...it’s a different kind of reading, and behind it lies a different kind of thinking- perhaps even a new sense of self”(Carr, P.g 2). The article “Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the internet is doing to our brains”, is an interesting article written by critically acclaimed author Nicholas Carr. Nicholas Carr speaks upon how the internet is losing one's ability to concentrate on large physical texts or regular literature, and trading this ability for quick, to the point, internet articles and information. But this trade off is considering as without the ability to concentrate on literature, ones ability to critically analyze and have deep, thought provoking thoughts on what the person has read is suffered immensely. The main thesis that Nicholas Carr demonstrates throughout the article is “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy in a Jet Ski.” ( Carr. P.g 1). Nicholas Carr’s thesis explains that before we were all introduced and influenced by the internet, we were able to understand the physical text in front of us. We were able to have deep, critical thoughts that almost felt like an adventure. But now, do to the Internets speed and wealth of information, we don’t seek that adventure anymore. It is about (now) being able to quickly rush the reading and literature without understanding what is presented to us. Nicholas has presented many examples of his thesis being thoroughly shown throughout his essay. An informative example of Carr’s...
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...Nicholas Carr is the author of books concerning technology and culture. One of his most recent bestsellers regarding the topic is his work titled What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. In the summer of 2008, Carr’s piece, Is Google Making Us Stupid?, was published in The Atlantic Monthly. In this essay, Carr declares that the Internet is altering the way people think (500). Carr writes that the Internet lowers the ability for concentration and consideration (501). He believes the ability to read and understand a lengthy piece of writing has also been practically entirely lost (Carr 501). Carr additionally states that the Internet has severed our capability to interpret text (502). Nicholas Carr backs up his claims with personal experience, personal opinions, quoting authorities, and referring to research that has been done on the topic. With his presentation of evidence, along with his unbiased language, I believe Carr is effective in supporting his claim. Even though Carr is writing about the negative effects of the Internet on our brains, he is not against technology or the Internet. He demonstrates this by saying “the Web has been a godsend to me as a writer. Research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes” (Carr 501). Carr also acknowledges that “the advantages of having immediate access to such an incredibly rich store of information are many” (501). With these mentions, he does not seem to be biased and completely...
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...The Internet is Not Dumbing Us Down Nicholas Carr, the technology writer laments the rise of the internet in our lives in his article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” published in 2008. Carr compares reading on the internet with the printed version and comes into the conclusion that reading through the internet is basically the shallower form of reading. Starting his article describing his problems by describing new technologies to be “chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplacing”.(Carr 236) Because of the internet, he is unable to keep his focus on reading any books or long articles. Therefore, affirming that the long term use of the internet is harmful for concentration and contemplation, consequently affecting people to become dumber and digitals fools. Fortunately, that is not true. Internet is not making people dumb, it has rather changed the object of focus. Knowledge now is moving from one room to the hyperlink medium, from content to connections and from libraries to network. In other words, it is not wrong to say that we are in fact truly getting smarter with the increadible amount of informations available in the internet. Nicholas Carr says that from the past few years, he has been feeling an uncomfortable sense that his way of thinking when reading has changed with the excess use of the internet, claiming: “My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particle”(Carr 236). The ...
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...Us Stupid?” and “Mind Over Mass Media” the Authors share their opinions on the impacts that technology advancement and mass media have made within the following amount of recent years. For example, in the essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Author, Nicholas Carr, who is a much known writer and also finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize, discusses how his level of thinking has changed due to using technology. He also supports all of his evidence that he discusses throughout his essay...
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...BIM 5013 Management Information Systems Case Study - IT Doesn’t Matter by Nicholas Carr Background This article “IT Doesn’t Matter” written by the Harvard Business Review’s editor-at-large, Nicholas G. Carr in May 2003 highlighted and that the power and ubiquity of information technology has grown inevitably so much so that the technology by itself will unable to deliver the competitive advantage. The article did not anywhere affirmed IT is not important, but rather argues that the strategic value of IT is diminishing as it gets harder and harder to utilize IT as an edge over competitors. In other words, it is scarcity that allows companies to use it for sustained competitive advantage. Carr viewed that when IT is truly an infrastructural technology, it is therefore prone to commoditization – a process which is already evident and reflected by its high replicability and sharp reduction in IT prices. He further added that the more IT becomes pervasive and companies view it more critical to their success, the more heaving spending on IT itself underscores risk than generating competitive advantages. Why Carr’s Claims are not Wrong Carr said that it is the ‘scarcity’ that makes a business resource truly strategic and allows companies to use it for a sustained competitive advantage. According to him, it is only by doing something that your rivals can't that one gain an edge. Core functions of IT such as automation - data storage, data processing, and data transport - have now...
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...Alphabets, number systems, clocks, and maps is the single most mind-twisting way of learning online as seen in the Shallows by Nicholas Carr.”With the exception of alphabets and number systems, the Net may well be the single most powerful mind alterning technology that has come into general use” (Carr, pg. 116). The rise of technology is starting to peak and grow every single day of our lives.”The machine metaphor was extended, and further reinforced, by the arrival of the digital computer- a thinking machine- in the middle of the twentieth century” (Carr, pg. 23). This is showing the midpoint of technology. Technology has almost reached the rising point in the twentieth century. The web currently has been able to quickly access search engines.”...
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...because we are using technology more and are becoming attached to it. In the book, the parlor, a virtual reality television, is considered as ‘family.’ “‘Will you turn the parlor off?’ He asked. ‘That’s my family.’ ‘Will you turn it off for a sick man?’ ‘I’ll turn it down.’ She went out of the room and did nothing to the parlor and came back. ‘Is that better?’” (48-49). This quote shows that Mildred thinks of the parlor as ‘family’ and is reluctant...
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...tell—but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think.” (Carr, Nicholas “Is Google making us stupid?”) I have asked myself the question “Is Google making us stupid?” (Carr) a dozen times while trying to write this paper. For me, we are only as stupid as we give ourselves credit for, Google or no Google. When I think of all the things that I would love to know, I don’t blame the Internet, Google or the amazing strides that technology has taken over the decades for my inherent stupidity on certain matters. I blame myself, for not taking the time or using the resources that are amazing displayed to me through libraries, computers or the people who hold the knowledge within them. Google is not making us stupid, it’s just another thing that we can blame for our stupidity. Scientifically there may be valid points to Carr’s essay in regards to how people process information today compared to ages ago. Carr begins his essay...
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...In the article of “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr argues that the Internet is changing the way our mind works and has some negative effects on our lives. The article begins with that the Internet is the excellent resource where we can find whatever we want for everything, and we are becoming more and more dependent on it in the field of writing, reading and so on. Afterwards, Carr claims that it has a large distraction on our mind, and we even cannot concentrate on a long reading material. As he said, technology is becoming more important than people. Nicholas Carr backs up his claims with personal experience, personal opinions, quoting authorities, and referring to research that has been done on the topic. With his presentation of evidence, along with his unbiased language, I believe Carr is effective in supporting his claim. Even though Carr is writing about the negative effects of the Internet on our brains, he is not against technology or the Internet. He demonstrates this by saying “the Web has been a godsend to me as a writer. Carr also acknowledges that “the advantages of having immediate access to such an incredibly rich store of information are many”. With these mentions, he does not seem to be biased and completely against the Internet. It appears he has a favorable outlook on the subject, so for him to present the facts of the negative side, I do not feel like he is being one-sided Carr’s use of quotations and research studies supports the...
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...Introduction Technology has been increasing its use in our day to day lives for years now. The amount of technology that kids are using and are exposed to can easily be concluded as being a great deal more than previous generations. Does this increase in technological availability affect us, though? This question is at the heart of Nicholas Carr’s article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” In a study done in 2011 by the American Psychological Association, they found that “adults over the age of 55 who had had a black and white television set growing up had a higher likelihood of dreaming in black and white. However, younger users who had always had a color television . . . were much more likely to dream in Technicolor.” This is just one example of how the change of and increased use of technology can alter the way our minds think and function. Carr poses his thoughts and opinions about the effects technology is having on our brains, while...
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...Essay 1: “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” summary and response Summary: In the article of “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, Nicholas Carr argues that the Internet is changing the way our mind works and has some negative effects on our lives. In the article of “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, Nicholas Carr argues that the Internet is changing the way our mind works and has some negative effects on our lives. The article begins with that the Internet is the excellent resource where we can find whatever we want for everything, and we are becoming more and more dependent on it in the field of writing, reading and so on. Afterwards, Carr claims that it has a large distraction on our mind, and we even cannot concentrate on a long reading material. As he said, technology is becoming more important than people. In the end, he also tells us that Google is trying to invent an artificial brain to replace our "slow" brains that we already have. In the article of “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, Nicholas Carr argues that the Internet is changing the way our mind works and has some negative effects on our lives. He views the idea that the Internet is an obstacle for individuals to think deeply, and it is rebuilding our mind and memory. As Carr said, nowadays, it is so difficult for him to focus on a long paper; instead, he always spends a lot of time on the Internet. In the past, the writers like him should stay in the library to study for several days, but now, because of the Internet, it just...
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...Twitter when I was your age” at family dinners. As a technology that has been rooted into our culture, we need to ask ourselves: how is this technology effecting us? In his essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr tackled this very question. Carr has a very different answer than I do. Nicholas Carr will attempt to teach you to be skeptical of the internet’s potentially negative effects on your mind. Carr has taken the easier route of criticizing a relatively new technology without offering any alternative suggestions or...
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...Systems The Idea that “IT Doesn’t Matter” as proposed by Nicholas Carr in the Harvard Business Review article that was published in 2003 raises just as many questions as it does answers to this very question as well as it has stirred up quite a bit of controversy over since its publication. What Carr is saying unlike the title of the paper he does not say there is no need for IT. The idea was to draw up controversy. Carr’s argument is to have a strategic advantage within IT. Something no one else has is extremely important. IT has become a huge cost for many organizations but other things have gone down in cost. Our Infrastructural technology of today in terms of transportation of goods it helps deflate prices. It is essential for competition to have IT but inconsequential for strategy for many organizations. What Carr is saying essentially is yes IT is an important to tool to help organizations achieve their goals daily however it is not the core of the business. The core is the strategy that each company possesses that makes it stand out from the rest and ultimately make that organization successful. The title of the original HBR article was misleading. Mr. Carr is not arguing that information technology doesn’t matter. Of course it does. Among other things, IT improves productivity by reducing communications, search, and trans- action costs, and by automating all sorts of tasks previously done by humans. But Mr. Carr asserts that as IT matures, spreads, and becomes more standardized...
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...doing to Our Brains” Written By Nicholas Carr Summarized By Sarah Clark Information Systems for Management Summer 2013 At first glance of this book, “The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains,” I started to get the overall impression that the author, Nicholas Carr, was totally opposed to idea of technology. As a lover of technology myself, I dreaded reading this book because I thought that it was going to be a negative interpretation of technology. And while this book doesn’t exactly shed the most positive light on that subject, I’ve started to understand the overall views of Mr. Carr and identify with them as well. The book, not necessarily a discouragement of technology, but rather an explanation of how our brain operates with the constant technological noise that we are surrounded in day in and day out, comes from the authors own personal experiences. He states in the beginning of the book how he started noticing that he was having concentration problems and constantly felt the urge to check his phone, email, or blogs to stay abreast on the most current information. He started to wonder why? Why wasn’t he able to pay attention for longer than 5 or ten minutes? Why wasn’t he able to develop deep focus? Eventually he determined that it was because of the patterns with in our mind and how they have adapted with the constant flow of technology around us every day. The book focuses on a contrast of two technologies, being that of a book and the internet...
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...As technology becomes more a part or ours daily lives: We have to ask ourselves, is it hindering us or helping? This is not an easy question, and is a great debate in today's society. More specific, an article by Nicholas Carr “Is Google Making Us Stupid” argues that exact point. Throughout the article it gives many examples of how Google is hindering our knowledge. Nicholas Carr makes the reference about how he used to dive into textual evidence while researching a topic and now it feels as if he is just skimming the top information. This is later proven in a study conducted by scholars from University College London scholars from University College London Furthermore, as a result of technology they that it has altered reading habits and Carr...
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