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Essay on the Internet

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Essay on the Internet
Duncan 1
Dimaikys D. Duncan Paolo Javier English 101 May 30, 2013 Does the Internet make us smarter or dumber? There is a complex debate over the Internet and whether it is making society smarter or dumber. For that matter the debate focuses on the Internet and the intellectuality of individuals, and if the Internet hinders or it progresses society as a whole. Other critics argue that the Internet contributes to the decline of our mental state. On the other hand, others argue that the Internet promotes and encourages literacy by its ability in providing limitless amount of information at the stroke of a key. In the articles, “Does the internet make you smarter” by Clay Shirky supporter of literacy by internet and, “Does the internet make you dumber”, by Nicholas Carr unsupporter of literacy by internet, portrays that each article have different points of views regarding the internet making us smarter or dumber. Clay Shirky uses more historical examples of texts that were written in the form of books way before there was Internet. Nicholas Carr uses more proven statistics and psychological information in his article, to persuade his audience. In the next paragraphs I will compare and contrast both Nicholas Carr and Clay Shirky’s article. In Nicholas Carr article, he addresses that the internet does not make you smarter, instead it makes your attention span shorter and you become more distracted. Carr identifies scientific studies suggesting this is not only his opinion, but statistically proven by evidence collected. Nicholas Carr also relates to the Nobel Prize winning Duncan 2 Neuroscientist Erick Kandell as well as roman philosopher Seneca. In addition, Nicholas Carr uses Rhetorical appeal to logos or reason by

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