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How has technology impacted education
How has technology impacted education
Effects Of Technology In The Education System
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Google is “making us stupid” by contributing to a rising trend of superficial thinking. In this case, the definition of stupidity is based on Nicholas Carr’s belief that Google reduces our intellectual power by narrowing our focus and processing ability, which may alter the structure of our cognitive processes as we adapt to technology. This narrowing of thought impacts our critical thinking abilities, which contributes to our increasing dependence on technology. The combination of superabundant information and the decline of patience and slower thought may be creating a situation where we are passively watching as “our own intelligence flattens into artificial intelligence” (Carr). We seem to be moving towards a model where we lazily substitute Google’s ideas for our own, consuming instead of creating.
Society is moving from a multidimensional approach to gathering information to depending on the Internet as our main conduit of information. The advantages (ease of use, instant availability) seem attractive, which leads to widespread adoption, but the interface itself may limit our intellectual capacity. As Carr observes from media theorist Marshall McLuhan’s work, “media are not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought” (Carr). Because reading is not an automatic skill for humans, but a learned behavior, our flexible brains may well be building a different cognitive framework to process the new format. The short formats we prefer to read online can therefore influence our thought patterns to be similarly abrupt.
When we develop the habit of consuming large volumes of web content we therefore diminish our “capacity for concentration and contemplation” in f...
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...oogle’s profits soar. By failing to ask Google, “What’s in it for you?” we demonstrate flawed reasoning ability.
If we identify reduced critical thinking skills, a narrowed attention span, a lack of focus, and general intellectual laziness as symptoms of stupidity, the claim that Google makes us “stupid” becomes credible. When we limit ourselves to superficial patterns of thought by narrowing our attention span, we then find ourselves dependent on Google to fill in the gaps. Unfortunately, when we rely on Google to bridge these gaps in our intelligence, we reduce our own mental aptitude by blindly accepting the “artificial intelligence” offered by technology instead of relying on our own capacity for reasoning and creativity.
Works Cited
Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid." TheAtlantic.com. The Atlantic Magazine, July/August 2008. Web. 18 February 2012.
With the rise of technology and the staggering availability of information, the digital age has come about in full force, and will only grow from here. Any individual with an internet connection has a vast amount of knowledge at his fingertips. As long as one is online, he is mere clicks away from Wikipedia or Google, which allows him to find what he needs to know. Despite this, Nicholas Carr questions whether Google has a positive impact on the way people take in information. In his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Carr explores the internet’s impact on the way people read. He argues that the availability of so much information has diminished the ability to concentrate on reading, referencing stories of literary types who no longer have the capacity to sit down and read a book, as well as his own personal experiences with this issue. The internet presents tons of data at once, and it is Carr’s assumption that our brains will slowly become wired to better receive this information.
Atlantic journalist Nicholas Carr confesses that he feels something has been “tinkering with his brain.” The internet, he fears, may be messing with our minds. We have lost the ability to focus on a simple task, and memory retention is steadily declining. He is worried about the effect the internet has on the human brain, and where it may take us in the future. In response to this article, Jamais Cascio, also a journalist for the Atlantic, provides his stance on the issue. He argues that this different way of thinking is an adaptation derived from our environment. Ultimately, he thinks that this staccato way of thinking is simply a natural evolution, one that will help to advance the human race.
This week I learned many literary information skills in online use of information. The question in the article "is Google making us stupid was a little too narrow in interpreting our cognition capabilities and reading skills. It mentions that people are becoming unfamiliar with reading in the traditional sense. Power browse is a way of skimming through many sources of information to avoid actually reading information correctly. The comparison of new technologies with older technologies was described to compare the process in which people develop new was of thinking and communicating. Speaking from the mind to the page is more difficult when you are introduced to new technologies. In the past it was a typewriter, today it is the internet and computers. Internet information contains advertising pop-ups that distract people 's reading ability. It is thought to be better than our own brain in its ability to artificially track information that we simply ask it to answer. The human brain is outdated and needs a faster processor and bigger hardrive. In the second article read "Meet the "bot...
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, an author who often writes about technology and culture issues, wrote the essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”(313). Carr begins his essay with the iconic script from Dave and HAL at the end of 2001:A Space Odyssey. He nervously explains, “ Over the past few years I've had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain… I'm not thinking they way I used to think…” (313). Carr has found trouble focusing on reading, often becoming fidgety, he links this to his frequent Web use (314). Those around him are having similar experiences, Scott Karp, a blogger, writes, “ What if I do all my reading on the Web not so much because the way I read has changed, i.e. Im just seeking convenience, but because the way I think has
The internet is one of the most revolutionary inventions of all time. The web makes it easier than ever to connect with other people, whether that person is on the other side of town or the other side of the world. We can instantly share what is going on in our life with a click of a mouse, we can do our banking on the internet, watch movies, and shop on the web. Despite being the most revolutionary invention ever, the internet does have an effect on the way we think and do work. In Nicholas Carr’s “The Shallows,” he claims that the internet “promotes cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking, and superficial learning” (Carr 116). He uses this statement to say that it is harder to read deeply on the internet as opposed to books, because
If only my local library could hold the vast quantity of information that my hand held smart phone does. Carr insinuates that Google (and the internet) is making us stupid. I say they are making us lazy. In “Is Google Making Us Stupid” by Nicholas Carr informatively states that with the advancement of technology, Google search engine, and the internet we are become more distracted—with all the different forms of flash media, the amount of hyper-links after hyper-link after hyper-links, and clickable adds-- in turn we are doing less critical reading by way of the internet as opposed to a printed book. Being able to glance over several articles in hour’s verses days looking through books; being able to jump from link to link in order to get the information you need, never looking at the same page twice has decrease out deep thinking and reading skills. Now days, all forms of reading, e.g. newspaper, magazine, etc. are small amount of reading to get the main idea of what’s going on and if you would like more information you will have to go to another page to do so. In the end, C...
Humans are becoming more technologically-efficient every day. New inventions and innovations are constantly being made. The Internet is becoming more “reliable” every day. However, how much do we really get from the constant advancement of Internet use and smarter technology? Should we look at their contributions to the world as a benefactor or a curse? The common effect of “artificial intelligence” in the technology we use every day is examined by two brilliant authors, Nicholas Carr and Jamias Cascio. In Carr’s article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, he explains the effects of the Internet and technology in our society and claims that the overuse of technology is dangerous and can affect how our mind operates. Jamias Cascio, on the other hand, uses his article “Get Smarter” to show the positive effects of technology in our constantly adaptive society claims that technology may just be making our society smarter and more efficient. While Carr and Cascio both use the claim of cause in their articles to provide valid points on how technology affects our society, Carr’s article proves to be more effective because it focuses on skeptical-based evidence and uses a variety of appeals and proofs.
Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The New Humanities Reader. 4th Boston: Wadsworth, 2012. 67-74. Print
Carr explains how the internet can distract us making it harder to focus on tasks. He explains how processing information has become harder. Notifications, ads, popups can make it difficult if you are trying to read an article or book (Carr 57). The internet has become the center of our attention (Carr 57). Carr is explaining how this is the reason why we are struggling to comprehend a certain piece of information. He adds in his article that scientists, researchers and educators have also noticed the difference in concentration. And in further detail, he explains that we fail to see the important information, thus affecting cognition. He says that the information we gather is not valuable unless we know the meaning behind it. Carr concludes with explaining that the more the internet evolves the less valuable information is to
Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid” and Sherry Turkle’s “How Computers Change the Way We Think” both discuss the influence of technology to their own understanding and perspective. The first work by Nicholas Carr is about the impact technology has on his mind. He is skeptical about the effect it could cause in the long term of it. He gives credible facts and studies done to prove his point. While Sherry Turkle’s work gives a broad idea of the impact of technology has caused through the years. She talks about the advances in technology and how it is changing how people communicate, learn and think. In both works “Is Google Making Us Stupid” and “How Computers Change the Way We Think” the authors present
For this assignment I have analyzed Nicholas Carr’s article titled ‘Is Google Making Us Stupid?’ and Clay Shirky’s rebuttal article titled ‘Why Abundance Is Good.’
In Is Google Making Us Stupid, Nicholas Carr disputes that due to new digital tools, peoples’ ability to retain and acquire information has been negatively altered. Even though, we have information at our fingertips, we often don’t take the time to soak in all the information. Carr mentions Bruce Friedman, a blogger, who finds it extremely difficult to read a “longish article on the web” and to try to focus on the importance of the text holistically (Carr 316). This is an issue that many can relate even Carr knows that, “ the deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle (Carr 314). Additionally, media theorist Mcluhan describes the net as “chipping away [mental] capacity for concentration and contemplation” (Carr 315). In essences, Carr states that we are having less of an attention span and consequently, less patience for longer articles (Carr 314). Therefore, this affects media outlets such as magazines, newspapers, and other articles, because they must conform and shorten their texts to fit the status quo that people safely enjoy (Carr 321). In addition, the net forces people to be efficient, and so, causes people to “weaken [their] capacity for deep reading” (Carr 317). People are becoming more driven on how quick he or she has to do something rather than think why this text is important. As a consequence, Carr believes that we are starting to lose our ability to be critical readers and
The purpose of Carr’s essay is to inform the reader about one skill that he believes is being undermined, which is reading. He believes the internet is rewiring the way the human mind operates. The internet has captured our attention and has shaped our process of thought. He recognizes how the change we are going through is the loss of book habits. The Web is now our default starting point for the majority of our work. He even has felt this skill eroded within himself, stating, “I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading” (Carr 408). He’s not alone, Bruce Friedman, a blogger has described how the internet has altered his mind, “I now have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or print” (410). I am sure Carr and Friedman are not the only ones who have felt a change in their ability to read a book or a lengthy article and not get distracted. As a society, we have all been impacted by this, and we are Carr’s audience for his essay.
Is Google Making Us Stupid? - Magazine - The Atlantic. (n.d.). The Atlantic — News and analysis on politics, business, culture, technology, national, international, and life – TheAtlantic.com. Retrieved April 21, 2012, from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/