Is the Internet good for human beings? Or is this new technology making our lives worse? When the Internet was not part of our daily lives, we depended mostly on mail and newspapers as a form of communication. As a result, we could not immediately retrieve information from one another. Yet now that the Internet has become part of our lives, it has given us the benefit of instant access to the web with using just a smart device. Honestly, every technology has its advantages and disadvantages. I believe that the Internet is like a double-edged sword, which has both positive and negative impacts. Even though the Internet creates some bad consequences, such as increased plagiarism, it is generally beneficial to us. It enriches our knowledge; it helps us communicate with others more conveniently; it provides us more learning opportunities and access to information; and it greatly contributes to people’s intellectual development.
Some people may think that the Internet does not help us gain more knowledge because we spend more time on the Internet than we do in reading books. Reading books is definitely a way to enrich one’s knowledge. However, I believe that the Internet actually enriches our knowledge. The Internet is widespread so we can learn other countries’ news, cultures and languages online. If we want to know what is happening in a specific foreign country, we can simply search its country name on a search engine. We then can learn about the current situation in that region. Moreover, we can learn different languages through the Internet, too. As our society becomes international and competitive, it is really necessary for every of us to learn at least one more language besides our native language. The Internet provides us man...
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...revent “125 million trees” from being cut, the possibility of sandstorms will be decreased, too.
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Thomas Cooley. New York: Norton, 2013. 206-210. Print.
For centuries humans have depended on natural evolutionary processes for intelligence. Gathering information or doing simple research was a process that required large amounts of time and equipment until the proper information was found. Over the past several years we have seen how technology has advanced for the better of humanity. In “Get Smarter” by Jamais Cascio he brings to our attention some of the ways technology has benefited us today and how it could continue to benefit us in the future as well. The internet has become one of the largest breakthroughs in technology and become one of the most helpful tools created so far.
According to www.telegraph.co.uk, “[y]oung people aged between 16 and 24 spend more than 27 hours a week on the internet.” Certainly this much internet usage would have an effect on someone. What exactly is the effect of using the internet too much? Nicholas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” argues that we are too reliant on the internet and it is making the us dim-witted and shortens our attention span. While Clive Thompson’s article “Smarter than You Think: How Technology Is Changing Our Minds for the Better” states that technology is not only a collection of knowledge, it also a method of sharing and recording our own knowledge. I fall between both Carr and Thompson. I agree with car on his points of us being too reliant on the internet but disagree when he states that it is making us less intelligent. Meanwhile, I also support Thompson’s statement that the internet allows us to assimilate vast amounts of knowledge but disagree with his opinion on how we should be reliant on
David Crystal along with Deborah Tannen work together to defend the Internet language and the belief of the new language ruining the English language. Baheri states that the Internet has been blamed for illiteracy in children and stupidity in adults, and she disagrees. David Crystal’s research also proves the statement wrong and points to the opposite indicating that the Internet makes people better readers. I think that the Internet helps with reading faster and getting messages through. The Internet also opens us up to different ways of speaking, which helps us keep up with things and always remain
Although the Internet has increased how much we read, it has deteriorated our concentration level. We are no longer able to read long passages and stay interested. We have resorted to skimming or finding a shorter version. It has also affected our ability to take an analytical approach to what we read. We no longer go beyond comprehending the information we take in. Outside of using the Internet to “enhance” our mind, Carr has also made the point that it is a daily involvement. We incorporate it in our everyday lives, because it is a source of entertainment or serves as some type of convenience for us.
In Steven Pinker’s article, “Mind Over Mass Media” he argues that every advance in media technology has charge of declining intelligence and morality. Pinker supports the idea that there are intellectual benefits obtained from mass media and that there are positive effects of new media technologies on mental development using some great examples related to our daily life.
The internet is ever changing, and so our minds, but can the internet mold our minds? Nicholas Carr and Michael Rosenwald support the idea that the reading we do online is making it harder to be able to sit down with a good book. In their papers they discuss the downfalls of using the web. While on the other hand author Clay Shirky challenges that thought in his piece. Shirky directly battles the idea that the internet is damaging our brains by suggesting that internet use can be insightful. In this essay I will evaluate all three articles and expose their strengths and weaknesses then add my own take on the situation.
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The issue of the Internet having psychological benefits has two sides, as does any issue. James E. Katz and Philip Aspden present the yes side of this issue. Katz and Aspden used a national random telephone survey to back up their side on the issue. The survey conducted in October of 1995 compiled the individuals who took the survey into five specific groups. The groups consisted of those not aware of the Internet, non-users aware of the Internet, former users, recent users-those who started using the Internet in 1995, and longtime users-those who started using the Internet prior to 1995. The survey questioned community involvement (community, leisure, and religious,) involvement in existing communities (face to face, family, Internet,) and friendship formation (Internet and beyond.) They drew the conclusion that the Internet is helping to form new friendships and social relationships. Therefore, giving people the chance to join new groups and organizations other than those in their own community.
Today the world revolves around different kinds of technology that are used for many things, some are necessary and some are not. Technology is a big part of our lives, and many would say we couldn’t live without it. Weather people like it or not technology is here, and it’s not going away. But a big question is; Is technology good or bad? Advancements in technology are bad For many reasons. Some are anyone who has a laptop can find someones personal information, people don’t get as much face to face interaction because they are always talking on the internet, and kids aren’t using proper grammar online, so they are losing their writing skills.
Mass Media. Ed. William Dudley. Farmington Hills, MI: Thompson Gale, 2005. 121-130.
Technology has advance so much since the old days. We see technology everywhere but one major thing that has change since back then into now has been the internet usage. Believe it or not internet is being used everywhere. First, it was used in desktops now is on laptops, cellphones, and tablets and even on TV and Video games. Internet, is very bad for society but three major reasons why is bad is due to many deaths, creating health issues, and bullying.
Campbell, Richard. Media & Culture: an introduction to mass communication. Bedford/St. Martin?s: Boston, N.Y. 2005.
Numerous people praise the Internet and its ability to educate young people. More and more schools are switching to online learning to help children academically. Studies have shown that educational games can help children’s visual intelligence skills (Subrahmanyam, Kaveri, et al. 128). Similarly, some research has found that computer use helps kids in their alphabet recognition, language, early mathematical knowledge and learning (Bremer 412). Contrastly, homework may contribute to academic and intellectual benefits, but the gains are relatively small compared to the negative effects of the Internet on mental health (Shields, Margie, and Behrman 10). Other research has shown that computers alone are not a sufficient replacement of actual teachers and classrooms. Several studies show the Internet to be a hindrance when it comes to academic achievement and cognitive development. Even computer learning software has been know to smite creativity (Bremer
From a positive perspective, computers provide us with vast amount of resources and information and as a species have made us much smarter. Individually, it has made us more knowledgeable because we can easily find the information we need, although, if the internet were to be taken away, we would become less smart. As the human race becomes more interconnected, it means we have more abilities and the internet has us all wired into one ‘super brain’ that is smarter than any individual. Another example of computing technology is ‘texting’. Humans can now communicate over long distances instantly and easily, but there is a common misconception that ‘texters’ are ‘dumbin...
A useful thing about internet is the electronic mail, as it gives us faster results than its regular and normal air mail. Internet gives information in any aspects of knowledge which is useful for student and for the business. Internet changes our life (and where sure to that). It gives us a lot of knowledge, advantages and disadvantage of course and we should be aware to that by using it and knowing what are those disadvantages. Though it gives a lot of advantages to us we should always look on the other side of it, for the reason of the social development growth especially to children. (Sonia79, 2005)