Google Stupidity
Is Google Really Making Us Stupid?
We are in the twenty-first century, and this is the Digital Age (also known as Computer Age, or Information Age). In this era, our standards of living are high, and our needs now define how we think, talk, and act. Our necessities are forcing us to multi-task, and we are only coping through the invaluable help of the International Network, commonly known as the Internet.
I had the chance to read this 2005 Atlantic article in my previous English class (last spring of 2012). Since my stand on the subject matter has not changed, and given its significance, I decided to write anew about it, for my e-letter today.
In this anti-technology piece, Pulitzer finalist Nicholas Carr accuses the Internet of harming our brains. (1) Carr blames the Net for the changes he noticed in his reading comprehension, likewise in his inability to concentrate reading extensive articles. (2) He argues so passionately about it, that it led to a book, entitledThe Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. However, is Carr’s accusation warranted by science? For contrary to his opinion, new scientific evidences are showing Internet is making us smarter and not stupid. (3)
According to Michael Rosenwald, author of the BrainGain “ . . . new evidence suggests that using the Internet could actually make you smarter, and not rot your brain” (4). Supported by scientific findings of Dr. Gary Small, of the Semel Institute of Neuroscience for Human Behavior, at the University of California, Rosenwald stresses that neurologically speaking, we are benefiting from browsing the Web, or Google searching, and just as “ . . .bench presses do for our chest muscles” (5).
Like Rosenwald, Jonah Lehrer of the New York Times, cited Small’s scientific findings, and pointed out that science even suggested, that Google searches actually lead to increased activity of our dorsolateral prefrontal cortex—the exact brain area where our precise talents
We are in the twenty-first century, and this is the Digital Age (also known as Computer Age, or Information Age). In this era, our standards of living are high, and our needs now define how we think, talk, and act. Our necessities are forcing us to multi-task, and we are only coping through the invaluable help of the International Network, commonly known as the Internet.
I had the chance to read this 2005 Atlantic article in my previous English class (last spring of 2012). Since my stand on the subject matter has not changed, and given its significance, I decided to write anew about it, for my e-letter today.
In this anti-technology piece, Pulitzer finalist Nicholas Carr accuses the Internet of harming our brains. (1) Carr blames the Net for the changes he noticed in his reading comprehension, likewise in his inability to concentrate reading extensive articles. (2) He argues so passionately about it, that it led to a book, entitledThe Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. However, is Carr’s accusation warranted by science? For contrary to his opinion, new scientific evidences are showing Internet is making us smarter and not stupid. (3)
According to Michael Rosenwald, author of the BrainGain “ . . . new evidence suggests that using the Internet could actually make you smarter, and not rot your brain” (4). Supported by scientific findings of Dr. Gary Small, of the Semel Institute of Neuroscience for Human Behavior, at the University of California, Rosenwald stresses that neurologically speaking, we are benefiting from browsing the Web, or Google searching, and just as “ . . .bench presses do for our chest muscles” (5).
Like Rosenwald, Jonah Lehrer of the New York Times, cited Small’s scientific findings, and pointed out that science even suggested, that Google searches actually lead to increased activity of our dorsolateral prefrontal cortex—the exact brain area where our precise talents