Is Google Making Us Stupid
Michelle Huynh
English 4
Professor Polster
April 22, 2015
“Is Google Making Us Stupid?”
In the essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains,” the author Nicholas Carr argues that the Internet has detrimental effects by altering the way we comprehend and the way our brain functions. Carr’s mind is changing because he is not thinking the way he used to think. He used to love reading books and articles, but now he can barely get through two or three pages because his “concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages” (Carr 138). Reading a printed media has become a struggle since Carr is losing the ability to focus on deep thinking. He just skims through the text without actually thoroughly reading it. In reality, we have to struggle to stay focused in a long piece of writing because we use the web so much. Carr believes that deep reading is indistinguishable from deep thinking. However, the Internet does all the thinking for us with a great database of information that can answer all of our questions and many sources online with short passages of text. Everything that the Internet does has become a “shortcut,” so the printed media has to reach those expectations now. Our brain relies on the Internet so much that it starts draining out our ability to think independently. Therefore, according to Carr, the Internet has made him feel “an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with [his] brain…” (Carr 138). Although the Internet can affect our brains, it has made a huge impact on our daily lives by providing easy and responsive communication among peers and a secure access to information. The Internet does change our thinking and our brains, but in a positive way. There are many advantages, which is why the Internet plays a part of our lives. Communication has been easier for mostly everyone because in modern society people always go on social media to socialize with others and update their
English 4
Professor Polster
April 22, 2015
“Is Google Making Us Stupid?”
In the essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains,” the author Nicholas Carr argues that the Internet has detrimental effects by altering the way we comprehend and the way our brain functions. Carr’s mind is changing because he is not thinking the way he used to think. He used to love reading books and articles, but now he can barely get through two or three pages because his “concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages” (Carr 138). Reading a printed media has become a struggle since Carr is losing the ability to focus on deep thinking. He just skims through the text without actually thoroughly reading it. In reality, we have to struggle to stay focused in a long piece of writing because we use the web so much. Carr believes that deep reading is indistinguishable from deep thinking. However, the Internet does all the thinking for us with a great database of information that can answer all of our questions and many sources online with short passages of text. Everything that the Internet does has become a “shortcut,” so the printed media has to reach those expectations now. Our brain relies on the Internet so much that it starts draining out our ability to think independently. Therefore, according to Carr, the Internet has made him feel “an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with [his] brain…” (Carr 138). Although the Internet can affect our brains, it has made a huge impact on our daily lives by providing easy and responsive communication among peers and a secure access to information. The Internet does change our thinking and our brains, but in a positive way. There are many advantages, which is why the Internet plays a part of our lives. Communication has been easier for mostly everyone because in modern society people always go on social media to socialize with others and update their