Is Google Making Us Stupid?, by Nicholas Carr

1378 Words3 Pages

The internet is our conduit for accessing a wide variety of information. In his article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” Nicholas Carr discusses how the use of the internet affects our thought process in being unable to focus on books or longer pieces of writing. The author feels that “someone, or something, has been tinkering with [his] brain” over the past few years (Carr 731). While he was easily able to delve into books and longer articles, Carr noticed a change in his research techniques after starting to use the internet. He found that his “concentration often [started] to drift after two or three pages” and it was a struggle to go back to the text (Carr 732). His assertion is that the neural circuits in his brain have changed as a result of surfing endlessly on the internet doing research. He supports this statement by explaining how his fellow writers have had similar experiences in being unable to maintain their concentrations. In analyzing Carr’s argument, I disagree that the internet is slowly degrading our capacity for deep reading and thinking, thereby making us dumber. The Web and Google, indeed, are making us smarter by allowing us access to information through a rapid exchange of ideas and promoting the creativity and individualization of learning.

With one easy click on the search button, Google grants entry to a reservoir of information for our use. Carr acknowledges that the internet “has been a godsend to [him] as a writer” because of the ease of finding information rapidly (Carr 732). Before, he would spend days searching through lengthy articles for the same material. Thus, web-browsing proves that not only is the internet useful for finding relevant information, but it is a time-saving tool. In today’s gener...

... middle of paper ...

... access to it from various forms of media. Instead of demolishing our ability to read and learn, the internet aids us by giving us rapid information that would otherwise take days of research through books to attain. Therefore, the internet should not be viewed as the cause for our lack of intelligence, but rather the reason for our vast knowledge. Technology has revolutionized our learning and will continue to serve as the prime tool in our education.

Works Cited

Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic.com. July/August 2008. 15 November 2013. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/200807/google

Wright, Sandra, April Fugett, and France Caputa. “Using E-Readers and Internet Resources To Support Comprehension.” Journal of Educational Technology and Society 16.1 (2013): 367- 379. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.

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