Answers are what make the world go round. Everyone loves answers because they give people gratification. Luckily, today we have a whole database of answers. This database is more commonly known as the Internet. Although the Internet is an amazing tool for research, the Internet can negatively affect how we learn and how we obtain answers. The fact that the Internet is so accessible, and is so easy to use, knowledge and answers are constantly available. One might think this would make our culture smarter, but from a certain standpoint, this surplus of knowledge has made our culture less intelligent. This is true because the Internet has granted people the ability to attain knowledge without actually thinking. This horrible byproduct of the Internet has opened the door to many negatives. After talking with Morristown-Beard School teacher, Christian Rabin, about this subject, it is clear that the over-indulgence of the Internet is not always good for our brains.
Searching for knowledge online has turned into a brainless activity. If one were to look at their history on an Internet browser, one would see that there would be thousands of sites opened up; however, it is almost guaranteed that one would not be able to remember specifically why they opened most of the sites. Searching online brainlessly is considered messing around, and it is very easy to mess around online. If someone was on Facebook and clicked on another person’s picture and thought it was very funny, they probably would want to know who posted it first. Consequently, they look to see whose picture it is. This is a very easy task until the person who likes the picture, and the person who posted it are not friends. The person is dying to know whose picture it is, so he...
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...ited, and rewrote. This enables students to skip the toughest part about learning, which is to grapple with the information and making their own inferences. No one needs to make conjectures on subjects, because the Internet does it for them. It clearly asks the question, is the Internet a machine external to humans, or do we all make the Internet?
Now one can understand why the Internet has so many negative effects on the mind. Although the Internet has granted all of us with so much knowledge, the way this knowledge is giving has actually made people less intelligent. One could not see that the Internet can have many effects on him or her subconsciously. Some of these effects arte avoidable, but if there is one thing I have learned from Rabin throughout my two years of having him as a teacher is it is easy to teach people, but it is hard to be taught how to think.
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
In The Shallows by Nicholas Carr, he asserts that the evolution of information and communication technology (ICTs) is having a detrimental impact on our brains despite the many benefits and advances we have made with it. His main focus is on the internet which he commonly refers to as the “universal medium” (92). Carr presents a very detailed but biased argument in which he views the internet and other technologies as the adversary of critical thinking and progress. To Carr, we are sacrificing our ability to think logically because we are choosing the simpler way to gain knowledge.
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.
In the article Mind Over Mass Media, Steven Pinker claims that the use of technology enhances our intelligence, despite what critics say, when used in productive ways. Pinker supports his claim by explaining that if electronic media were hazardous to intelligence, the quality of science would be plummeting and that philosophy, history and cultural criticism, are flourishing will the use of the Web. The author’s purpose is persuade readers that new media is allowing mankind to locate information at a faster rate, in order to prevent readers from believing that technology is hurting us. The author writes in an informal tone for technology users.
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
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.
Most people believe that the web will increase their intelligence and with a smartphone knowledge is at the tips of their fingers; however, this is not exactly true. Research suggests that easier access to information reduces mental
Does the internet make us smarter or dumber is a question that has been asked more frequently, especially when referring to my generation. In Nicholas Carr’s article “Does the Internet Making Us Smarter or Dumber?” he adamantly believes that the internet is in fact making us dumber with its various distractions, hindering cognitive development, and affecting our knowledge retention. He supports his belief with studies such as the one conducted at a university where students were divided and only half were allowed to use their computers during class while the others were not (Carr,22) . The outcome showed that those who did not use the internet did better on the tests (22). After reading this article it made me ask the question myself and I believe that the internet is making me smarter in certain ways and dumber in others.
Using technology can have certain effects on the brain. Nicholas Carr’s magazine blog, “The Web Shatters Focus, Rewrites Brains,” tells us an experiment from a ULCA professor, Gary Small. Gary Small
The internet damages us, people have lost their ability to read full articles and don’t fully understand what they read and because of this,our natural intelligence will never be the same with the internet around, thinking for us.
The internet is ever changing, and so our minds, but can the internet mold our minds? Nicholas Carr and Michael Rosenwald support the idea that the reading we do online is making it harder to be able to sit down with a good book. In their papers they discuss the downfalls of using the web. While on the other hand author Clay Shirky challenges that thought in his piece. Shirky directly battles the idea that the internet is damaging our brains by suggesting that internet use can be insightful. In this essay I will evaluate all three articles and expose their strengths and weaknesses then add my own take on the situation.
According to Nicholas Carr, the internet changes the way people read and process information, thus diminishing their cognitive function. In other words Carr is saying, that the internet is modifying any intake and output of information to and from the brain. “The brain,” Carr quotes according to Olds “has the ability to reprogram its self on the fly, altering the way it functions.” This means that the brain is capable of easily being changed by the internet.
The Internet gives us a seemingly endless supply of resources; we can search for information, communicate with others, or use it for our own personal work or pleasure. The Internet connects us to the rest of the evolving world, in all different countries around the world. With the ability to seek information on the Internet, we can gain knowledge about an endless supply of topics. For example, if someone wanted to learn how to plant a tree they can simply navigate to Google and type in “how to plant a tree.” Furthermore, thousands of pages will appear with step by step instructions demonstrating the process of planting a tree. This knowledge has made our society smarter because we can figure things out on our own, but at the same time save money; we do not have to pay someone else to tell us how to plant a tree. It can really benefit students in school because it allows u...
Carr discusses the effects that the Internet has on our minds and the way we think, as well as the way media has changed. Our minds no longer focus. When in conversation with people we are constantly distracted by the technological advances our era has brought. Text messages, emails, pop culture drama has all taken over thoughts.
Children of all ages everywhere these days seem to only depend on the internet. The internet is an amazing creation, but people take advantage of it. Since there is internet there is access to all kinds of social media, games, and all sorts of other things. However, because of today’s society internet is one of the only things kids use and go on, whether it’s go on Facebook for hours or watch ridiculous videos on YouTube, the internet is taking a negative turn towards children, their brains, smartness, and attitude. Despite helpful or early learning programs, the internet does not make children smarter.