Is the Internet Bad for Us?
ENG 120 I03FY
February 23, 2010
Is the internet bad for us ?
In the old days, a paper research used to take up to several days, when only libraries and encyclopedias had the right and trustful information. A visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art involved finding the address first, and that took as well quite some time. In our days all this information is just a click away. The Internet, with the help of web pages, such as Google Search and Google Maps, are the solution to every question one may ask. The long days of search have ended, but it doesn’t mean it is a favorable or beneficial thing for each person. Scientists and professors of well known universities have discovered that this trouble free, straightforward and rapid method has determined not only the brains to delay the thinking process, but also changed people’s behavior in their lives in a negative way. One neuroscientist, Dr. Gary Small conducted a study where he examined the impact of the Internet on a young persons brain. This study consisted of reading a MRI while the person was surfing on the Internet, and another one while it was reading a book. Then, the results where very surprising: the MRI showed more brain activity in the frontal part, the decision part of the brain, when the person was surfing the Internet. The study reached lots of newspapers, and every person believed that Google is making them smarter. However, after a short period of time, Dr. Small reviewed the results and stated: “On a brain scan big doesn’t mean it is better…It’s exactly as in a golf game, you want to keep your score lower”. One can easily see that this brain activity is without doubt detrimental to all of us and surfing the Internet only decreases our process of thinking, instead of increasing it. Surfing on the Internet has become a daily routine, by checking the e-mail, researching on some interesting subjects and that takes probably an
February 23, 2010
Is the internet bad for us ?
In the old days, a paper research used to take up to several days, when only libraries and encyclopedias had the right and trustful information. A visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art involved finding the address first, and that took as well quite some time. In our days all this information is just a click away. The Internet, with the help of web pages, such as Google Search and Google Maps, are the solution to every question one may ask. The long days of search have ended, but it doesn’t mean it is a favorable or beneficial thing for each person. Scientists and professors of well known universities have discovered that this trouble free, straightforward and rapid method has determined not only the brains to delay the thinking process, but also changed people’s behavior in their lives in a negative way. One neuroscientist, Dr. Gary Small conducted a study where he examined the impact of the Internet on a young persons brain. This study consisted of reading a MRI while the person was surfing on the Internet, and another one while it was reading a book. Then, the results where very surprising: the MRI showed more brain activity in the frontal part, the decision part of the brain, when the person was surfing the Internet. The study reached lots of newspapers, and every person believed that Google is making them smarter. However, after a short period of time, Dr. Small reviewed the results and stated: “On a brain scan big doesn’t mean it is better…It’s exactly as in a golf game, you want to keep your score lower”. One can easily see that this brain activity is without doubt detrimental to all of us and surfing the Internet only decreases our process of thinking, instead of increasing it. Surfing on the Internet has become a daily routine, by checking the e-mail, researching on some interesting subjects and that takes probably an
Cited: “Digital Nation.” Frontline. PBS. WNET, New York. 2 Feb. 2010. Television. Grafton, Anthony. “Future Reading: Digitization and Its Discontents.” Fields of Reading. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2010