Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Nicholas Carr's article brought many ideas to my attention that I had never thought about before. Previously, I have felt that technology and the internet take away time that could be spent in more meaningful ways. This is the first time, however, that the idea of our minds changing and being filled with artificial intelligence occurred to me. Carr's own recollection of the way his brain has changed is what really caught my attention. Carr states that "Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy," and he goes on to say, "Now my concentration starts to drift after two or three pages." It is possible that spending more time on the internet and reading more from the internet could be the cause of losing concentration skills. I also think, though, that it may be caused by our busy lives and our minds trying to juggle everything that we have to complete. The change in his ability to maintain concentration reminded me of how I tend to drift when I am very busy and have a lot of things to be done.

The way that Carr incorporated history and evidence made his argument more believable. With a stronger argument, the article became more engaging as a whole. In history, many people have been skeptical of the newest technology for valid reasons. I was amazed that even something like writing, an essential part of our education today, brought about skepticism. Socrates' fear that we would become "filled with the conceit of wisdom instead of real wisdom" is very true and has indeed come true. I feel there will always be both good and bad that results from progress, just like there was with writing and the invention of the internet. I think the downfall of immersing our lives in the internet is that we may lose important skills that we previously took for granted. Many of the skills that used to simply be part of life, the computer can now do for us. Another downfall may be that we will no longer have a need for paper books, newspapers, and magazines. With so many people beginning to read everything via online, people may no longer see the need to print paper copies. Sadly, they may one day disappear from our society entirely.

Although technology is changing the way we think and live our lives, it has also made many improvements to our lives as well. Even though Carr said that the internet has affected his ability to read, he also states later that "The Web has been a godsend to me as a writer." The internet has made research and schoolwork easier and much faster. Research for a paper that used to take hours searching in the library is now at the tip of our fingers. I also liked how Carr pointed out the ways that technology has made factories more efficient with the beginning of "Taylorism."

My hope is that we won't let Google make us stupid. I feel it is important to keep a balance between engaging in the advances of technology and taking time out to be creative and think without technology's influence. We cannot forget the peacefulness of losing yourself in a good book that you can hold in your hands. As long as we keep a balance, we can prevent Google from making us stupid.