Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Over the past 20 years, technology has been making ground-breaking strides. We have developed computers that can process thousands of bits of information in a matter of seconds and can save vast amounts of created ideas. Computers can also help us search for historic ideas and aid us in creating beautiful presentations to share with everyone around the world. I can assure you that the world is available with one click of a button, but is this what we need?

After reading Nicholas Carr's work, I feel rather intrigued. Carr explained how he (as well as many other people) have lost concentration and ability to read for an extended period of time, and that the internet is to blame. I agree that the internet has helped us find precise information quickly, but we cannot blame the internet for lack of concentration when there is no neurological proof that the internet is promoting this. Although this seems like something to frown upon, if this is true I see this as an opportunity. This century is an environment where everything occurs rapidly. It seems right when we start something new in school we are switching tasks.

Maryanne Wolf brought something very interesting to my attention. In Carr's essay she explained how "we are how we read." I can observe and apply this to my life very swiftly. I'm not an avid reader, but one of my friends is and he can focus on tasks for longer than me without getting irritated. I also see this at school with students who spend most of their time reading. They don't seem to be getting as annoyed with the same task day in and day out, and that's a good quality to possess. Wolf also explained how the Chinese language will make the people who read it interpret situations differently than those who read the language with an alphabet. This will then help to explain different culture differences other than the environment and the people in it.

With this being said, the brain behaves differently because of a lot of different behaviors, and that technology could be a cause, but can't be proved. Carr brought up how with the invention of the clock, people started to ignore their senses of thirst, hunger, and sleep and started to look to the time of when they should do these tasks. This could be true for some people, I find that I still do all these things when my senses tell me the time is right. If it's midnight and I'm hungry, I'm going to eat. Most people would do the same instead of waiting until it's morning until it would be "appropriate" to eat.

Technology can affect our lives. The clock proved it, but to prove if it affects our mental capabilities will be very difficult and won't get a lot of support. The internet has the most controversy to whether this conspiracy actual exists. Google has created the ultimate search engine that everyone knows how to use. You just have to type in what you would like to know and 99 times out of 100 you will find what you were looking for in a matter of clicks. This is perfect for research, but now people are using it for things that they should know. Some people have stopped thinking for themselves and rely on technology for all of the information. With technology still advancing, it will only get worse. People will be getting more busy in this fast-paced world and won't bother to want to look in a book when their answer is a few clicks away. It's a scary thought if technology started to control the world, but I feel if we can create all of these monumental ideas and constructions, we will know how to control them and always keep ourselves in control.