Essay One

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.

Carr supports his claims by including personal experiences with the Internet of others. Scott Karp who was literature major in college, admitted to Carr that he has stopped reading books altogether (732). Karp now prefers to read everything online. Karp also questions whether the Internet has changed his course of thinking (Carr, 732). Bruce Friedman explained how he barely has the tolerance for reading long pieces, and skimming is now how he reads (Carr, 732). By Carr discussing changes brought by other technologies, he strengthens the support of his claims. He proves that technology does have a way of affecting us cognitively whether the effect is negative or positive. Carr also proves that as technology advances our mind is modified to according to those advances. “As we use what the sociologist Daniel Bell has called our “intellectual technologies”—the tools that extend our mental rather than our physical capacities—we inevitably begin to take on the qualities of those technologies” (Carr, 737).

Carr uses other viewpoints in his argument when he starts discussing Google and Taylorism. The same way that Taylor’s goal was to fin...

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... and come up with deep interpretations for information I take in. The primary reason is because I have resulted to obtaining my interpretations at the click of a button. I no longer have to think “why” or “how” because Google does it for me. Just like most people, I’m allowing the Internet to function my own brain. Thus proving Carr’s conclusion, because I’m substituting my own intelligence for the intelligence of technology. I think that the more we allow the Internet to strip our minds of our capability to think for ourselves, the only thing we have to look forward to is artificial intelligence. We are not learning as technology advances, we are learning from technology as it advances. We just look for technology to do everything for us. What other explanation is there for a “smart” phone or a voice automated game system? Technology just put a price on thinking.