Is
Google Making Us Stupid
1. In today’s society,
it is common for people to replace traditional book reading for online skimming
when searching for a solution to a problem. Is having instant access to the solutions of all of
our problems truly a good thing?
2. What factors
involving excessive web use can be attributed to the inability for many people to focus
when reading long pieces of literary work?
3. Do you agree with
Google’s chief executive that we would “be better off” if our brains were
supplemented with artificial intelligence? What would we be giving up if our
brains lacked the ability to contemplate decisions before acting?
In
the article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” Nicholas Carr describes the possible
consequences this generation may face when trading traditional ways of reading for
modern ways of brain stimulation and enlightenment. With the advent of search
engines, online researching tools, social media, and a surplus of online texts
and web articles, it should be no surprise that the numbers of people who are
reading books in the traditional sense are greatly decreasing. It is becoming
common place for an individual to immediately turn towards the internet to
solve many of their everyday problems. People are ditching libraries and books
for computer labs and keyboards. There are applications and websites that can
coach even the most naive in how to become an expert in almost any subject. But
can having instant access to the answers to even your most complicated
questions be a bad thing? According to Nicholas Carr’s article, it just might.
People
are becoming so used to living in a world filled with freebies and instant
gratification that they are neglecting to use their own minds when solving even
the most simplest of problems. By training our minds to jump from page to page
in search for the perfect solution, we are skimming over valuable information that
may have the possibility of enriching our minds. This may be the very reason
why a majority of the modern generation has a hard time focusing for long periods
of time. While browsing the internet we are trained to focus on only bits of information
for very short periods of time. Flashing lights, scrolling tool bars, pop-up
captions and animations are only a few of the tools used to catch our eye and
break our concentration before moving onto something new. It is near impossible
to browse the internet and read a lengthy text without being interrupted by the
sound of an incoming email or text message. Over time we become accustomed to these
types of interruptions and we are groomed to lose interest in things that don’t
over stimulate our senses. Because of this, many people become bored or lose
the ability to focus when reading a lengthy book or magazine in the traditional
way. When we learn to expect things instantly we are teaching ourselves to be
satisfied with the first solution we come across. However, many times the first
solution that we come to is not always the best. Although convenient and
readily accessible, using the Web as a soul problem solver can hinder one’s ability
to grow mentally and build strong problem solving skills. We should not rely on
the internet as a crutch to instantly solve all of our problems. But instead,
use it as an aid to assist our brains when taking a systematic approach when
solving a problem.
