Has technology changed the way people learn? Introduction Technology has become such a big part of society today, children pick up tablets and immediately know how to use them, they know how to pull up the games they want to play, the shows they want to watch, or even cameras to take pictures. While technology has immensely improved the way people live, do people realize how much technology has changed their way of thinking? Neil Postman’s “Amusing Ourselves to Death” (1984/2012) and Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” provide some of the effects that technology has on the way people think. When looking at these two essays, there are four clear effects: people seek out information that does not invoke thought, information has to be short, people are often distracted while they absorb information, and information has to be entertaining. Summary Neil Postman, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Communication at NYU, in his article, “Amusing Ourselves to Death,” claims that the world is becoming too focused on being entertained. The news, religion, and education are focused on entertaining people rather than informing them. He claims that anyone who does not appear on television is not popular enough to warrant attention. Because of this, political figures are becoming more like celebrities and try to be the most …show more content…
He states that if someone doesn’t look good on television or entertain the people enough, they will not be able to be a politician. “In the Age of Television, people do not so much agree or disagree with politicians as they like or dislike them, for the image is not susceptible to verification or refutation, only acceptance or rejection” (p 450). It no longer matters what politicians say, it just matters if they can make people like them. If people don’t like the candidate, then they aren’t going to get any
Goldberg, David Theo. “If Technology Is Making Us Stupid, It’s Not Technology’s Fault.” Blog. Digital Humanities. August 16, 2010. Gooch and Suyler. in Argument. Avenue of the Americas, New York.2011. 301-03. Print.
“…And aside from being a force of nature, he’s a pretty good guy.” As said by Robert Parker, introducer of speakers at a benefit, Voices Louder Than Words, at Harvard. (P.R. 1 Pg. 161)
In Is Google Making Us Stupid, Carr concerns about spending too much time on web, making people lose the patient and ability to read and think and changing people’s thinking behaviors. He gives so many points: he can not read lengthy article used to be easy; many author begin to feel that too much reading online let them hard to read and absorb a longish article; we put efficiency and immediacy above understanding when we read; The circuits in brain has been altered by reading habit.
In chapter 3 he encourages the exchange of favors. He mainly focuses on others doing favors for you. Matthews incorporates Jimmy Carter’s plan on hiring people who worked in failed companies. The mentality behind this is by offering work in their time of need will create this sense of gratitude towards the former president. Politics is all about understanding what people want and getting in tune with the minds of others. Chapter 3 circles that concept and giving advantages on how to make yourself almost indispensable in the eyes of some people; having a more personal connection with people so they would not have a reason to vote against you. Even chapter 4 and 5 show this type of mentality; viewing politics as a mind game and playing tricks to succeed. For example, chapter 4 discusses loyalty and keeping the mentality of “What have you done for me lately?”. By doing little favors for someone after certain periods of time so they can remember it easier. Even chapter 5 discusses the relationship a politician should have with their enemy. This novel shows the lifestyle a politician must lead to be acceptable as a
Therefore, he explains how Americans of today’s society are stupid and sometimes this results in failures, because they believed facts and knowledge that others gave the people. The information is not always correct, but we as Americans believe all information that comes out of people’s mouth is always correct, but in reality it is not. This is what leads people to failure, but some of the others realize and continue their way to go about life which results in success as an American. This relates to David Foster Wallace argument about subjectivity and objectivity and its impact in our society and how the people of today world are rational and emotional when it comes down to what people know and what they want to learn; as a result, this is the way we think and it sometimes it is not a positive thing in our society because it’s somewhat misleading. The knowledge of Americans is very strong, but sometimes we listen to our subjectivity side when we should be more objective with the world
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.
Throughout our everyday lives whether we think about it or not. Computers and technology are and have been an integral part of our lives. Computers and technology assist us with so much, such as the way we drive and the way we learn. We no longer have to deal with the hassle of driving stick and we no longer have to be in a physical classroom with the advent of online education. In Clive Thompsons’ essay “Smarter than you think how technology is changing our minds for the better,” he discusses how the ever changing capacity of technology improves the mental cognition of human beings.
...s that you develop a way of regarding the information that you receive to the society that you are living in. He also believes that a quality education develops a students moral views and ability to think. And that these qualities are best developed in the traditional classroom setting by interaction between the student and their professors, and the student’s social life on campus, that is, their interaction with fellow students.
What this is saying is that the number of people who oppose our decisions should not matter if the reasoning behind it is weak. In modern society, the media has shaped the world so much that some people are afraid to do what they want because they are scared that there will be backlash from other people around them. I feel the media is the biggest reason we have a ‘presence of unpopularity’ in society. What we have to take from Socrates’ message is that we shouldn’t worry about what other people think while making decisions, we have to make the right choices based on what you, the only one that matters, see as ‘right.’ By making decisions that you want to make you are able to shape your own life, and set up future success by yourself.
In composing “Is Google Making Us More Stupid” Nicholas Carr wants his audience to be feared by the internet while at the same time he wants his work to seem more creditable. Nicholas Carr uses many different types of evidence to show us that we should be scared and feared as well as his credibility. Carr’s audience is people who think like him, who find themselves getting lost on the internet while reading something, someone who is educated and uses the internet to look up the answers to questions or to read an article or book.
“Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr and “How Computers Change the Way We Think” by Sherry Turkle are two articles that explore how technology influences our daily lives. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” discusses the effects of the internet in our society, how it is robbing us of our deep thoughts, memories and our ability to read books. Carr also talks about how the internet has become our primary source of getting information. The writer also discusses about how he’s having difficulty focusing on reading. “How Computers Change the Way We Think” is talking about how people don’t use their brains full potential capacity to solve problems. Instead, we depend on technology to do that for us.
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
This idea is shown through Cromer's words as well. Two quotes perfectly show what Said is trying to get across to the reader. Cromer states:
Nicholas Carrs article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” makes points that I agree with, although I find his sources to be questionable. The article discusses the effects that the Internet may be having on our ability to focus, the difference in knowledge that we now have, and our reliance on the Internet. The points that are made throughout Carrs article are very thought provoking but his sources make them seem invaluable.
The best analogy in his speech is how we perceive primates, insects and rocks. We give primates more moral recognition and more ethical obligations than the other domains (insects and rocks). This is a factual claim that primates experience a wider range of emotion than insects and rocks, such as happiness and sadness. We treat them differently because they are more similar to us and we can empathize with those exact emotions. If there was new evidence indicating that insects and rocks can feel the same range of feelings, then that would change our moral views of the said