Over the years technology has changed mankind’s overall culture. From clocks to computers the use of electronics and tools are developing every day in almost all situations. People are continuously using technology. Some take full advantage of this and turn to this for everything. However if there are others that believe it’s more about a hindrance than a help, because of the way it distracts people. Are people depending too much on the internet? The book Shallows; What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains, by Nicholas Carr, discusses different forms of technology and how they are developing and starting to affect humans in different ways. The use of the internet has gained more popularity than ever over the past ten years.
Carr mentions in the book that new technology is destroying the way that humans think, and is making us lose ourselves a little. As reported by Carr the internet has a great impact on what we do in the present-day. The internet has a big hit on today’s youth due to the evidence that it’s making life easier and requires less work to retain information. Further through the book Carr makes good arguments on how the internet changes our mind. Carr wants us to deeply reflect on the effects that the increase in technology has had on our brains, our social lives, and our ways of thinking about knowledge. The first chapter “Hal and me” gives the readers a look at what the book is about, it discusses how people don’t have the patience to read books, and just use the internet to get information or skim through the books to get a full idea. There is a quote in the book that supports Carr’s argument “I don’t read books,” says Joe Oshea, the former president of Florida State University.
He also quotes, “I go to Google, and ...
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... I could be trying to finish a paper and my mind jumps to something that I was supposed to do later that day and I lose track of my focus.
The internet can also have its advantages it may be quick and easy for people to get there information but imagine if the world did not have the internet there would be a gap in a portion of the world little do we know. the internet is a good source for everything it gives good information and it also is helpful to students in school from elementary to college. If there is no internet then where do teachers get there assignments? Also, the internet has a big part in today’s communication. The internet is not only used for quick access to information. The internet can be used to send emails from business to business. Carr makes good points on how the internet can be a bad thing but the internet also has its pros in this argument
While his best arguments come from cultural criticism. Written text led to the decline of oral reading and television obliterated the radio. Every technology comes with it’s trade-offs, it just comes down to moderation. There is little doubt that the internet is changing our brain. What Carr neglects to mention, however, is how the internet can change our brain for the better. Computer games have the ability to improve cognitive tasks and increase visual attention. He doesn’t always address the good effects that the internet has had on the world. One of the better strategies Carr uses is switching his point of view from third to first person. He reflects on his personal life and how his life has changed in response to what he has learned. Carr shows how even he has his faults but, being aware of a problem is the first step to finding
The topic of technology and our society has become a very controversial subject today. Many people believe that technology is an essential component of our modern world, helping us to improve communication from farther distances as well as giving us easy access to important information. On the other hand, there is the opinion that too much technology is affecting social interactions and our basic development. “Technology…is a queer thing, it brings you great gifts with one hand, and stabs you in the back with the other.” (Carrie Snow.) The CBC Documentary “Are We Digital Dummies” displayed the pros and cons when it comes to modern technology that we use in the western world everyday.
Advancements in technology have strived to make life easier for so many people. In most cases, the advancements have achieved its goal, but in the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr questions if the improvements in society have unintentionally hindered our thought process overall. Carr begins the article by providing personal instances when his concentration seemed to diminish due to the internet. He explains how he now loses interest when reading lengthy portions, his mind just can’t seem to remain connected to his readings. He then proceeds to talk about how today’s life is surrounded by the internet, and explains the pros and cons of it. The negative side of it is that his mind now wonders off when seeking information from
Like Gladwell, Nicholas Carr believes the internet has negative effects. In his article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, Carr attempts to show as the internet becomes our primary source of information, it diminishes the ability to read books and extensive research. Carr goes on to give a very well researched account of how text on the internet is designed make browsing fast and profitable. He describes how the design for skimming affects our thinking skills and attention spans. He wraps up his argument by describing what we are losing in the shift toward using the internet as our main information source. Carr suggests the learning process that occurs in extensive research and through reading is lost. While the learning process can be beneficial to scholars and intellectuals, not everyone has the capability to follow through with it. The internet offers an education that anyone can have access to and understand. Also if Carr believes the learning process is better, this option is always available for people who want to learn according to this scholarly principal. However, for the rest of the population the quick and easy access has allowed the average population to become more educated, and to expose themselves to aspects of academia that previously is reserved for
I’m scrolling through the articles on Snapchat and find my way across one with an intriguing title, I instantly tap on it. I begin to scroll further down only to find myself going through extensive paragraphs of information and suddenly this article that seemed so interesting became a bore. In Nicholas G. Carr’s novel, The Shallows, he argues the internet is creating more problems to us humans than actual benefits. Our social skills are starting to lack and our interaction with technology is beginning to heighten. Humans contemplative skills are slowly fading away due to our reliance on the internet to solve our problems. Technology is inevitable by humans, seeing that individuals use it in their everyday lives. Unfortunately, this is a problem considering the use of high-tech gadgets decrease in one’s capacity for concentration, contemplation, and personal memory.
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
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).
He states how he used to spend hours reading, but his concentration started to drift after two or three pages. He backed up his theory with stories from others who say they’re experiencing the same thing. But they still await the long-term neurological and psychological experiments that will provide a definitive picture of how the internet affects cognition. After a brief history lesson, Carr starts to incorporate Google into the article. He tells us about Google’s history and their mission. Carr states how Google, and the internet itself, have a financial stake in collecting the crumbs of data we leave behind. Apparently these companies do not want us reading slowly or for leisure. Carr then ends the article by stating that we are turning into robots ourselves, and that we are relying on computers to mediate our understanding of the
Carr concludes his excerpt with the statement “I missed my old brain,” because he was once so active in his learning, but now with exposure to the internet he has become close to being the contrary. Successfully, does Carr create a stance on how the internet has had a negative impact on how a person thinks and learns, from trading away an “old linear thought process” in return “for the riches of the Net.” Also, Carr creates a point that if society continues in this new form of mind, everyone will become human HALs and turn rogue against
Since the Internet has emerged from society, access to information has been made readily available for anyone to discover. The Internet connects us to the world everyday, whether at work or at home. It helps us communicate with others; via email, social networking, or blogging. With the absents of the Internet, our society would be missing out on a vast amount of knowledge. Therefore, the Internet is unmistakably beneficial for society to use as part of their daily lives. Also, cell phones have evolved from being solely in place for emergencies, to searching the Internet and paying bills. People of all ages are using cell phones, whether for work or pleasure. There are so many technological devices in our society; however, this technology can be misleading. People voice numerous arguments, both beneficial and non beneficial- concerning technologies in our world.
The Internet has changed the way people interact with each other and entertain themselves. It has changed the way business is done. It has also changed the way people date, commit crime, and interview for jobs, it has even changed health care, among many other things. Technology and the Internet are not going away and the need for people to adapt is prominent. Internet is so prominent in Management Information systems. There are Internet based information systems. These systems are important because they can improve company efficiency. These systems can house data with extreme efficiency. Internet based information systems leave the possibilities of efficiency unlimited. Technology is only going to expand farther and new ways to communicate digitally will be introduced into businesses. It has already altered the way we interact with one another, and consumers to suppliers.
Technology has more negative effects on today’s society than positive. Due to technology in the past few decades Canine Shock Collars have been increasingly popular. Students in school pay more attention to texting than they do their classes. Violent addictive video games have made their way into American homes. Parents encourage their children to not text as much, but them to face the problem of constant communication. The Internet gives the students easier ways to cheat in school, and reinforces laziness. Internet Porn gives every bored male a chance to look at the seediest film in the comfort of his own home. Technology has taken the innocence and mystery away from the American family.
The opinions of many people vary on technology and the effects it has on today’s society. Some say that it’s more beneficial than anything, others completely disagree, and some have mixed emotions. Would you rather read out of a book, or play online learning games with a possible risk of eye problems? It’s about taking matters into your own hands. 71% of people believe technology has improved their lives. 76% of people completely disagree by saying that technology creates a lazy society and that is distracting and corrupting. Daily life with technology is also another huge issue in society. According to a survey taken in January 2013, people feel their work productivity has dropped 8% in the last year. They also felt that their relationships with their family at home dropped 4% in the past year. The opinions vary, but they are needed to show how technology is affecting different people.
Albert Einstein quoted, “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” The use of technology today is affecting our future generations by introducing them fast into using technology. Children today are focusing more on Ipads, Ipods, smart phones, or other electronic devices, rather than focusing on their knowledge. In addition, toddlers are mastering using electronic devices before they can even speak. (Alison Lee, 2013) According to research conducted by Alison Lee, it has been shown that when her child was 17 months old, he could activate the television by the use of the remote control. Although, today’s technology has also abducted the minds of adults, and It makes them addicted to it. For example, due to careless driving and many causes of death accidents, this happens from people who use their electronic device while driving their vehicle. In fact, technology is being upgraded annually, and causing more people to get addicted to it. Today’s society is very addicted to technology, that studies indicated that 2013 is the year where some human beings have an internet disorder. In addition, people who have internet disorder suffer from this condition. However, people who are overly attached to the use of technology makes them more prone to anxiety, physiological disorders like cyber bullying, and clutched to that electronic device would dominate home life.
The internet as we all know is probably the most useful resource known to man in this day of age. Not only is the internet easy to access its easy to use. Nearly everyone owns a computer and nearly all of which have access to the internet. But isn't that a good thing? Millions of people having the ability to access and share all the information anybody could ever want.