- Is Google making us stupid? How does Nicholas Carr answer this question? What evidence does he provide to support his answer?
2. What possible objections to his position does Carr provide?
3. What do you see about the pros and cons of Google?
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Although Google may make us lazier it does not make us stupid, by researching using the Internet it allows you to expand your knowledge efficiently about any topic you may wish to learn more about. Nicholas Carr explains how he had started to notice that his attention span had decreased when reading lengthy articles or books because he had grown accustomed to doing quick research done on the Internet. Bloggers whom Carr had followed were also experiencing the same thing, for example, Scott Karp âwho writes a blog about online social media, recently confessed that he has stopped reading books altogetherâ (Carr 10) A few objections that Carr stated in his article was his opinion on Google, explaining how âthe more pieces of information we can âaccessâ and the faster we can extract the gist, the more productive we become as thinkersâ(Carr 22) He also endorses Google by illustrating that their goal is to develop the ideal search engine which would identify exactly what you need. Pros about Google is that it is reliable based on the sources you choose to help you with your research, and it is quick. Cons about Google is that it may affect the way you read lenghty articles and books.
Dear Claudia,
Thank you for this very thoughtful response!
Warmly,
Rebekah Coleman
Google is a tool used to our everyday advantage. Whether it’s researching for a paper or looking up the spelling of a word, it’s very helpful. Over the years Nicholas observes how his concentration level has decreased for long articles and newspapers. He feels a huge sense of distraction when trying to read and he calls it a “tinker to his brain” or “reprogramming”. Nicholas has showed gratitude towards Google as a writer, but also feels it has it’s downsides. Google doesn’t make us stupid actually we end up reading more, thanks to all the new technology, but we have become very lazy with our reading. A pathologist explained how he feels that his abilty to read a full passage without skimming has vanished. I feel like some of the pros of google consist of the benefit of handy information, documents and articles. It’s also great for speeding up the research process for just about everything. Some of the cons of google would be the the fact we become dependent on quick information, we skim for information instead of actually reading. I guess you can make the best use of google, but you can’t let it distract you too much from the reality of reading.
Dear Shaniyah,
Thank you for this very thoughtful response!
Warmly,
Rebekah Coleman
Nicholas Carr feels that Google does make him stupid. He shows this by explaining that back in the day he would be able to read long essays and books with ease. His mind would get caught up in the narrative and hed spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. But now his mind often drifts after 2-3 pages. He feels like the reason for this is because of how much time he spends on the internet. To prove his point he got some friends who know about reading to say how they feel about it. One of them said that this has changed the complete way he thinks. Another says that he lost the ability to read and absorb a long article. Carr states âthe more pieces of information we can âaccessâ and the faster we can extract the gist, the more productive we become as thinkersâ as a counter to his point. One con that I see from google is that it has made us very lazy when it comes to reading long texts, but one pro that comes with google is that it makes researching anything as simple as pressing one button. I don’t believe that google makes us stupid.
Dear Isaiah,
Thank you for this thoughtful response!
Warmly,
Rebekah Coleman
Is google making us stupider ? This question to me has a lot of factors . How does one use google ? how old is the user ? How much access does the user have to google? I think a lot of those answers while change the answer especially age . Some people didnt see their first iphone until they were twenty . I personally saw my first smart phone when i was four but they weren’t all to common yet so growing up my only access to google was on a computer . We still played outside and interacted with people around us in person . You dont see as much of it now because kids can basically create their own world with whoever they want and arent limited to the world around them . Yet day by day we collectively get more attached to our phones regardless of age . Yes i do think in certain cases google could make someone stupider. Some people believe everything they read but for others it just makes them lazier . everyone expects to know the answer to something after 2 touches of a button . It raises the question what will we do when we or if we cant get the answer right away in a world with no internet .
Dear Jacob,
Thank you for this thoughtful response!
Warmly,
Rebekah Coleman
Using social media worldwide is causing a big impact on the people either helping them or making them more lazy. Google is not making anyone stupid but they are making people work less by tapping one button and give them the answers. Nicholas Carr is trying to make it seem as if the internet is becoming our primary source of information, and this is starting to begin to affect our ability to read books and other long pieces. Carr provided us with some information such as â The more they use the Web, the more they have to fight to stay focused on long pieces of writingâ. This shows that readers canât stay focused because they stop reading now a day they just play an audiobook or simply read a short version of what they are reading.
The pros and cons of Google are strong arguments, there are people who believe that Google is not helpful and there are people who believe that Google is helpful. The cons of Google are millions of answers to any search you have,but this has its con as well it can make you work less for an answer. Also, another pro is that Google can be very helpful when it comes to learning because they simply answers no reading just answer which saves a lot of times but this can stop from reading and reading helps our mind to develop new vocabulary.