Technology vs. the Human Brain

“As we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence.” (Carr, N. 2013). These words that depict Kubrick’s dark prophecy in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey opens the mind of the viewer on the strong impact that technology has on the human brain. Nicholas Carr, the author of the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet Is Doing To Our Brains,” agrees with Kubrick in that although technology is efficient, it may not always be the most effective when it comes to creating overall well-rounded thinking. I agree with Carr on this issue and I have noticed that technology alters the way one thinks, has caused society to become reliant upon it, and in turn strongly impacts college students like myself. Nicholas Carr explains the idea that technology may have changed the way individuals today think. This is explored farther by Bruce Friedman, a blogger about computers in medicine, who confirms that technology has played a huge role in his mental habits when it comes to research. He states, “I now have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print.” (Carr, N. 2013). Friedman farther elaborates his point by stating the fact that he finds himself skimming articles rather than fully deciphering the words on the page. As I was reading this, I had to stop myself and realize I wasn’t reading it at all, but simply gazing over the article in order to gather the important information; just like Friedman explained. I found that I shared a lot of similarities with Friedman while he was discussing how difficult it is for him to read long articles. The main reason being that I have gone throughout my entire adult life with the convenience of technology and the information I needed was always right in front of me, I never had to search for it. The way I think has slowly begun to change as technology has become a larger part of my life.

References: Carr, N. (2013). Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. In The Atlantic Monthly (Fourth ed., pp. 318-319). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning OCLC (n.d.). Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources. Retrieved 2005, from https://www.oclc.org/content/dam/oclc/reports/pdfs/studentperceptions_part1.pdf