simpler way to gain knowledge.
The internet is our conduit for accessing a wide variety of information. In his article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” Nicholas Carr discusses how the use of the internet affects our thought process in being unable to focus on books or longer pieces of writing. The author feels that “someone, or something, has been tinkering with [his] brain” over the past few years (Carr 731). While he was easily able to delve into books and longer articles, Carr noticed a change in his research techniques after starting to use the internet. He found that his “concentration often [started] to drift after two or three pages” and it was a struggle to go back to the text (Carr 732). His assertion is that the neural circuits in his brain have changed as a result of surfing endlessly on the internet doing research. He supports this statement by explaining how his fellow writers have had similar experiences in being unable to maintain their concentrations. In analyzing Carr’s argument, I disagree that the internet is slowly degrading our capacity for deep reading and thinking, thereby making us dumber. The Web and Google, indeed, are making us smarter by allowing us access to information through a rapid exchange of ideas and promoting the creativity and individualization of learning.
Knowing that a most of his audience spends a majority of their time on the web; Carr concedes by admitting to his audience that, “ For more than a decade now, [he has] been spending a lot of time online” (Carr 92) and that the internet has been, “ [G]odsend to him as a writer ” (Carr 92) as he can now complete, “ Research that once required day in the stacks of periodicals rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes”(Carr 92). By conceding that the internet is amazing, he is not alienating a large part of his audience who believe the internet is a “Godsend”(Carr 92). Furthermore, Jay Heinrichs ( an author of THANK YOU FOR ARGUING) states, “ In rhetoric, a sterling reputation is more than just good; it’s persuasive (Heinrichs 44). It is important for Carr to come off as a trustworthy individual, and by conceding to the internet being amazing, he has done that. Throughout the article, Carr refers to the research that has found the same finding as Carr’s beliefs; that being the internet is affecting our cognitive ability. He cites, “[L]ong-term neurological and physiological experiments that will provide a definite picture of how the internet use is affecting our cognition”(Carr 93). He goes on to cite international studies from the U.K educational consortium who have observed, “ a form of skimming activity”(Carr 93) and the users are “ [H]opping from one source to another and rarely returning to any source they’d already visited” (Carr 93) and to Carr, this type of activity is changing they way our brains function. Carr’s appeal to ethos is done through him conceding, and the vast research he cites. By him conceding his trustworthiness is established as he shows the reader he shares the same view; forcing the reader to take Carr's argument to heart. By Carr citing ongoing multinational research, his credibility is established as he has done the work necessary to validate his argument;
Steven Pinker and Nicholas Carr share their opposing views on the effects that mass media can have on the brain. In Carr’s Atlantic Monthly article “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” it explores his viewpoints on how increased computer use affects our thought process in a negative manner. Carr critically analyzes that having widespread access to the internet via the internet has done more harm by disabling our ability to think complexly like it is the researching in a library. On the other hand, Pinker expresses how the media improves our brain’s cognitive functions. Pinker expresses that we should embrace the new technological advances and all we need is willpower to not get carried away in the media. Although both authors bring very valid arguments
Nicholas Carr states that spending too much time on the internet has caused him to lose focus while reading, writing, and focusing in general. He claims that he gets too wrapped up in the pleasures of the internet such as shopping, scrolling through Facebook, paying bills, etcetera. In summary, it is shortening his attention span. Carr thinks that he needs to step away from the internet in order to correct his “neural circuitry”.
2. Previous Research: There is a debate as to whether Internet use has a positive or negative impact in our social lives. One study found that for 40% of the college students in their sample, the Internet had been instrumental in the formation of new friendships. Moreover, 7% of their sample had used the Internet to find a romantic partner. The participants in the study claimed that one of the main benefits of communicating through the Internet was reduced social anxiety and shyness (Knox, 2001). In another study, there was evidence that lonely individuals were more likely to use email and the Internet in order to stay connected with others—in theory, giving them a healthier social life—however, evidence showed that heavy use had a negative social impact (Morahan-Martin, 2003). Finally, another study found that individuals comfortable or regularly involved in social gatherings reported more positive effects from Internet use than shy individuals less involved in their community (Kraut, 2002).
Over the years, technology has thrived and became very popular. One of the most used technologies over the time is the Internet. Although, it is very popular many have noticed the effects that it has on our mind and the way we process new information. It’s a struggle to even deeply read an article that is more than a few pages for many that once was so very easy. Nicholas Carr is one of the many people that have noticed what the Internet is doing to us!
The argument that the web is to blame for making us dumb by Nicholas Carr convinces his audience that they might succumb to becoming braindead due to excessive online clicking. Hopping from link to link never fully understanding the content. While Michael Rosenwald points out that we are slowly molding the brain to only skim and search for key words to put together. With these two programed ways our brains work soon libraries and book stores will cease to exist. Or will they? Clay Shirky challenges this thought by saying that among the cat videos and conspiracy theories there lies true gold within the websites of the internet. The gold consists of scientific journals and a place to discuss anything and everything. A community to share ideas and culture. Has the internet changed your brain for the
Nowadays people don’t bother sitting down and going through an article or book from page to page, because it’s not a good use of their time as they can get all information faster through the web. By examining the behaviors of computer users, both authors argue that people don’t really care about deep knowledge of what they are learning or reading. People want to know how things work or are connected in an instant. They feel that they don't need to critically think about the information to help get them along in life. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” supports this claim by citing a scientific study from the University College London were the researchers examined the behavior of visitors to a couple popular websites and found that people using the sites displayed skimming activity (41). The users of the sites did not bother taking the time to read the articles, but they instead power browsed, jumping from one site to the other and hardly returning to the websites they had already visited. In addition, the internet has made people accustomed to new reading styles that people don’t fully comprehend or absorb material. They read things for apparent meaning. Carr also says “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a jet ski.”
Various electronics are frequently used to go on pointless websites, such as Twitter and Facebook, which ruin society’s social abilities. More and more people use social media on the internet as a communication source. This does not apply merely to kids and teens, but adults as well. Using these sorts of websites as a way of communicating causes many individuals’ social skills to decrease. A plethora of children and teens would rather stay inside and interact with their friends through the internet than go hang out with them. Before technology people were not afraid to go up to a random person and talk to them. Now many friendships form through the internet and these friendships are not genuine. When these “friends” meet in person, they find nothing to talk about. For example, I remember after watching Perks of being a Wallflower, a movie taking place in the early nineties, my friends and I discussed how all the characters communicated in person and during hanging out they played games and talked. Now...
Although Carr’s sources may be highly praised in their field or study, they are not experts in the effects the Internet has on our minds. Bloggers are often very opinionated and do not pose as reliable sources for information. The fact tha...
In Nicholas Carr’s article Is Google Making Us Stupid? he explains his concern about how the internet is negatively affecting the minds of its users. Carr uses his own experiences, input from his peers, scholarly research, and concepts from historically significant people, to support his view that the ease of having a myriad of information readily available (via the internet) has a crippling effect on the mind. Nicholas first explains his newfound difficulty when attempting to read two or more pages of material. He states that he notices a growing inability to concentrate. He attributes this difficulty to not only the large amount of time that he spends online, but to the amount of information that he is able to find in such a short timeframe. According to Carr’s interpretation of concepts expressed by media theorist Marshall McLuhan, all forms of media serve as a medium for the transport of information, thoughts, and the methods for formulating those thoughts. He believes that the internet alters one’s mind to process information the same way that it is distributed; in a fast...
When we develop the habit of consuming large volumes of web content we therefore diminish our “capacity for concentration and contemplation” in f...
The internet is becoming an extremely important tool for nearly everybody. It is the most recent and progressive media surely to be the “medium” of the future. Yet the debate persists that the internet may or may not benefit the human mind. The web/internet makes the human mind collectively more intelligent. For instance, if a person searches for a topic online, the answer would be immediately available rather than going to the library to find several books and periodicals for information. While a person searches through the internet for data, this research process helps develop areas of the human brain not normally used.
Answers are what make the world go round. Everyone loves answers because they give people gratification. Luckily, today we have a whole database of answers. This database is more commonly known as the Internet. Although the Internet is an amazing tool for research, the Internet can negatively affect how we learn and how we obtain answers. The fact that the Internet is so accessible, and is so easy to use, knowledge and answers are constantly available. One might think this would make our culture smarter, but from a certain standpoint, this surplus of knowledge has made our culture less intelligent. This is true because the Internet has granted people the ability to attain knowledge without actually thinking. This horrible byproduct of the Internet has opened the door to many negatives. After talking with Morristown-Beard School teacher, Christian Rabin, about this subject, it is clear that the over-indulgence of the Internet is not always good for our brains.