Jonathan Zimmerman's Essay 'Is Google Making USupid?'

Ryan Gallagher
English 102
25 February 2015
859 words
Critical Analysis of “Is Google Making Us Stupid” and “African National Identities Can’t Be Built on Soccer Fever”

Deceit, duplicity, dishonesty, chicanery; all are used to describe things that are not always as they seem. But yet with such an apparent grasp of this concept, why is it so difficult to see when you’re being deceived? In Nicholas Carr’s essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” and Jonathan Zimmerman’s “African National Identities Can’t Be Built on Soccer Fever” they both set out to prove this concept through the use of historical references and through the development of a counter argument. Ultimately they prove that even the most innocent of ideas are not always as simple as
In Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” he argues that, “as we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence.” We essentially have the collective knowledge of the world in our pocket, and as a result we no longer possess knowledge of our own. Instead of being able to look at the clouds and trees and be able to tell if it will rain or not, we just wait for our smart phones to tell us. What used to be common knowledge has been replaced by a dependence on the internet. Carr’s argument is that while the ability to call upon the collective knowledge of the world’s knowledge may seem like a blessing; that it may actually be a curse in disguise. In Zimmerman’s essay, he speaks of how despite the convention of believing that soccer unifies African nations; that it actually serves as a “tool for one part of a nation-or, even, for one leader-to oppress the rest of it” (345). Due to the unpredictable nature of sports, any unity that may have brought about by soccer will likely be short
Instead of trying to prove their argument, they decide to try and disprove the other side of the argument. This is one of the defining features of Carr’s argument, as he compares his argument to Socrates’ argument on the written word. He turns against his own argument, stating that he could be wrong, the internet might not have a sever downside. But just as quickly as he turned away from his argument, he turns back, stating that Socrates was short sighted, that the internet is much more complex than written word, that it is completely un-relatable to the written word. Zimmerman extensively used a counter argument in order to persuade the reader to believe in his argument. Most of the essay is devoted to disproving the thought that sports unify a nation. His argument constantly berated unification from sports, providing seemingly endless proof of the failure of sports to unite nations. This constant beratement works to tear down any doubts the reader may have had, and leads them to the same conclusion he had come to. The counter argument is a very effective method of persuading readers, especially those who disagree with them, to see and think about their