In his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid” Nick Carr makes several important claims. However, in my opinion his two most important claims are his claim about the intentions of internet companies and his overall claim about how Google affects people.
As Nick Carr says “Most of the proprietors of the commercial internet have a financial stake in collecting the crumbs of data we leave behind as we flit from link to link – the more crumbs, the better. The last thing internet companies want is to encourage leisurely reading or slow, concentrated thought. It is in their economic interest to drive us to distraction.” (GMUS) Carr's claim is that because internet companies have so much invested in people visiting different websites, and thus seeing different advertisements in the side bars of these websites, they are willing to design websites with the intention of the reader needing to go to to another website after viewing the one they are currently on. This earns the internet companies more money because of all the other companies paying for advertising space on their websites.
Another important claim that Carr makes is what I believe to be his central claim for this article. Carr state that “In the world of 2001, people have become so machinelike that the most human character turns out to be a machine. That's the essence of Kubrick's dark prophecy: as we come to rely on the computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence.” (GMUS) I believe that Carr's claim is very straight forward and very powerful. Carr's claim is that all of the exposure people have to internet knowledge and how people must navigate from page to page to page to page in order to find what they are looking for, has slowly been building up to the creation of the machinelike people, it has been building up to the loss of our own intelligence and the increase of artificial intelligence.
I disagree with Nick Carr's claim, because I believe that this is just a part of the advancement in technology just like so many other things have. Just as humans have moved on from stone tablets to parchment, we are beginning to move from paper to the internet. I am not saying that we will no longer have a place for books, at least not in the near future. Books are still a great resource and very some people a more enjoyable method of harvesting information. But the internet much faster and more efficient then books, and for most people a Google search fits the bill. I don't believe that the internet is damaging the they way we think. I simply think that it is a natural change as technology progresses.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Reading Responce # 4
In his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr maintains the idea that the internet and computer are causing the people in today’s world to rely too much on the quick and easy search engines that make any information just a click away from anyone who wants to access it. In this article Carr writes, “The kind of deep reading that a sequence of printed pages promotes is valuable not just for the knowledge we acquire from the author’s words but for the intellectual vibrations those words set off within our own minds.” Basically Carr is saying that search engines such a Google are creating information monsters out of us so to speak. Having Google for concise and instant information is making us as internet users very impatient when we do come across large volumes of writing in our search for answers. I agree with Carr that most everyone is coming to rely much too much on the internet, and easily navigational search engines for quick answers and information. This point I believe needs more emphasizing sense so many people see it as an untrue claim, and think that the only reason people use these kinds of resources is because it is fast and easy, not because they have to due to their lack of attention span they have developed from them. Another claim Carr makes in his article is, “That’s the essence of Kubrick’s dark prophecy: as we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence.” I believe here Carr is saying that we will all in time become to believe the same set of information to be true by only believing what we are reading on the internet. Carr is surely right about this due to the fact that artificial intelligence is when a large group of people are taught to believe a specific set of information, and that is exactly what happens when people use sites such as Google.
Reading Response 4
Nick Carr has many convincing claims in his argument but his first claim and thesis is what really puts the paper together and sells his idea to those who read. He states that “I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading.” Carr is talking about the way we gather technology today is very handy, but we are losing the thought process in being able to decipher specific ideas out of a large body. We now expect the answer to just appear to us in a one or two sentence summary. I do have to agree with Carr as I can even relate to this idea, as I used to be able to read books all day or have no trouble sorting out information in my head. But as I got older and started “googling” more I found that I reply on search engines to get almost all my info, and I just seek my answer then move on and am not going into serious depth that is needed.
Carr also talks about how the internet has been a blessing to him and other writers as it has all the possible information you could ever want, it’s just that all the techniques can be abused like anything. Carr claims that “The net is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mind.” The main idea behind this, is that the heavy influence of the internet has been a great help to all especially writers due to the easy access to all the information that would be useful to their book or article. It has allowed for them to get their hands on papers or articles that would have taken days or hours to find using a library with only print sources.
The biggest problem Carr states is that Google and the internet have made research too easy, as all you have to do is throw in a few keywords and all the information will automatically be sorted the most you have to do is click on the links or click on the back button. This had meant that we have lost our touch of analyzing that was built up by reading books or having to read the whole article to get the necessary parts out. I agree with Carr as I have seen these changes personally in my life, as I have even gotten older and you would believe I would be able to see my analyzing skills get much stronger as I mature.
Carr also talks about how the internet has been a blessing to him and other writers as it has all the possible information you could ever want, it’s just that all the techniques can be abused like anything. Carr claims that “The net is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mind.” The main idea behind this, is that the heavy influence of the internet has been a great help to all especially writers due to the easy access to all the information that would be useful to their book or article. It has allowed for them to get their hands on papers or articles that would have taken days or hours to find using a library with only print sources.
The biggest problem Carr states is that Google and the internet have made research too easy, as all you have to do is throw in a few keywords and all the information will automatically be sorted the most you have to do is click on the links or click on the back button. This had meant that we have lost our touch of analyzing that was built up by reading books or having to read the whole article to get the necessary parts out. I agree with Carr as I have seen these changes personally in my life, as I have even gotten older and you would believe I would be able to see my analyzing skills get much stronger as I mature.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Is Google Making Us Stupid?
In Nick Carr's article “Is Google Making Us Stupid,”he addresses the idea of our Internet restricting our thought process due to our dependence on it and constant use. Carr informs us of his personal experience with technology and how he is beginning to notice a change in his own abilities, saying something is “tinkering with his brain.” Ultimately it is affecting the way he reads; Carr states, “Immersing myself in a book or lengthy article used to be easy.” Now, his interest becomes lost after a few web pages and he can no longer “get caught up in the narrative,” which he believes is all due to the last decade of surfing and searching and adding to great databases. Carr knows that it is not only he who's capacity for concentration is deteriorating. His friends agree saying, “the more they use the Web, the more they have to stay focused on long pieces of writing.” Some admitting they have quit reading books in general. Carr claims not only has technology changed the way he reads, but is also affecting his mental habits, and he is now “unable to absorb a longish article on the web or in print.” In a research conducted by University College London, it shows that the brain has been rewired so that for most, their form of reading is just “skimming,” or attempting to retain as much information as possible with the least amount of actual reading. Just browsing over titles and introductions has become the alternative for reading. Later on in his article, Carr agrees with Maryanne Wolf's ideas in her work, “Proust and the Squid: The Story of Science and the Reading Brain,” stating that “Reading is not an instinctive skill for human beings, it is not etched into our genes the way speech is.” In other words, we must teach ourselves the correct way to read because our reading done on the Net completely differs from our reading in books. I agree that our use of Internet has affected our ability to read because my personal experience with modern technology confirms it. So often have I chosen the easier route to reading and turned to a source such as Sparknotes, or something along those lines to summarize my book to help myself out because of my lack of time. Because I have the Internet as my 24/7 resource, I depend on it for easy and quick information as well as others do almost everyday. As the use of technology and the Net increases, the more our generation after us will rely on it. Eventually it will have completely disabled our brains and causing us to have dependency on it, and we'll all feel lost without it.
In Nicholas Carr’s article in the Atlantic “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” he claims that Google and the internet are changing our reading habits. He believes that we are beginning to skim over what we use to read deeply and that we are incapable of concentrating on reading for long periods of time.
In Carr’s article he claims that “The human brain is almost infinitely malleable.” He also quotes James Olds, a professor of neuroscience who directs the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study at George Mason University, who states that the mind “is very plastic.” And that it “has the ability to reprogram itself on the fly, altering the way it functions.” Here Carr is basically saying that our brain has the ability to change rapidly and drastically when needed. Because of the internet he claims that we are becoming less familiar with the way of reading that involves deep understanding. I agree with Carr and Olds that the mind does have the ability to change.
Carr also makes an important claim concerning our focus when reading. “I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.” In making this claim, Carr argues that because of the internet we are no longer able to spend hours in reading long ordinary writings. I’m of two minds about Carr’s claim that the internet is causing us to be unable to read “long stretches of prose” deeply. On the one hand, I agree that we read less and less of lengthy good prose. On the other hand “I believe we still have the ability to read deeply when it is necessary”.
As our minds change in the way we read, we are beginning to skim over and move on without understanding and reading deeply. I believe Carr is right in saying that because of the internet our minds are conforming to its new life style.
In Carr’s article he claims that “The human brain is almost infinitely malleable.” He also quotes James Olds, a professor of neuroscience who directs the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study at George Mason University, who states that the mind “is very plastic.” And that it “has the ability to reprogram itself on the fly, altering the way it functions.” Here Carr is basically saying that our brain has the ability to change rapidly and drastically when needed. Because of the internet he claims that we are becoming less familiar with the way of reading that involves deep understanding. I agree with Carr and Olds that the mind does have the ability to change.
Carr also makes an important claim concerning our focus when reading. “I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.” In making this claim, Carr argues that because of the internet we are no longer able to spend hours in reading long ordinary writings. I’m of two minds about Carr’s claim that the internet is causing us to be unable to read “long stretches of prose” deeply. On the one hand, I agree that we read less and less of lengthy good prose. On the other hand “I believe we still have the ability to read deeply when it is necessary”.
As our minds change in the way we read, we are beginning to skim over and move on without understanding and reading deeply. I believe Carr is right in saying that because of the internet our minds are conforming to its new life style.
Reading Response 4 :)
Nick Carr Reading Response
I think one of the strongest claims in Nick Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” is when he says, “The human brain is almost infinitely malleable.” He was referring to his earlier example of writing with a type writer compared to hand written and how he thought differently. His main point in the article seems to be our concentration and attention span. He gives the example of him not being about to read large sums at once. He starts to basically blame this on technology. The internet makes everything easier to get to faster. It seems as though he believes that this fast based technology is changing the way we think altogether. With every new technology comes new ways of thinking and Carr gives examples from the clock to the internet. I think this is an important claim because it seems to link all of his examples together.
Another strong claim in Carr’s article would have to be when he says, “Wolf worries that the style of reading promoted by the Net, a style that puts “efficiency” and “immediacy” above all else, may be weakening our capacity for the kind of deep reading that emerged when an earlier technology, the printing press, made long and complex works of prose commonplace. When we read online, she says, we tend to become “mere decoders of information.” Our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged.” This again goes back to the other quote I used earlier but strengthens it. It goes back to the main concept that the internet is changing our minds, and the way we think. I think this was a claim but it was also part of the evidence for the first quote that I used. It explains how are brains are malleable and supports the claim with authority.
Although I agree with Carr up to a point, I cannot accept his overall conclusion that the internet is to blame completely. I think there are many other contributing factors besides internet. It seems to me that everything nowadays is fast paced not just the computer. Driving now is scary. Going the speed limit is “slow driving”. Everything has to be done quickly and nobody stops moving. It is more than just the concentrating on reading. Can we blame this fast-paced lifestyle solely on the internet?
I think one of the strongest claims in Nick Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” is when he says, “The human brain is almost infinitely malleable.” He was referring to his earlier example of writing with a type writer compared to hand written and how he thought differently. His main point in the article seems to be our concentration and attention span. He gives the example of him not being about to read large sums at once. He starts to basically blame this on technology. The internet makes everything easier to get to faster. It seems as though he believes that this fast based technology is changing the way we think altogether. With every new technology comes new ways of thinking and Carr gives examples from the clock to the internet. I think this is an important claim because it seems to link all of his examples together.
Another strong claim in Carr’s article would have to be when he says, “Wolf worries that the style of reading promoted by the Net, a style that puts “efficiency” and “immediacy” above all else, may be weakening our capacity for the kind of deep reading that emerged when an earlier technology, the printing press, made long and complex works of prose commonplace. When we read online, she says, we tend to become “mere decoders of information.” Our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged.” This again goes back to the other quote I used earlier but strengthens it. It goes back to the main concept that the internet is changing our minds, and the way we think. I think this was a claim but it was also part of the evidence for the first quote that I used. It explains how are brains are malleable and supports the claim with authority.
Although I agree with Carr up to a point, I cannot accept his overall conclusion that the internet is to blame completely. I think there are many other contributing factors besides internet. It seems to me that everything nowadays is fast paced not just the computer. Driving now is scary. Going the speed limit is “slow driving”. Everything has to be done quickly and nobody stops moving. It is more than just the concentrating on reading. Can we blame this fast-paced lifestyle solely on the internet?
Is Google making us stupid?
Nicholas Carr, author of the book The Big Switch: Rewriting the world from Edison to Google, explores the cause and effect of Google and technological progress. In the article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid” published in The Atlantic last summer, he approaches the way Google has affected the way our brains work. The advent of the internet introduced a whole new way to gather information and a whole new method for condensing that information down into a snapshot, easily accessible through our fingertips. Carr admits that Google has its advantages, pointing out that “research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes.” But to that end a deeper connection to reading has been lost.
Carr continues, “Over the past few years I’ve had the uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going-it’s changing.” He noticed that his concentration had become short lived. Once he could lose time in literature and now he struggled to keep his focus after a few pages or even a few paragraphs. But Carr is not alone; other literary types have detected the change. Scott Carp, a blogger, has also taken notice of this phenomenon. Once a literature major in college and a “voracious reader” Carr confesses he has practically given up reading books altogether. The Internet has drastically altered the way we read and think; the shift has been subtle but very real. A study on online research habits done by University College of London perceives it. They noticed that people “hopped” from site to site and source to source, never staying at any one site for more than two pages.
The internet has provided the world with an unimaginable resource but anecdotal information is not reliable enough to base our reading habits off of. If Carr, Carp and the University College of London are right, which I think they are, our reading proficiency has taken a terrible nose dive into a shallow pool. I fear that with my constant exposure to media (i.e. television, internet, radio and print) I too will fall victim to this rewiring trend. The idea that my mind could so easily be taken hostage and reconfigured is frightening. Losing a piece of myself was never a part of the plan when I logged onto the internet.
Carr continues, “Over the past few years I’ve had the uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going-it’s changing.” He noticed that his concentration had become short lived. Once he could lose time in literature and now he struggled to keep his focus after a few pages or even a few paragraphs. But Carr is not alone; other literary types have detected the change. Scott Carp, a blogger, has also taken notice of this phenomenon. Once a literature major in college and a “voracious reader” Carr confesses he has practically given up reading books altogether. The Internet has drastically altered the way we read and think; the shift has been subtle but very real. A study on online research habits done by University College of London perceives it. They noticed that people “hopped” from site to site and source to source, never staying at any one site for more than two pages.
The internet has provided the world with an unimaginable resource but anecdotal information is not reliable enough to base our reading habits off of. If Carr, Carp and the University College of London are right, which I think they are, our reading proficiency has taken a terrible nose dive into a shallow pool. I fear that with my constant exposure to media (i.e. television, internet, radio and print) I too will fall victim to this rewiring trend. The idea that my mind could so easily be taken hostage and reconfigured is frightening. Losing a piece of myself was never a part of the plan when I logged onto the internet.
Areisha's Reading Response to Nick Carr
In his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” Nick Carr brings up the popular controversial topic of whether or not our generation's dependence on technology is taking a toll on our brains and thought processes. Carr speaks of how he personally has noticed a change in the way he reads and interprets information, losing focus when it comes to perusing long articles, and spending more time immersed in Web pages than lengthy books. Carr states, “The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle,” elaborating on the fact that he can no longer lose himself in extensive text. It has become too difficult for his brain to concentrate on elongated written works. He mentions in the article that when he brought up his new-found difficulties to his literary colleagues they expressed kindred problems. Carr states, “The more they use the Web, the more they have to fight to stay focused on long pieces of writing.” Carr's point is that his experience is not singular in nature; many learned people are noticing a change in the way they read. Another of Carr's central claims is that it's not just our ability to read that is changing, it is also the way we think, due largely to the fact that as more advanced technology develops, our brains struggle to adapt to it. According to Carr, “The process of adapting to new intellectual technologies is reflected in the changing metaphors we use to explain ourselves to ourselves.” In making this comment, Carr argues that humans are constantly adapting to their new inventions. He uses the example of the mechanical clock in his article, talking about how when the mechanical clock emerged, people considered their brains as operating “like clockwork,”(Nick Carr) and now they consider their thinking to be “like computers.”(Nick Carr.) Carr ends his article by explaining the point of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, the movie that he based most of his thought processes for his article on. “As we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence.”(Nick Carr.) Although I agree with Carr up to a point, I cannot accept his overall conclusion that we human beings are becoming like computers. It is a thought that is too scary to acknowledge. Computers are cold, emotionless machines, meant to make our lives easier, not to reprogram how we think. I do agree that the reading our generation does now is much different than the reading that was done in the past. But is how we think really that different as well? I do not remember a time before computers and the Internet so I can not truthfully say I have noticed any changes in the way I think. Computers and the Internet have made worldwide communication and research much easier to accomplish. A wealth of information is at our fingertips, just waiting for a strike of the keyboard. But is the Internet's influence really affecting our brains? My own opinion is no, but then again I have never done research on it. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. All I can say is that I really hope we human beings do not become the cold, emotionless machines we have so come to rely on.
Reading Response to "Is Google Making Us Stupid?"
Nick Carr recently wrote an essay titled, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” This article goes in depth on the subject of how the internet is changing the way humans process and store information. He writes about his own struggles with being unable to concentrate on a single piece of writing. He claims that the internet feeds us information at such high speeds that our brains are beginning to change; we are less able to concentrate for long periods of time. Carr continues to talk about clocks and when they became available to the public they changed the way most people went about their day. He writes, “When in deciding when to eat, to work, to sleep, to rise, we stopped listening to our senses and started obeying the clock.” I think this is an important and interesting claim. Some people may not realize, but before clocks came into existence humans relied on their senses and the sun to determine when they would wake up, eat and sleep. This claim is crucial to his essay because it shows an example of how technology can so easily change the way people think and act.
Another important claim Carr makes is how text messaging is also changing the way we read. He writes “Thanks to the ubiquity of text on the Internet, not to mention the popularity of text-messaging on cell phones, we may well be reading more today than we did in the 1970’s or 1980’s, when television was our medium of choice. But it’s a different kind of reading, and behind it lies a different kind of thinking—perhaps even a new sense of the self.” In making this statement Carr is not saying that using the internet and text messaging is necessarily a bad thing, in fact he writes that the general public may be writing more then ever before. However, he does say it’s changing the way we read. He states that our brains are becoming less able to concentrate and that this new fast technology is the reason.
I agree that the internet has changed the way we used to read. A point that needs emphasizing since so many people don’t realize how fast their capacity to concentrate is disintegrating. Through television, internet and the overall media the general public is being fed rapid text and images. We have been trained to quickly read something, maybe think about it for a few moments then move onto something else. The days of reading a book by the fire and discussing what we have read with a friend are nearly gone. This means the next generations will rarely experience that kind of reading. This is an inevitable change and, like the clock, we eventually won’t be able to imagine a world without it.
Another important claim Carr makes is how text messaging is also changing the way we read. He writes “Thanks to the ubiquity of text on the Internet, not to mention the popularity of text-messaging on cell phones, we may well be reading more today than we did in the 1970’s or 1980’s, when television was our medium of choice. But it’s a different kind of reading, and behind it lies a different kind of thinking—perhaps even a new sense of the self.” In making this statement Carr is not saying that using the internet and text messaging is necessarily a bad thing, in fact he writes that the general public may be writing more then ever before. However, he does say it’s changing the way we read. He states that our brains are becoming less able to concentrate and that this new fast technology is the reason.
I agree that the internet has changed the way we used to read. A point that needs emphasizing since so many people don’t realize how fast their capacity to concentrate is disintegrating. Through television, internet and the overall media the general public is being fed rapid text and images. We have been trained to quickly read something, maybe think about it for a few moments then move onto something else. The days of reading a book by the fire and discussing what we have read with a friend are nearly gone. This means the next generations will rarely experience that kind of reading. This is an inevitable change and, like the clock, we eventually won’t be able to imagine a world without it.
Reading Response 4
Nicholas Car wrote and amazing article, “Is Google Making Us stupid?” Throughout the entire article there were many interesting claims. One very convincing claims that Car wrote, “We inevitably begin to take on the qualities of those technologies.”(Page 4) This claim corresponds with the idea that people are starting to think like computers. When using a computer the average person searches for the information that they desire to obtain. They may use Google. The search brings back many different pages that can bring them the information that they are looking for. While reading the searcher might read a tad bit of each of the pages. Then move on to another. Or they just might skim the article for what they are actually intending to find. Now people are thinking more and more like this. After using the Internet for some time, some people may think differently about reading actual books. On average the reader cannot read without getting board. That means that that they are trying to read the book like they are reading an online page.
Car introduces many other ideas throughout his entire paper. Car shares, “The human brain is almost infinitely malleable.” A prior thought was that people’s brains were “hard wired” after a certain point in life. The brain is fully developed after the age of twenty-five, but the way that the information travels isn’t all established. Now, after moving to using computers to help people gather information. The brain starts to operate much differently. The brain slowly starts to act like a computer. This proves that the brain isn’t fully established. The wiring that we have established throughout education is there, but after using the computer the wiring started to change. The wiring can still change anytime, just if the thinker starts to change their habits. I have read this article a few times. I agree with both of the points the Car established in his work. I think that this is true, because many people my age do not fully read educational assignments. Car’s article was seven pages long, and I am surprised many of the people finished the reading. Skimming has become much more popular as the Internet has became more popular. When the article at which is being analyzed gets longer more and more people get turned off of finishing. I think that we are more like are computers in this way. I agree with the fact that our brains are malleable too. I have seen many people change their habits. Then, when they think that they can go back the can’t possibly go back. Personally I think that the article is confronting a topic the is very debatable depending on where you stand.
Car introduces many other ideas throughout his entire paper. Car shares, “The human brain is almost infinitely malleable.” A prior thought was that people’s brains were “hard wired” after a certain point in life. The brain is fully developed after the age of twenty-five, but the way that the information travels isn’t all established. Now, after moving to using computers to help people gather information. The brain starts to operate much differently. The brain slowly starts to act like a computer. This proves that the brain isn’t fully established. The wiring that we have established throughout education is there, but after using the computer the wiring started to change. The wiring can still change anytime, just if the thinker starts to change their habits. I have read this article a few times. I agree with both of the points the Car established in his work. I think that this is true, because many people my age do not fully read educational assignments. Car’s article was seven pages long, and I am surprised many of the people finished the reading. Skimming has become much more popular as the Internet has became more popular. When the article at which is being analyzed gets longer more and more people get turned off of finishing. I think that we are more like are computers in this way. I agree with the fact that our brains are malleable too. I have seen many people change their habits. Then, when they think that they can go back the can’t possibly go back. Personally I think that the article is confronting a topic the is very debatable depending on where you stand.
Reading Response 4
Nicholas Car wrote and amazing article, “Is Google Making Us stupid?” Throughout the entire article there were many interesting claims. One very convincing claims that Car wrote, “We inevitably begin to take on the qualities of those technologies.”(Page 4) This claim corresponds with the idea that people are starting to think like computers. When using a computer the average person searches for the information that they desire to obtain. They may use Google. The search brings back many different pages that can bring them the information that they are looking for. While reading the searcher might read a tad bit of each of the pages. Then move on to another. Or they just might skim the article for what they are actually intending to find. Now people are thinking more and more like this. After using the Internet for some time, some people may think differently about reading actual books. On average the reader cannot read without getting board. That means that that they are trying to read the book like they are reading an online page.
Car introduces many other ideas throughout his entire paper. Car shares, “The human brain is almost infinitely malleable.” A prior thought was that people’s brains were “hard wired” after a certain point in life. The brain is fully developed after the age of twenty-five, but the way that the information travels isn’t all established. Now, after moving to using computers to help people gather information. The brain starts to operate much differently. The brain slowly starts to act like a computer. This proves that the brain isn’t fully established. The wiring that we have established throughout education is there, but after using the computer the wiring started to change. The wiring can still change anytime, just if the thinker starts to change their habits. I have read this article a few times. I agree with both of the points the Car established in his work. I think that this is true, because many people my age do not fully read educational assignments. Car’s article was seven pages long, and I am surprised many of the people finished the reading. Skimming has become much more popular as the Internet has became more popular. When the article at which is being analyzed gets longer more and more people get turned off of finishing. I think that we are more like are computers in this way. I agree with the fact that our brains are malleable too. I have seen many people change their habits. Then, when they think that they can go back the can’t possibly go back. Personally I think that the article is confronting a topic the is very debatable depending on where you stand.
Car introduces many other ideas throughout his entire paper. Car shares, “The human brain is almost infinitely malleable.” A prior thought was that people’s brains were “hard wired” after a certain point in life. The brain is fully developed after the age of twenty-five, but the way that the information travels isn’t all established. Now, after moving to using computers to help people gather information. The brain starts to operate much differently. The brain slowly starts to act like a computer. This proves that the brain isn’t fully established. The wiring that we have established throughout education is there, but after using the computer the wiring started to change. The wiring can still change anytime, just if the thinker starts to change their habits. I have read this article a few times. I agree with both of the points the Car established in his work. I think that this is true, because many people my age do not fully read educational assignments. Car’s article was seven pages long, and I am surprised many of the people finished the reading. Skimming has become much more popular as the Internet has became more popular. When the article at which is being analyzed gets longer more and more people get turned off of finishing. I think that we are more like are computers in this way. I agree with the fact that our brains are malleable too. I have seen many people change their habits. Then, when they think that they can go back the can’t possibly go back. Personally I think that the article is confronting a topic the is very debatable depending on where you stand.
Reading Response #4
In the article “Google is Making Us Stupid” author Nick Carr brings up the idea that the internet has changed the way we think, hindered our ability to focus on one thing, and has made reading deeply much harder than it used to be. Carr points out that now a days we are receiving most of what we learn through the internet, and that the fact that we have such a rich amount of ideas at our finger tips has been widely appreciated and liked by the public. He then argues that, “But that boon comes at a price. As the media theorist Marshall McLuhan pointed out in the 1960s, media are not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation.” He is basically saying that the internet has made it so he can no longer focus on one specific idea for too long, because he’s used to surfing around and not staying in one place for too long. This is significant because he is arguing with what the general public agrees with (that the internet is a blessing and has made our lives better.) Carr’s idea is looking past generalizations and showing the faults of the internet which is something that we trust very easily. I am of two minds in this situation, I agree with Carr in that looking past generalizations is important because for me seeing the big picture can help when I make decisions about how I feel, but I also can agree with what the general public feels, I’ll be the first one to admit that the internet has genuinely made my life easier.
Carr also feels that the internet is too abundant in our lives and that it is filling up too much space in our brains. He argues that “If we lose those quiet spaces, or fill them up with “content,” we will sacrifice something important not only in our selves but in our culture.” In this quote he is arguing that with out deep thinking and reading we will lose ourselves, and the culture that we come from. He continues to say that by losing that space we will be spreading ourselves too thin and won’t have enough capacity to truly learn and comprehend what he read. I strongly agree with Carr when he says that losing quiet spaces will lead to us losing our sense of self. Personally I am afraid that because I am constantly surrounded by media, internet, and television I’m losing my own thoughts and just taking on those of what I see and hear every single day. I feel that these outlets have hindered my uniqueness.
Carr also feels that the internet is too abundant in our lives and that it is filling up too much space in our brains. He argues that “If we lose those quiet spaces, or fill them up with “content,” we will sacrifice something important not only in our selves but in our culture.” In this quote he is arguing that with out deep thinking and reading we will lose ourselves, and the culture that we come from. He continues to say that by losing that space we will be spreading ourselves too thin and won’t have enough capacity to truly learn and comprehend what he read. I strongly agree with Carr when he says that losing quiet spaces will lead to us losing our sense of self. Personally I am afraid that because I am constantly surrounded by media, internet, and television I’m losing my own thoughts and just taking on those of what I see and hear every single day. I feel that these outlets have hindered my uniqueness.
Responce to Nick Carr's article
Nicholas Carr the author of the book The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, From Edison to Google recently published an article in The Atlantic where he discussed some of his premise that the use of the Internet could be changing the way the brain operates. More specifically the way the brain operates in relation to the way we read. In this article Is Google Making Us Stupid, he discusses his personal observation on this when he states "My mind isn’t going – It’s Changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think." Carr moves on to discuss how he notices this most strongly when he’s trying to concentrate on something he is reading. He has noticed over the years that he has lost his ability to concentrate on long articles and books, and instead finds it more comfortable to skim what he’s reading. He says that his friends and colleagues are noticing similar tendencies.
Carr attributes his changing patterns to the time he has spent using the Internet, saying that "My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles." Backing up this statement he sites a couple of different studies on the development of the brain. Most notably for me was what Maryanne Wolf had to say on the subject. Wolf a psychologist at Tufts University and the author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain says "We are not only what we read, we are how we read". She explains that the way we learn to read affects the way the neural circuits and pathways of the brain develop, and that the style of reading promoted by the Internet may be weakening our ability for deep reading.
I agree that there is cause to be concerned over this because my friend’s and family’s own experiences confirm it. Not having a lot of experience on the Net myself I asked some people close to me what they felt on this subject, and almost all of them said they are experiencing the same phenomena in differing degrees. This disturbed me because I enjoy the way I read, and how it feels to curl up on the couch with a good book and get lost in the story. The idea that this fundamental part of who I am could be lost, in any degree, is simply unacceptable to me.
Carr attributes his changing patterns to the time he has spent using the Internet, saying that "My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles." Backing up this statement he sites a couple of different studies on the development of the brain. Most notably for me was what Maryanne Wolf had to say on the subject. Wolf a psychologist at Tufts University and the author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain says "We are not only what we read, we are how we read". She explains that the way we learn to read affects the way the neural circuits and pathways of the brain develop, and that the style of reading promoted by the Internet may be weakening our ability for deep reading.
I agree that there is cause to be concerned over this because my friend’s and family’s own experiences confirm it. Not having a lot of experience on the Net myself I asked some people close to me what they felt on this subject, and almost all of them said they are experiencing the same phenomena in differing degrees. This disturbed me because I enjoy the way I read, and how it feels to curl up on the couch with a good book and get lost in the story. The idea that this fundamental part of who I am could be lost, in any degree, is simply unacceptable to me.
Reading Response 4, Nick Carr article
In Nick Carr’s article , “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, he deeply explains what the internet is doing to our brain’s. He also makes clear that deep reading these days has changed for him greatly, now not being able to focus in when reading a couple pages. Nick Carr also uses examples of how technology is changing our lives. In the article Nick Carr references Lewis Mumford from his article, “Technics and Civilization”, about a clock. In “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, Carr states, “The clocks methodical ticking helped bring into being the scientific mind and the scientific man.” What Nick Carr is basically trying to point out is that clocks are starting to take over our day. We are living by a clock, rather our bodies. If it wasn’t for a clock we wouldn’t be waking up so early to be going to work or school. If it was up to our bodies we would be getting that extra few hours of sleep that are greatly needed for us to function properly during the day. Now we just depend on clocks so we can get up and about, not listening to our bodies trying to pull you back under the covers.
Deeper into the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid? Nick Carr talks about Fredrick Winslow Taylor. Taylor carried around a stopwatch and started playing around with how efficient the workers at the Midvale steel plant in Philadelphia could work if they worked off time from the stopwatch. Through the years this practice soon evolved through many different companies so that they could be more and more efficient. Soon enough this technology reached Google. As it says in the article, “Google’s headquarters, in Mountain View, California-the Googleplex- is the Internets high church, and the religion practiced inside the walls is Taylorism. According to Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, it’s “a company that’s founded around the science of measurement.” Being one of the most popular internet sites ever, and the most used search engine, Google is constantly doing different experiments to make themselves more efficient, even though they are at the top of the Internet search engine chain. With thousands and thousands of different experiments a day, Google can pretty much safely say that they are the “perfect search engine.” Thanks to Frederick Winslow Taylor, everything will be more efficient.
This article does a good job of explaining how these forms of technology are changing the way we are living today. From the clock waking us up every morning, to Fredrick Winslow Taylor’s method of efficiency with the stopwatch. These thing’s as well as the internet and Google are changing our everyday lives.
Reading Respones #4 (Is Google.....)
In Nick Carr's article “Is google making us stupid?”, he talks about how technology is changing people. Changing the way we read, write, and even think. Carr claims that the human brain is almost infinitely malleable. Another interesting claim Carr makes in his article is that people are becoming more like technology.
Nick Carr believes that technology is changing the way peoples brains work. In his article he claims that “The human brain is almost infinitely malleable.” his evidence backs this up, “a Professor of neuroscience,.. says that even the adult mind “is very plastic.” The professor goes on to state that “The brain has the ability to reprogram itself on the fly, altering the way it functions.” Carr is trying to prove that the brain is always changing, and that the way people think and or operate is changing as well. I agree that the human brain is always changing, I know that I think a lot differently know than I did even last year at this time. I think everything we do and every experience we have changes the way we think, not just technology.
Later on in Carr's article he maintains that technology is not only changing the way we think, it's changing us all together. “As we use what the sociologist Daniel Bell has called our “intellectual technologies”- tools that extend out mental rather that our physical capacities- we inevitably begin to take on the qualities of those technologies”. Basically Carr is saying that people are becoming more like technology. I agree with Carr up to a point. I do believe that technology has defiantly changed the way people think and the way we do things today. On the other hand I'm not sure if people are becoming like technology or thinking like computers think. I also think it's important to mention that everything changes the way we think and the way our brains work not just technology.
Nick Carr believes that technology is changing the way peoples brains work. In his article he claims that “The human brain is almost infinitely malleable.” his evidence backs this up, “a Professor of neuroscience,.. says that even the adult mind “is very plastic.” The professor goes on to state that “The brain has the ability to reprogram itself on the fly, altering the way it functions.” Carr is trying to prove that the brain is always changing, and that the way people think and or operate is changing as well. I agree that the human brain is always changing, I know that I think a lot differently know than I did even last year at this time. I think everything we do and every experience we have changes the way we think, not just technology.
Later on in Carr's article he maintains that technology is not only changing the way we think, it's changing us all together. “As we use what the sociologist Daniel Bell has called our “intellectual technologies”- tools that extend out mental rather that our physical capacities- we inevitably begin to take on the qualities of those technologies”. Basically Carr is saying that people are becoming more like technology. I agree with Carr up to a point. I do believe that technology has defiantly changed the way people think and the way we do things today. On the other hand I'm not sure if people are becoming like technology or thinking like computers think. I also think it's important to mention that everything changes the way we think and the way our brains work not just technology.
Reading Response 4
In the article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr, he brings up many claims to the web is transforming our thinking. He explains how the internet has affected him personally; “My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.” I’m of two minds about Carr’s claim. On one hand, I can see how the internet changed the way of thinking for previous generations because the internet was a new idea. But for me or others in my generation, the internet has always been there. Therefore when Carr states his mind has changed due to the internet, I cannot relate because I do not know. I grew up with the internet, and I would not know if my mind had changed due to it. He also speaks of Socrates and his objection to technology. Carr says, “Socrates wasn’t wrong – the new technology did often have the effects he feared - but he was shortsighted. He couldn’t foresee the many ways that writing and reading would serve to spread information, spur fresh ideas, and expand human knowledge (if not wisdom).” I agree with Carr in this claim. I believe that technology has many advantages that society can make use of. The internet is our new technology whereas Socrates is talking about reading and writing in general. The internet is a place that anyone can access and find information with just a few clicks. Information that used to take hours to find, can now be found in a matter of minutes depending on how internet savvy an individual is. Society can learn about countries half way across the world with the internet. They can even instant message, e-mail, or video message with them.
Nick Carr's Reading Response
In Nicholas Carr’s piece, “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, Carr explains how the computer and the Internet are influencing way our minds work and the way we think. He also explains how reading on the Internet is preventing people from “deep reading” because when reading articles and blog posts people are mainly skimming over the words and only focus on the first few paragraphs before clicking on to the next site.
On page 3 of Carr’s, “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, he states, “The human brain almost infinitely malleable.” I agree with this statement because there are several different influences over the way people think or view things. Computers and technology are not the only influences that are playing a part in how people think, but there are things such as advertisements or peer pressure. For example, make up advertisements can make women feel insecure about the way they look, lowering their self-esteem. As a result, they buy the product because in their minds they think they need it to feel prettier. And people’s peers influence how people think incredibly. The majority of teens almost always follow the crowd and end up believing what teens have labeled as “cool”. These senses of what things are “cool” changes all the time, which in turn, is influencing the minds of the other teens.
Another interesting claim Carr makes in this same article is on page 4 in which he states, “When the Net absorbs a medium…It injects the medium’s content with hyberlinks, blinking ads, and other digital gewgaws, and it surrounds the content with the content of all the other media it has absorbed. The result is to scatter our attention and diffuse our concentration.” This claim is interesting to me because I can relate to that experience of jumping from site to site and being distracted by all the different sorts of media that is being displayed on the Internet. So I agree with the statement about how the Net injects the medium’s content, but I disagree with the statement that the result is to scatter our attention and distract the readers. I disagree with this because I believe that the reason there is so many advertisements and mediums on the Net is not to purposely distract the viewers but because the media is radically increasing and shifting so there is so much information to be distributed and all the different companies are distributing the information all at once. So the result is distraction, but I don’t think the distraction is intentional.
Overall, this article explains some valid points about how computers and the Internet are influencing the minds of the people today, some of which can be controversial.
On page 3 of Carr’s, “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, he states, “The human brain almost infinitely malleable.” I agree with this statement because there are several different influences over the way people think or view things. Computers and technology are not the only influences that are playing a part in how people think, but there are things such as advertisements or peer pressure. For example, make up advertisements can make women feel insecure about the way they look, lowering their self-esteem. As a result, they buy the product because in their minds they think they need it to feel prettier. And people’s peers influence how people think incredibly. The majority of teens almost always follow the crowd and end up believing what teens have labeled as “cool”. These senses of what things are “cool” changes all the time, which in turn, is influencing the minds of the other teens.
Another interesting claim Carr makes in this same article is on page 4 in which he states, “When the Net absorbs a medium…It injects the medium’s content with hyberlinks, blinking ads, and other digital gewgaws, and it surrounds the content with the content of all the other media it has absorbed. The result is to scatter our attention and diffuse our concentration.” This claim is interesting to me because I can relate to that experience of jumping from site to site and being distracted by all the different sorts of media that is being displayed on the Internet. So I agree with the statement about how the Net injects the medium’s content, but I disagree with the statement that the result is to scatter our attention and distract the readers. I disagree with this because I believe that the reason there is so many advertisements and mediums on the Net is not to purposely distract the viewers but because the media is radically increasing and shifting so there is so much information to be distributed and all the different companies are distributing the information all at once. So the result is distraction, but I don’t think the distraction is intentional.
Overall, this article explains some valid points about how computers and the Internet are influencing the minds of the people today, some of which can be controversial.
Growing up online
Growing up Online is about my generation, the generation that came of age with the internet, and our use of internet in our lives. Growing up Online is a video that details teen’s different uses of the internet whether it be to find solace from adults or someone they can relate or create a new persona. Rachel Dretzin directed the video and used teens who lived in Morris City, N.J. Teens claim “it’s addictive” and the narrative tells us of the “virtual society teens have created through the internet.” Watching this video I could relate to the teens show as using the internet as a means of connecting with people. I can communicate through e-mails and find out information about what’s going on with other people who aren’t from where I am. I find it easy to Google it and find out what my friend is doing through their social networking page.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Nicholas Carr
In the essay "Is Google Making Us Stupid," by Nicholas Carr he states that thinking deeply is a thing of the past. He states that the Internet is changing the way we think and process information that we read when he says "[My] mind isn't going-so far as i can tell-but its changing."(par. 2) He feels that as a society we are to easily manipulated and very attention deficit.
Carr also explains that reading and writing has become more difficult and that he and his friends have noticed troubles in these departments. Carr explains this idea saying "Im just seeking convenience, but because the way i Think has changed?" He believes that only after long term study's are done will we truly understand the impact and consciquences of the extended use of the internet and computers.
The last pages of Carrs article explains that artificial intellengence is the goal of the google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page and how we could turn into an artificial intellegence ourselves in the future. Carr expresses his worries that we are trying to turn ourselves into robots. He says "Their easy assumption that we'd all [b]e better off, if our brains were supplemented or even replaced, by an artificial intellegence is unsettling."(par. 28)
Carr also explains that reading and writing has become more difficult and that he and his friends have noticed troubles in these departments. Carr explains this idea saying "Im just seeking convenience, but because the way i Think has changed?" He believes that only after long term study's are done will we truly understand the impact and consciquences of the extended use of the internet and computers.
The last pages of Carrs article explains that artificial intellengence is the goal of the google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page and how we could turn into an artificial intellegence ourselves in the future. Carr expresses his worries that we are trying to turn ourselves into robots. He says "Their easy assumption that we'd all [b]e better off, if our brains were supplemented or even replaced, by an artificial intellegence is unsettling."(par. 28)
Growing up Online
In the video "Growing up Online" by directors Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio the main idea is people are living there lives online. The video proposes that online social networks are a continuation of ones existence. The movie takes opinions from teens and parents alike and compares both opinions on the issue. When students were talking about the use of computers and social networks they emphasized how if you don’t use the internet you will be excluded from your friends and what’s going on. Others feel the need to have different identities or able to express themselves easier online than in person. The parents when asked about these social networks were very uneducated on the topic. The parents are concerned, because they don’t understand the generation gap and how different the internet is in the world and peoples lives. The parents feel that there is no discretion or privacy and the safety and security of there children and family is at risk. Not only parents and kids are being influenced by the internet, but teachers too, because of the need for students to multi-task and do things at a fast pace. Teachers feel like they need to be entertainers to keep kids involved. Another issue is plagiarism, and teachers are so concerned about quotes and information being copied and pasted to writings and essays. Some teachers have even gone so far as to use an online site that tracks words and fraises to determine if they are not copy written.
Growing Up Online
Teenagers today are addicted to their online status, as shown in the video “Growing Up Online” by Rachel Dretizin and John Maggio. In the video many teenagers are interviewed at Chatman High School, all of them saying that they use the internet in some way out of school. Whether it is through Myspace, Facebook, YouTube, Google Sparknotes, or for anything they need to know. Some even using it to chat with others, that they don’t even know, about serious problems that they have. Ryan Halligan was suicidal, his parents had no idea, he was always happy and normal at home. But at school and online he was a totally different person. He was getting verbally abused on online chat. Ryan started to go on suicidal websites and chat rooms. Where he found others with the same problem, who supported him in the wrong way. Finally one day Ryan decided there was no hope and he hung himself.
Parents really start to wonder if the internet is a safe place for teenagers. The video demonstrates how teens can change their identities through the net, and also post inappropriate things that could be dangerous to themselves. A concerned parent states “[i]f it’s on the net its open to anyone,” she fears predators and stalkers might find her son or daughter.
Parents really start to wonder if the internet is a safe place for teenagers. The video demonstrates how teens can change their identities through the net, and also post inappropriate things that could be dangerous to themselves. A concerned parent states “[i]f it’s on the net its open to anyone,” she fears predators and stalkers might find her son or daughter.
Growing Up Online
The Frontline PBS film “Growing up Online” produced and directed by Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio is about how involved the internet is in today’s generation. The film includes both what parents and teachers think and what children think of the addiction to the internet. The narrator introduces the movie, “[a] peek inside the very public private lives of kids Growing Up Online.” A very public private life because children are posting information others would think is too personal to be public and for everyone else to know. Anne Collier, author of MySpace Unraveled states about the internet, “It's not going to go away. It's not a passing fad. And nobody's really in charge.” No one is in charge of the internet and that is what is so darn scary to parents, teachers and other concerned adults. The internet is so daunting because it is so accessible to anyone (including pedophiles and other criminals) and can access personal information about anybody and use the information in a hurtful and wrongful way.
The internet is almost an escape from reality, in a sense that, in one moment you can access the alter ego online. You can have popularity and be accepted, and have online fame and countless “friends.” The internet is a way for teenagers to display their identity dramatically. Are teenagers displaying too much and too dramatically? That question is on every parent and teacher’s mind. For some parent – child relationships their trust in each other was lost because of how the child used the internet in a particular way to get noticed, such as online relationships, secrets, and overexposure of their bodies in pictures. With the internet, bullying doesn’t just stop at the playground it continues behind closed doors online. Cyber bullying can drive a child off the edge of safety and the feeling of not being secure in your own home is terrifying especially if the child feels as if nobody will understand.
One big factor outside the home environment is the use of the internet at school. Teachers have to try and keep up with this rising generation and the internet. They have to incorporate it into their teaching to reach the student such as the use of Smart Boards and podcasting. In order to reach the students better with these additions teachers almost have to become like entertainers to the students sine the internet is entertainment.
If I were to write a story on the impact of the internet and digital media on my own life, I would write about how confident children think they are when they share their lives on the internet. Since most parents don’t know this world of the internet as well as their children do they have become more intimidated and scared for their children. The internet is a new method for criminals to have access to young and unaware children and this is what parents are afraid of. Children claim that they know to avoid these certain online predators. However I have found that online predators are not direct in what they do online. They do not directly ask for children’s personal information, they are more clever than that. They first befriend you, and since children young and of adolescent age desire to be accepted it is very easy for online predators. And as for adolescent children claiming that it is their person and private life and your parents should mind their own business, your parents are minding their own business! It is the parents responsibility to supervise their children and it is the children’s responsibility to listen and to be attentive to the vulnerability of the internet.
The internet is almost an escape from reality, in a sense that, in one moment you can access the alter ego online. You can have popularity and be accepted, and have online fame and countless “friends.” The internet is a way for teenagers to display their identity dramatically. Are teenagers displaying too much and too dramatically? That question is on every parent and teacher’s mind. For some parent – child relationships their trust in each other was lost because of how the child used the internet in a particular way to get noticed, such as online relationships, secrets, and overexposure of their bodies in pictures. With the internet, bullying doesn’t just stop at the playground it continues behind closed doors online. Cyber bullying can drive a child off the edge of safety and the feeling of not being secure in your own home is terrifying especially if the child feels as if nobody will understand.
One big factor outside the home environment is the use of the internet at school. Teachers have to try and keep up with this rising generation and the internet. They have to incorporate it into their teaching to reach the student such as the use of Smart Boards and podcasting. In order to reach the students better with these additions teachers almost have to become like entertainers to the students sine the internet is entertainment.
If I were to write a story on the impact of the internet and digital media on my own life, I would write about how confident children think they are when they share their lives on the internet. Since most parents don’t know this world of the internet as well as their children do they have become more intimidated and scared for their children. The internet is a new method for criminals to have access to young and unaware children and this is what parents are afraid of. Children claim that they know to avoid these certain online predators. However I have found that online predators are not direct in what they do online. They do not directly ask for children’s personal information, they are more clever than that. They first befriend you, and since children young and of adolescent age desire to be accepted it is very easy for online predators. And as for adolescent children claiming that it is their person and private life and your parents should mind their own business, your parents are minding their own business! It is the parents responsibility to supervise their children and it is the children’s responsibility to listen and to be attentive to the vulnerability of the internet.
Gowing up Online
PBS Frontline special "Growing Up Online", produced and directed by Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio, brings up the issue that todays generation is growing up on the net, and how it affects the youth of today. It brings up the issue of school and how today schools need to adjust to the technological revolution and try and bring technology to the classroom as a learning device, and it talks about how some teachers feel that it is causing students to have a lack of attention span. One principal asserts, "We can't possibly expect the learner of today to be engrossed by someone who speaks in a monotone voice with a piece of chalk in their hand." Meaning that students are changing and that the school needs to change to meet their needs. A lot of parents fear the danger of online predators, but the piece also covered the issue of cyberbullying, which it said was not being covered enough, and how the consequence free anonymity of the internet lets kids tease and bully others with no real idea of the impact. This cyberbullying was a major contributor to the tragic suicide of Ryan Halligan, and his parents had no idea of the horrible things that went on in cyberspace. The internet has allowed students to have all sorts of private online lives and it allows kids to present themselves differently and it is causing a great generation gap. Danah Boyd, a member of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, we need to learn how to deal with these issues. She states, "It's a question for us of how we teach ourselves and our children to live in a society where these properties are fundamentally a way of life. This is public life today." What Boyd means is that the internet is a issue today and that parents and kids need to be equiped to be able to function on the internet so they can be aware of the issues and how to deal with them. According to Frontline the internet is one of the biggest issues of the generation today.
If I had to write about the internet and digital media in my life it would cover a large scope. The internet is one of my primary forms of communication. I use Facebook to socialize with friends close and far, and almost everyday I use it to video chat with my girlfriend who is going to school in Chicago. It is very nice to just be able to log on and see and chat with her. I also use video games as a way to hang out with friends. Sometimes my friends and I just want to relax and have fun, and video games provide a way to do that. We'll sit down togethor and try and adventure on some epic quest or engage in a brutal conflict. Video games are a way to go from watching digital media to interacting with it socially. I think the social boon from technology has created great new ways to socialize and interact with another.
If I had to write about the internet and digital media in my life it would cover a large scope. The internet is one of my primary forms of communication. I use Facebook to socialize with friends close and far, and almost everyday I use it to video chat with my girlfriend who is going to school in Chicago. It is very nice to just be able to log on and see and chat with her. I also use video games as a way to hang out with friends. Sometimes my friends and I just want to relax and have fun, and video games provide a way to do that. We'll sit down togethor and try and adventure on some epic quest or engage in a brutal conflict. Video games are a way to go from watching digital media to interacting with it socially. I think the social boon from technology has created great new ways to socialize and interact with another.
"Growing Up Online"
In the video "Growing up Online" by directors Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio I found that some students said that "Online is addicting" which it is to an extent. If everybody finds something they like to do and they can only access it on the internet, they're probably on the net everyday. Students said they were online doing activities such as: Learning new dances, to chatting on myspace, learning how to play games, to looking at hot guys pictures on myspace, to taking pictures of themselves that parents wouldn't approve of IF they new what their kids were doing. I also found it interesting how parents/teachers stated that the kids generally know more about computers/internet/technology and even their own cell phones than the parents/teachers do. Teachers say that the kids today have alot more trouble focusing in class today then they did thirty years ago because of the technology today that every kid has access to. Students today take advantage of the internet and use it to cheat reading books to find it online and reading the whole book in about 5-10 pages and pretty much know everything about the book by then. I think everybody generally uses the internet to look up vocabulary since its easier and alot faster to find the words we're looking for. Some kids said that myspace and facebook is a way to create different and new identies because who they really are people don't like, so they create something that makes them feel better where they get comments boosting their egos and can kind of create a new person with myspace and facebook. High school kids say that they can be themselves on the internet rather then in person. But some kids are put down on the internet, resulting in a suicide or "bad repuation" because of the kind of pictures they take and who they meet on myspace or facebook. One girl said "Nobody would make fun of another person in person but they would on the internet because, what are they going to do? Everybody does it online whether its posting rude and vicious comments on pictures or profiles to sending somebody a message calling them a loser, everybody does it." People say that internet has created a gap, and in a way it has, because if somebody comits suicide because of what somebody is saying over the internet then what kind of world are we living in? Shouldn't things like that be put to a stop and shouldn't students be taught to just turn away from that kind of behavior? It's sad to know that lives have actually been taken because of seriously rude teenagers out there.
Part two.
If i was doing a a story on the impact of the internet and digital media on my own life, I would probably write about how people obsess over the internet and spend hours/days sitting infront of the computer screen. Internet hasn't necessarily effected my life because I haven't spent alot of time on infront of the computer, but there are days where I sit and just search the web and I generally find really interesting things to do, but chatting with people just annoys me, just call or text me, and same with myspace or facebook, WHY do people love it so much? and obsess over it for that matter, I myself have a facebook and a myspace but I maybe get on it once every two-three weeks just because I keep in touch with family and old friends from where I used to live or something. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have one! When I was younger I use to think it was so fun to put all those new and cool things on my profile and make it whatever I want but now I just dont like that kind've stuff. And as far as creeps on myspace, I just delete those creepy messages (and I tend to get alot of weird old wrinkly men messaging me three-four times a day everyday for months which is just creepy and I just avoid those) and move on to what I got on for. But otherwise I don't think the whole internet thing is so bad but mostly I think kids know what to avoid when it comes to creeps asking for your address!
Part two.
If i was doing a a story on the impact of the internet and digital media on my own life, I would probably write about how people obsess over the internet and spend hours/days sitting infront of the computer screen. Internet hasn't necessarily effected my life because I haven't spent alot of time on infront of the computer, but there are days where I sit and just search the web and I generally find really interesting things to do, but chatting with people just annoys me, just call or text me, and same with myspace or facebook, WHY do people love it so much? and obsess over it for that matter, I myself have a facebook and a myspace but I maybe get on it once every two-three weeks just because I keep in touch with family and old friends from where I used to live or something. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have one! When I was younger I use to think it was so fun to put all those new and cool things on my profile and make it whatever I want but now I just dont like that kind've stuff. And as far as creeps on myspace, I just delete those creepy messages (and I tend to get alot of weird old wrinkly men messaging me three-four times a day everyday for months which is just creepy and I just avoid those) and move on to what I got on for. But otherwise I don't think the whole internet thing is so bad but mostly I think kids know what to avoid when it comes to creeps asking for your address!
"Growing Up Online"
In "Growing Up Online" produced and directed by Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio, it is about how the internet is affecting teen lives and how parents feel about their kids and the internet. During the video many parents stated they have no idea what their child does online. While many students are using the internet to socialize(160 million combined are users on Myspace or Facebook), others are not: they are using the net to bully, fight and read "books" in a matter of minutes. Teens feel that the internet is their territory where they can be real and not have to be judged. Though teens feel that it is where they can be real, they do not see the dangers like stockers or cyber bullying. Ryan a thirteen year old victim of online bullying. Ryan's father stated, "[T]he computer and the internet were not the cause of my son's suicide. But they helped amplify and accelerate the hurt and pain he was trying to deal with that started in person, in the real world. "
If I were to do a story about the impact of internet on my life. I would probably talk about how the internet has given me the ability to contact family and friends that arent near so that I can stay in touch with them. I would say that the internet has affected me positively it has helped me work on school work, socialize and it is entertaining. Overall you just need to watch what you do and how it would affects your life. You just need to be aware that the internet is good but it also is bad. Something that is often forgotten that the internet is very public anyone can access it.
If I were to do a story about the impact of internet on my life. I would probably talk about how the internet has given me the ability to contact family and friends that arent near so that I can stay in touch with them. I would say that the internet has affected me positively it has helped me work on school work, socialize and it is entertaining. Overall you just need to watch what you do and how it would affects your life. You just need to be aware that the internet is good but it also is bad. Something that is often forgotten that the internet is very public anyone can access it.
Response to "Growing Up Online"
"Growing Up Online" is a video that was produced and directed by Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio. This video is a view into a teenage child’s social networks and life.
Many students in the video spend as much time away from their families as possible to hide their online activities. this worries the parents because none of them really have any idea what their children are doing, or even who their friends with. what they do know is "[I]f it's not online the kids don't pay attention to it". many parents in the video expressed concern for their children and claim that they need to keep a better watch on their kids, that there are "weirdos" out there. while parents worry about this most if not all the students in the video are worried about their parents finding and going through their private things. most of the students claimed having a "double life" that they are one person in front of their parents but feel like they are faking who that person is; these students are completely different online when they talk to their friends.
Basically this video shows how most people act differently on their computers because there is always others like them somewhere that they can always talk to. and this frightens parents.
If I thought the internet was interfering with anything it wouldn't be communication, I believe that online places to talk are great and that everyone needs someone they can talk to. I think the internet is taking away from our home lives; that most people spend as much time online as they want, neglecting their family, friends, and responsibilities. from personal experience, I have a cousin who if she's not on the phone she's on MySpace. none of really get any time with her, her online friends do, but we don't.
my personal opinion is that many people use the internet as an escape from reality, but what most people don't realize is that the internet is just exposing them to more and sometimes worse things than real life has to offer. almost every time I talk to one of my friends they are talking about some new online drama; it's usually "I was talking to this person on MySpace..." or "you're never going to believe this E-mail I got!” the internet is making peoples lives more complicated than it need be.
Growing Up Online
The film “Growing up Online” made by the producers Rachel Dretzin, and John Maggio, was a bit of a shocking film to say the least. Focusing on ideas like how is growing up online effecting our schools, our children, our parents, and our lifestyles in general. One of the first major concerns come from the parents of course, that is that “nobody is in charge.” Parents fear that just because there is nobody to moderate conversation, or ideas being shared, that somehow the internet will corrupt their children. They are concerned that the ownership of the internet (widely used by only adults) is becoming the property of their children, and that this consumption of mass media, and instantaneous friends might have some adverse effects. Indeed it often does. Teachers and schools appear to be experiencing this the most, they are noticing that “teachers almost have to take on an entertainment role just to keep the students attention”. Schools also have to deal with the fact that having such an easily accessible online resource makes cheating much more possible and easy. Websites like Spark notes make it possible to read an entire book or play, in just a matter of a few hours. On the children’s side of things, their main concern is invasion of their privacy if parents have open, easy access to their (what is supposed to be personal) web pages such as facebook or myspace.
Growing up online is not without its perks, however. It means that this generation is much more comfortable being in public situations. Posting to your blog or facebook online means that almost anyone can go to your webpage and read it, and this fact does not elude or deter the children that make these online journals. On these mass populated web sites it has become easier than ever to get hundreds, or even thousands of friends. Even becoming someone else entirely has become an option. The internet gives children a blank slate on which to paint their own persona, where how you look, or how you act have little consequence. There are many things that have to be overcome while using the internet, such as online bullying, cyber predators, pedophiles, and what to do with this phonebook of information. Also there is the fact that anonymity makes it even easier to hurt others because nobody knows who is who. I think that it is up to each person, each family, to decide whether the use of internet is for them and to lay down some ground rules (if they are needed). Moderation can easily lead to personal invasion, but if families come to an understanding I believe that the internet can be a very useful tool and a great way for some people to communicate or express themselves.
If I were doing a story about myself on the impact of the internet and digital media I would probably write about how it changes how I entertain myself through watching television online, or even how I turn in assignments. My turning in assignments has been changed in this English 100 class because we are no longer expected to turn in handwritten pen and paper assignments, but we are told to turn in typed or electronic pieces of work instead.
Growing up online is not without its perks, however. It means that this generation is much more comfortable being in public situations. Posting to your blog or facebook online means that almost anyone can go to your webpage and read it, and this fact does not elude or deter the children that make these online journals. On these mass populated web sites it has become easier than ever to get hundreds, or even thousands of friends. Even becoming someone else entirely has become an option. The internet gives children a blank slate on which to paint their own persona, where how you look, or how you act have little consequence. There are many things that have to be overcome while using the internet, such as online bullying, cyber predators, pedophiles, and what to do with this phonebook of information. Also there is the fact that anonymity makes it even easier to hurt others because nobody knows who is who. I think that it is up to each person, each family, to decide whether the use of internet is for them and to lay down some ground rules (if they are needed). Moderation can easily lead to personal invasion, but if families come to an understanding I believe that the internet can be a very useful tool and a great way for some people to communicate or express themselves.
If I were doing a story about myself on the impact of the internet and digital media I would probably write about how it changes how I entertain myself through watching television online, or even how I turn in assignments. My turning in assignments has been changed in this English 100 class because we are no longer expected to turn in handwritten pen and paper assignments, but we are told to turn in typed or electronic pieces of work instead.
Growing Up Online
When Frontline ran a story on PBS about the generation of now growing up online they covered stories from actual people and teenagers on the internet. The producers of this documentary are Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio. When interviewing Anne Collier, about the internet she stated, “It’s not going to go away. It’s not a passing fad. And nobody’s really in charge.” This seems true to a point. People are in charge of what they put on the internet, but that information could go anywhere. Thousands of people can see what you write or post on the internet and just because you delete it, doesn’t mean it’s no longer out there. That’s just one of the dangers that are on the internet. Any one could be a potential danger of people trying to contact you like a stocker, or even cyber bullies. Like in the case with thirteen year old Ryan. His father stated, “The computer and the internet were not the cause of my son’s suicide. But they helped- I believe they helped amplify and accelerate the hurt and the pain he was trying to deal with that in person, in the real world.” He had been bullied over the internet and he couldn’t handle it. While other teens find support online. Jessica hunter was one of two people in this interview that used the internet for escape. She became Autumn Edows who loved the attention she got when she started posting racy pictures online. Autumn quoted, “I didn’t feel like myself, but I liked the fact that I didn’t feel like myself. I felt like someone completely different. I felt like I was famous.” Sara was another teen who was as she stated, “When I’m online, I’m the real person. I’m completely 100 percent me.” Sara was a girl who had an eating disorder. She went online for inspiration or to just talk about it. Sara stated, “It’s like, like part of me is completely Ana and part of me is anti-Ana.” Ana is referring to anorexia. In ways there are dangers out there on the internet but most teens know what they are. As a study on sexual predators on line was done. The results stated, “The study has confirmed what many kids have been saying all along, that most of them know to ignore unwanted solicitations they receive on the Internet.”
If I were to write about how the internet and how it has affected me I would talk about how I’m willing to tell people more when I know who they are, but don’t have to speak to them. I’ve broken friendships and how the world I live is has started to evolve and blend with the media in so many ways. Without the internet it would be so much harder for me to do the work and writing I do. And I’d never talk to some of my closest friends. But also, how the internet has helped me become a stronger person after some pretty rough parts of my life. The internet has hurt me by some of the things I have posted but, it’s beginning to make sense. The important message would be to watch out for what you do post or blog about because in the end it can hurt you. Like Autumn posting photos of herself in lingerie and the school that went to the concert. Not only can people in your town find it, but people that could decide whether or not you can get into college or a job. Teens do make mistakes, and as Danah Boyd sais, “And we have found kids who have engaged in risky behavior on line. Fact is, they’ve in a lot more risky behavior off line.” The only reason why we pay so much attention to what’s on line is because it stays there, and more people can see it than in the real world off line.
If I were to write about how the internet and how it has affected me I would talk about how I’m willing to tell people more when I know who they are, but don’t have to speak to them. I’ve broken friendships and how the world I live is has started to evolve and blend with the media in so many ways. Without the internet it would be so much harder for me to do the work and writing I do. And I’d never talk to some of my closest friends. But also, how the internet has helped me become a stronger person after some pretty rough parts of my life. The internet has hurt me by some of the things I have posted but, it’s beginning to make sense. The important message would be to watch out for what you do post or blog about because in the end it can hurt you. Like Autumn posting photos of herself in lingerie and the school that went to the concert. Not only can people in your town find it, but people that could decide whether or not you can get into college or a job. Teens do make mistakes, and as Danah Boyd sais, “And we have found kids who have engaged in risky behavior on line. Fact is, they’ve in a lot more risky behavior off line.” The only reason why we pay so much attention to what’s on line is because it stays there, and more people can see it than in the real world off line.
Growing Up Online Summary
The Video “Growing Up Online” by Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio is about how kids today are growing up in a much different world than their parents did. Kids are creating new worlds online; not only new worlds but new identities as well. Kids are able to still talk to their friends after school within the comfort of their homes. Their lives are completely different from the lives they live when they don’t have a screen in front of them. Kids claim that the internet makes them open up more and be themselves because no one will judge them. As where in real life kids have to put on a show to be cool. Facebook and Myspace are the leading online social networking programs available to kids. Both cites combine have about 160 million members. Who can have the most friends online seems to be a competition between kids. They admit that they may have 2,000 friends but only talk to and know about 200 of them. Parents are concerned because there are online predators who my pursue their children. According to Dretzin and Maggio, many internet experts agree with the kids that “[e]veryone is panicking about sexual predators online. That’s what parents are afraid of, That’s what parents are paying attention to” says Parry Aftab and internet security expert. Since their child’s life online is so private, parents don’t know how to protect their kids from the bad things they encounter while online. Another major threat is the information kids can get about dangerous things such as how to commit suicide or how to get tips on how to be thinner and stay thin. Teachers in schools are also trying to figure out how to capture the attention of their students. Teachers claim that it is difficult because students are all used to being entertained all of the time and need to connect with students in a more technological way.
If I were to write a story about the impact of the internet and digital media on my own life I would write about the power that the media has on girls and women about having to be pretty, thin and believe that this is the image that people want to see. Almost every commercial or pop up add had some version of a beautiful or half naked girl on them. This makes girls think that this is what people want to see. And especially at the age when teen girls are growing and wanting to be wanted. I think this also has a major effect on why girls put inappropriate pictures online of themselves. Its because that’s what they see on TV commercials and movies. When I watch TV or go to a movie I have never not seen guys comment on the “hot chicks” on the screen. Girls notice their reaction and think “I want that attention, I want to be hot like that girl.” Also there is a saying that “sex sells” and that’s why all of these girls are being advertise to sell products or are cast for movies. Guys fantasize about them and girls wish they were them. I wonder what it would be like if in the place of every hot girl on a commercial or movie their were really hot half naked guys; I wonder if the tables were turned would guys be insecure too? I am not saying that guys do not feel the pressure to smell good, look good, or be attractive due to the medias influence, I just think that it is more in your face when it comes to women and how it effects a young girls life. It is every where, constantly reminding them that they need to be someone else. They can do this online.
If I were to write a story about the impact of the internet and digital media on my own life I would write about the power that the media has on girls and women about having to be pretty, thin and believe that this is the image that people want to see. Almost every commercial or pop up add had some version of a beautiful or half naked girl on them. This makes girls think that this is what people want to see. And especially at the age when teen girls are growing and wanting to be wanted. I think this also has a major effect on why girls put inappropriate pictures online of themselves. Its because that’s what they see on TV commercials and movies. When I watch TV or go to a movie I have never not seen guys comment on the “hot chicks” on the screen. Girls notice their reaction and think “I want that attention, I want to be hot like that girl.” Also there is a saying that “sex sells” and that’s why all of these girls are being advertise to sell products or are cast for movies. Guys fantasize about them and girls wish they were them. I wonder what it would be like if in the place of every hot girl on a commercial or movie their were really hot half naked guys; I wonder if the tables were turned would guys be insecure too? I am not saying that guys do not feel the pressure to smell good, look good, or be attractive due to the medias influence, I just think that it is more in your face when it comes to women and how it effects a young girls life. It is every where, constantly reminding them that they need to be someone else. They can do this online.
response to Nicholas Carr
In his paper, "Is Google Making us Stupid" Nicholas Carr tries to get across what happens when people spend all their time on the internet, or reading online.
Carr claims to have noticed a lack of concentration or focus when reading written texts, and believes that it is because you can find all your needed information online in much less time than reading. "Research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of the libraries can now be done in minutes. A few Google searches, some quick clicks on hyperlinks, and I've got the telltale fact or pithy quote I was after." (par. 2) What Carr is saying is that the need to focus on text of any kind is no longer there. We can obtain almost whatever information we need with a few clicks of a mouse.
However some feel that their ability to focus on things for more than a short period of time is lacking. "Bruce Friedman, who blogs regularly about the use of computers in medicine, also has described how the internet has altered his mental habits.’I now have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print,' he wrote earlier this year."(par.5) this adds to Carr's opinion because it is someone's personal story as to how the internet has affected their thought process.
This paper provides a lot of back-up research, and not just stories. Paragraphs 6-8 talk about scientific studies that have been done to show the effects of the internet on the human thought process. "It is clear that users are not reading online in the traditional sense; indeed there are signs that new forms of 'reading' are emerging as users 'power browse' horizontally through titles, contents pages and abstracts..." (par.7) This shows that many people only skim through the things they find online, hoping to move on to the next best thing.
This paper illustrates how many people spend a lot of time online looking at whatever they want/can, however they do not absorb as much as a person who only reads written texts. Carr is stating that the internet in interfering with our ability to concentrate.
Carr claims to have noticed a lack of concentration or focus when reading written texts, and believes that it is because you can find all your needed information online in much less time than reading. "Research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of the libraries can now be done in minutes. A few Google searches, some quick clicks on hyperlinks, and I've got the telltale fact or pithy quote I was after." (par. 2) What Carr is saying is that the need to focus on text of any kind is no longer there. We can obtain almost whatever information we need with a few clicks of a mouse.
However some feel that their ability to focus on things for more than a short period of time is lacking. "Bruce Friedman, who blogs regularly about the use of computers in medicine, also has described how the internet has altered his mental habits.’I now have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print,' he wrote earlier this year."(par.5) this adds to Carr's opinion because it is someone's personal story as to how the internet has affected their thought process.
This paper provides a lot of back-up research, and not just stories. Paragraphs 6-8 talk about scientific studies that have been done to show the effects of the internet on the human thought process. "It is clear that users are not reading online in the traditional sense; indeed there are signs that new forms of 'reading' are emerging as users 'power browse' horizontally through titles, contents pages and abstracts..." (par.7) This shows that many people only skim through the things they find online, hoping to move on to the next best thing.
This paper illustrates how many people spend a lot of time online looking at whatever they want/can, however they do not absorb as much as a person who only reads written texts. Carr is stating that the internet in interfering with our ability to concentrate.
Growing Up Online response
The internet is becoming a very dominating part of our world, in both pleasure and work, and PBS addresses how this affecting the first generation to fully grow up under the influence of the internet in their documentary "Growing Up Online." The internet is the largest outlet for identity that exists, and that's why it attracts so many. With social networking sites, one can create an image for themselves simply by putting spin on all the works of a site, making them appear however they want to appear. A perfect example of this is given by Jessica Hunter, internet alias Autumn Evans. PBS explains, "[she] was a shy and awkward girl who struggled to make friends at school. Then, at age 14, she reinvented herself online as...a goth artist and model." As an outlet for her angst, she created an alter-ego for herself, whom people started to love. Finally gaining the attention she needed, she started to, although feeling as if a different person, feel more satisfied in life.
More kids are using the internet as outlets, and begining to use social networking, rather than actual socially gatherings. Facebook and Myspace together have over 160,000,000 members. One of the kids, known only as Greg, explains "...you have to have the internet on to talk to your friends, cause everybody uses it. Its like a currency. If you don't use it, you're gonna be at a loss". The internet is simply ingrained into all of our lives, and without it, we're left in a different age, considered ancient. But problems come with this access to everything. Ryan Halligan, was a victim of cyberbullying, and sadly, commited suicide. His father, with a crack in his voice, spoke "[t]he computer and the Internet were not the cause of my son's suicide, but I believe they helped amplify and accelerate the hurt and the pain that he was trying to deal with that started in person, in the real world." As sad as some things may be, people on the net aren't victims, but participants. Everyone is choosing to submerge their lives in the net. And this is why, according to video, created possibly the greatest generation gap.
More kids are using the internet as outlets, and begining to use social networking, rather than actual socially gatherings. Facebook and Myspace together have over 160,000,000 members. One of the kids, known only as Greg, explains "...you have to have the internet on to talk to your friends, cause everybody uses it. Its like a currency. If you don't use it, you're gonna be at a loss". The internet is simply ingrained into all of our lives, and without it, we're left in a different age, considered ancient. But problems come with this access to everything. Ryan Halligan, was a victim of cyberbullying, and sadly, commited suicide. His father, with a crack in his voice, spoke "[t]he computer and the Internet were not the cause of my son's suicide, but I believe they helped amplify and accelerate the hurt and the pain that he was trying to deal with that started in person, in the real world." As sad as some things may be, people on the net aren't victims, but participants. Everyone is choosing to submerge their lives in the net. And this is why, according to video, created possibly the greatest generation gap.
"Growing Up Online" Response
The Producers Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio of “Growing Up Online” explain how computers are taking over the lives of teens. Even Skinner says “[S]omeone once said to me, ‘If it’s on the Net, it’s open to anyone. There are no safeguards. Someone can always find everything.’” By posting on Facebook, MySpace, etc., They seem to believe there is no safe way of using the internet, nothing is private anymore. Your whole life can be reviled just by posting on one of these sites. Greg Bukata talks about this when he says “[S]ay you post something you don't want other people to see, like ...
all these situations going now where people are posting pictures with incriminating things like alcohol in it. People can get caught; people can get kicked out of school. I mean, it's risky, it's really risky when you put pictures on[line].” By stating this Bukata believes once you join a website like, Facebook, MySpace and all the others your life is pretty much open for the world. You can see when someone is in a relationship, when they break up, and pretty much anything about them. Whoever you add as a friend, whether or not you know them, they can take what you add and post it elsewhere. This video also talks about online bullying. It is easier for kids to fight online then it is in person. They can send their friends messages about you that they might not want you seeing and it is pretty open so normally you would most likely see it.
I use the internet all the time, its almost like part of my life because I use it for some many things. Facebook, School, and just when I’m bored, like YouTube. I think it has a good impact because without Facebook I would not be able to talk to so many people that I do, like friends that live far away. It is also good so I can do my school work, I’m taking an online class, so the internet is very important right now. Without our computer I would constantly have to be somewhere else, like the library or the school. I would probably text more too, if I didn’t have a computer, because I socialize on the computer with my friends a lot.
all these situations going now where people are posting pictures with incriminating things like alcohol in it. People can get caught; people can get kicked out of school. I mean, it's risky, it's really risky when you put pictures on[line].” By stating this Bukata believes once you join a website like, Facebook, MySpace and all the others your life is pretty much open for the world. You can see when someone is in a relationship, when they break up, and pretty much anything about them. Whoever you add as a friend, whether or not you know them, they can take what you add and post it elsewhere. This video also talks about online bullying. It is easier for kids to fight online then it is in person. They can send their friends messages about you that they might not want you seeing and it is pretty open so normally you would most likely see it.
I use the internet all the time, its almost like part of my life because I use it for some many things. Facebook, School, and just when I’m bored, like YouTube. I think it has a good impact because without Facebook I would not be able to talk to so many people that I do, like friends that live far away. It is also good so I can do my school work, I’m taking an online class, so the internet is very important right now. Without our computer I would constantly have to be somewhere else, like the library or the school. I would probably text more too, if I didn’t have a computer, because I socialize on the computer with my friends a lot.
Growing Up Online
Growing Up Online
Frontlines story "Growing Up Online" produced and directed by Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio, was about how internet is affecting teens and kids. Internet is suppose dto be a place where people can socialize with friends, be able to find sources for home work, and entertainment. The video showed teens who were addicted to the internet and varies adults and there opinions about how kids should or should not have computers. Some adults were saying that the kids should give them there passwords for everything so safety reasons. Others were saying that the internet can be safe as long as kids are taught the proper ways to make it safe, like the stop and block method. Most kids have a whole another personality life online that there parent's don't even know about, 160 million people are user on with either Myspace or Facebook.
The internet used to be a big part of my life. When I was in middle school we had gotten our first house computer, and I remember being on it daily, even though at the time it wasn't consider the cool thing to do yet. But after several years I became less and less interested in the computer social life and began only using it for when ever I had home work and needed to research something. I believe I became less interested because texting became the new quicker way to have a social life. If I the internet taken away from me today, the only affect I'd feel from it, is that I would start having to go to the library more often. But if I had it taken away when I was younger I could defiantly see how my social life would have been altered.
Frontlines story "Growing Up Online" produced and directed by Rachel Dretzin and John Maggio, was about how internet is affecting teens and kids. Internet is suppose dto be a place where people can socialize with friends, be able to find sources for home work, and entertainment. The video showed teens who were addicted to the internet and varies adults and there opinions about how kids should or should not have computers. Some adults were saying that the kids should give them there passwords for everything so safety reasons. Others were saying that the internet can be safe as long as kids are taught the proper ways to make it safe, like the stop and block method. Most kids have a whole another personality life online that there parent's don't even know about, 160 million people are user on with either Myspace or Facebook.
The internet used to be a big part of my life. When I was in middle school we had gotten our first house computer, and I remember being on it daily, even though at the time it wasn't consider the cool thing to do yet. But after several years I became less and less interested in the computer social life and began only using it for when ever I had home work and needed to research something. I believe I became less interested because texting became the new quicker way to have a social life. If I the internet taken away from me today, the only affect I'd feel from it, is that I would start having to go to the library more often. But if I had it taken away when I was younger I could defiantly see how my social life would have been altered.
Growing Up Online
Growing Up Online
Essay done by Melissa Geneser
With this documentary on, “Growing Up Online,” we see the effect the Internet has on teens today.
The obsession that the Internet is for teens and how they “can't live without it,” or so they say. The become another person when they go online, they become the real them, not the fake one that they show people at school and in public settings. So in a sense they are living a lie, having multiple identities. They compete to see how many “friends” they can have on facebook/myspace, when really only 50 are their true friends and 200 they have at least met. How does the Internet effect my life? Well, to tell you the truth I could live without it. Maybe its because my parent have not let it become an obsession for me and that I only got facebook 3 ½ months ago. In my opinion the Internet has greatly helped me in my writing, and I am most appreciative for it, the reason I don't have it as an obsession like most teens, is because I find that there is more important thing in life that I would rather do. Things that will further my education and get me closure to my dream job.(which is law enforcement, well Secret Service or FBI) I don't see how kids can spend so much valuable time sitting in a chair talking to friends for hours at a time, and not do anything that can really benefit their futures. Well they are effecting their futures, but not in a beneficial way.
Essay done by Melissa Geneser
With this documentary on, “Growing Up Online,” we see the effect the Internet has on teens today.
The obsession that the Internet is for teens and how they “can't live without it,” or so they say. The become another person when they go online, they become the real them, not the fake one that they show people at school and in public settings. So in a sense they are living a lie, having multiple identities. They compete to see how many “friends” they can have on facebook/myspace, when really only 50 are their true friends and 200 they have at least met. How does the Internet effect my life? Well, to tell you the truth I could live without it. Maybe its because my parent have not let it become an obsession for me and that I only got facebook 3 ½ months ago. In my opinion the Internet has greatly helped me in my writing, and I am most appreciative for it, the reason I don't have it as an obsession like most teens, is because I find that there is more important thing in life that I would rather do. Things that will further my education and get me closure to my dream job.(which is law enforcement, well Secret Service or FBI) I don't see how kids can spend so much valuable time sitting in a chair talking to friends for hours at a time, and not do anything that can really benefit their futures. Well they are effecting their futures, but not in a beneficial way.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Is Google Making Us Stupid
In "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" by Nicholas Carr it discusses about how in todays era people seem to be more connected with internet and it is causing negative affects on the way way people read. "And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capactiy for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles"(Par.4). Nicholas is trying to say that the net is ruining his ability to concentrate but in fact his mind now expects to learn information the way the net distributes it. "As we use the what the sociologist Daniel Bell has alled our "intellectual technologies"- the tools that extend our mental rather than our physical capacities-we inevitably begin to take on the qualities of those technologies"(Par.12). Carr is trying to say that we are starting to think/act the way technology does, wanting to jump from information to information and getting bits of information instead of taking the time to read the entire book/article. "As people's minds become attuned to the crazy quilt of Internet media, traditional media have to adapt to the audience's new expectations"(Par.17) As it is said that the net has changed how think, but in fact everything has to adapt to ways so that it will help focus the audience.
"Growing Up Online" Response
The FRONTLINE video, “Growing up Online,” produced by Rachel Dertzin, brings to light the world of internet socialization. The video examples many different ways this generation uses the online world to socialize, learn, and entertain themselves. A group of friends gather on a Friday night to play online video games, teens update their MySpace’s’, and another group watches a recent YouTube video imitating the dance. The video questions how this cyber world is contributing to the society of our young generation and claims that some 90% of the United States teens’ are online.
Danah Boyd, from the Harvard Berkman Ctr. for Internet & Society, explains, “[t]his is a generation that sees online not as a separate place you go, but as just a sort of continuation of their existence. It’s socialization, it’s learning about life.” In making this comment, Boyd argues that the way our generation interacts socially with one another is based greatly online. Author of “MySpace Unraveled,” Anne Collier, complicates matters further by saying, “[i]t’s really hard to control what you’re kids are doing online. What we have here is a kind of the new Wild West, nobody is really in charge.” Collier complains that there is no supervision in the online world.
I, myself, can agree with the argument that today’s generation is growing up largely online. Not only do I use the internet for my social life, but also for my studies and schooling, and entertainment. Yes, there is a lack of authority in the online universe but there are also great benefits. Without the internet, I probably wouldn’t be in contact with some of my friends from high school. Without the internet, I wouldn’t even be able to complete my school assignments for the reason that they are to be turned into blogs. Although the internet can be dangerous, being informed of threats as well as the internets’ advantages can make this generation worthwhile members of the online world.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/view/
Danah Boyd, from the Harvard Berkman Ctr. for Internet & Society, explains, “[t]his is a generation that sees online not as a separate place you go, but as just a sort of continuation of their existence. It’s socialization, it’s learning about life.” In making this comment, Boyd argues that the way our generation interacts socially with one another is based greatly online. Author of “MySpace Unraveled,” Anne Collier, complicates matters further by saying, “[i]t’s really hard to control what you’re kids are doing online. What we have here is a kind of the new Wild West, nobody is really in charge.” Collier complains that there is no supervision in the online world.
I, myself, can agree with the argument that today’s generation is growing up largely online. Not only do I use the internet for my social life, but also for my studies and schooling, and entertainment. Yes, there is a lack of authority in the online universe but there are also great benefits. Without the internet, I probably wouldn’t be in contact with some of my friends from high school. Without the internet, I wouldn’t even be able to complete my school assignments for the reason that they are to be turned into blogs. Although the internet can be dangerous, being informed of threats as well as the internets’ advantages can make this generation worthwhile members of the online world.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/view/
Is Google Making Us Stupid? - response
Nicholas Carr, in his essay "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" discusses the issue of how the internet, today's new main form of reading, is changing the way we think, as well as the way way we learn. But, as we are discovering, "[t]he human brain is infinitely malleable[,] (par. 13)" Carr insists. For the way we read and intake information, affects they way we think and write. Carr talks of Friedrich Nietzche and the affect a purchase of a typewriter had upon his works. Nietzche, responding to a friends observation on this change noticed, his prose "changed from arguements to aphorisms, from thoughts to puns, from rhetoric to telegram style" (par. 12). This is a great example Carr uses of how a simple thing like the transition from writing to typing had upon Nietzche's work.
But this change is going on on a much larger scale. Carr talk's of Frederick Winslow Taylor, and how he was the Industrial Revolution's long awaited philospher (par. 23), and how he found the most effecient way to have factory workers work, to maximize productivity. The workers complained of these robotic motions, but the speed of the work they did, made the executives very happy, and this philosophy was kept up. Fastforwarding to now, Google is trying to apply this "Taylorism" to thought. "What Taylor Did for the work of the hand, Google is doing for the mind" (par. 25). And this, to Nicholas Carr, is why Google is making us stupid. It is trying to, when Carr uses Google's chief executive Eric Schmidt's words, is "striving to 'systemize everything'" (par. 25).
With all of our brains being "systemized," there won't be space for free thought, and creativity, and that is why Google is making us less intelligent, according to Carr.
But this change is going on on a much larger scale. Carr talk's of Frederick Winslow Taylor, and how he was the Industrial Revolution's long awaited philospher (par. 23), and how he found the most effecient way to have factory workers work, to maximize productivity. The workers complained of these robotic motions, but the speed of the work they did, made the executives very happy, and this philosophy was kept up. Fastforwarding to now, Google is trying to apply this "Taylorism" to thought. "What Taylor Did for the work of the hand, Google is doing for the mind" (par. 25). And this, to Nicholas Carr, is why Google is making us stupid. It is trying to, when Carr uses Google's chief executive Eric Schmidt's words, is "striving to 'systemize everything'" (par. 25).
With all of our brains being "systemized," there won't be space for free thought, and creativity, and that is why Google is making us less intelligent, according to Carr.
Is Google making us stupid?
Nicholas Carr’s main claim or controlling idea is that people are being rewired by mass media, internet, and especially Google. They are being rewired in the sense that they no longer possess a lengthy attention span, and that they are thinking more like a computer or search engine than the more traditional sense of thinking. This is supported by Carr when he claims, “They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles.” (Par.4) This chipping away at his capacity for concentration can mean many things. It can mean
that web users are subliminally conditioning their minds for lethargic reading, or it could just as likely be that as an individual he is losing attention span with age.
Carr’s essay was confusing to me at first because he spent half the essay illustrating the wonders of Google, only to tear down the image of online search engines. But it later made sense when I reviewed a few paragraphs and I saw that Carr had stated, “But that boon comes at a price.” (Par.4) In other words this means that although search engines are a blessing for research, computing, or figuring out general information that may otherwise take a long time to find, they also create a void of dependence upon our instant satisfaction technology.
But perhaps people are being rewired for the better. As scary as it seems, maybe we live in a world where snap decisions and quick judgment will serve us well, especially in the workplace. This positive outlook on being rewired is given when car claims, “For me, as for others, the Net is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mind.” (Par.4) Maybe as a whole we need this universal medium. Perhaps it is the beginning of the next step of cultural evolution, or maybe it is just a fad that will fade with enough time.
that web users are subliminally conditioning their minds for lethargic reading, or it could just as likely be that as an individual he is losing attention span with age.
Carr’s essay was confusing to me at first because he spent half the essay illustrating the wonders of Google, only to tear down the image of online search engines. But it later made sense when I reviewed a few paragraphs and I saw that Carr had stated, “But that boon comes at a price.” (Par.4) In other words this means that although search engines are a blessing for research, computing, or figuring out general information that may otherwise take a long time to find, they also create a void of dependence upon our instant satisfaction technology.
But perhaps people are being rewired for the better. As scary as it seems, maybe we live in a world where snap decisions and quick judgment will serve us well, especially in the workplace. This positive outlook on being rewired is given when car claims, “For me, as for others, the Net is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mind.” (Par.4) Maybe as a whole we need this universal medium. Perhaps it is the beginning of the next step of cultural evolution, or maybe it is just a fad that will fade with enough time.
"Is Google Making Us Stupid?
In “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr, Carr asserts that technology has given people the opportunity to briefly skim multiple posts without taking in any of the information. Carr declares, “[The media supplies] the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles” (par. 4). Carr shows that he is not the only one who believes that the internet is making our reading habits to be pathetic, he sums up Wolf’s thoughts, “Wolf worries that the style of reading promoted by the Net, a style that puts “efficiency” and “immediacy” above all else, may be weakening our capacity for the kind of deep reading that emerged when an earlier technology, the printing press, made long and complex works of prose commonplace” (par. 5) Carr uses multiple examples from other people like Wolf, to back up his claim. Carr also expands his thinking process and implies that computers are just doing thinking for us. He declares, “The human brain is just an outdated computer that needs a faster processor and a bigger hard drive” (par. 26)
Carrs main claims mla form! Is Google Making Us Stupid?
"Is Google Making Us Stupid" by Nicholas Carr, the idea of this article is that the Internet is very well changing the human thought process and the ability to read full length novels/books. Carr brings up the point that he and his friends are all having problems finishing full length books, instead they can just get the fast and short information on the live web. Now he has noticed people today not only do not read books but also dont even find the time to finish a simple 4 paragraph article. "... people using the sites exhibited ' a form of skimming activity,' hopping from one source to another..." (University College London Scholars, par. 7). Carr brings up the idea that humans don't want to have to look deep into a piece of reading material with the Net available to them.
According to Nicholas Carr, "For me, as for others, the Net is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mind. The advantages of having immediate access to such an incredibly rich store of information are many, and they've been widely described and duly applauded... As the media theorist Marshal McLuhan pointed out in the 1960s, media are not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now i zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski" (par. 4). Basically Carr is saying that the internet can give the answer quick, short, and to the point. Where as reading a novel you would really have to go indepth into finding the answer its just not given to you. The internet has changed his way of thinking, the Net is over powering the human mind.
According to Nicholas Carr, "For me, as for others, the Net is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mind. The advantages of having immediate access to such an incredibly rich store of information are many, and they've been widely described and duly applauded... As the media theorist Marshal McLuhan pointed out in the 1960s, media are not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now i zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski" (par. 4). Basically Carr is saying that the internet can give the answer quick, short, and to the point. Where as reading a novel you would really have to go indepth into finding the answer its just not given to you. The internet has changed his way of thinking, the Net is over powering the human mind.
Nicholas Carr "Is Google Making Us Stupid"
Nicholas Carr in his essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” talks about how the internet is very mind controlling. He believes if you spend too much time surfing the Web you will most likely stop reading books altogether. Carr talks about a Pathologist who states “[A] blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it” (par 6). Carr seems to believe technology is taking over our minds.
“In deciding when to eat, to work, to sleep, to rise, we stopped listening to our senses and started obeying the clock” (Carr par 15). By stating this Carr is saying we no longer listen to ourselves, we listen to the clock, the web, etc,. By getting up when the clock tells us, like in the example or reading what may pop up while you are online, instead of a book that we should read.
“My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. ‘Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski’” (Carr par 4) When Carr states this he is talking about how he used to read deeper into the books, not just skim over the words. The internet has changed the way he reads.
Carr explains “When the mechanical clock arrived, people began thinking of their brains as operating like ‘clockwork.’ Today, in the age of software, we have come to think of them as operating like ‘computers’” (par 16). When Carr explains this he is saying we depend more on the computer then on our own brains. Because we have started to believe our brain is telling us what the computer actually is.
“In deciding when to eat, to work, to sleep, to rise, we stopped listening to our senses and started obeying the clock” (Carr par 15). By stating this Carr is saying we no longer listen to ourselves, we listen to the clock, the web, etc,. By getting up when the clock tells us, like in the example or reading what may pop up while you are online, instead of a book that we should read.
“My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. ‘Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski’” (Carr par 4) When Carr states this he is talking about how he used to read deeper into the books, not just skim over the words. The internet has changed the way he reads.
Carr explains “When the mechanical clock arrived, people began thinking of their brains as operating like ‘clockwork.’ Today, in the age of software, we have come to think of them as operating like ‘computers’” (par 16). When Carr explains this he is saying we depend more on the computer then on our own brains. Because we have started to believe our brain is telling us what the computer actually is.
Nick Carr's "Is Google Making Us Stupid?"
Nick Carr's "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" he talks about how the way that technology and the internet have altered and changed the way we think by the way we read text and search for answers. The internet has made us less able to read the way people used to.
The article starts the quote from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 A Space Odyssey; “Dave, stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dave. Will you stop Dave?”(par. 1.) This was from a movie written in 1968, about a super computer that controls the ship on the trip in space. Carr uses this passage to get his idea across. Carr states “Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neutral circuitry, reprogramming the memory.”(par. 1.) Then he goes on to state how he used to, “Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy.” (par. 1.) Then he talks about recently. “Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages.” This is the before and after affect on how much time he has spent online. Carr says, “For more than a decade now, I’ve been spending a lot of time online, searching and surfing and sometimes adding to the great databases of the internet.” This has been the reason why Carr has altered his reading habits.
Then Carr later goes on to talk about, “Bruce Friedman, who blogs regularly about the use of the use of computers in medicine, also has described how the Internet has altered his metal habits.” (par. 5.)Carr then goes to state a quote from Bruce Friedman’s own writing, “I have now almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print.”(par. 5.) This just shows that Carr isn’t the only one who feels that the world of internet has changed the way people think. Searching on the internet has changed the way in which we learn and read text. The reason used is that “the Internet has altered his mental habits.”(par. 5. ) What Friedman talks about shows reasons as to the Internet does mess with our minds. People of this culture no long write as much at a time or read as much as a time. Friedman states, “Even a blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb.”(par. 5.) The amount of knowledge taken in has been decreased.
Later in Carr’s article there is a quote by James Old, “’The brain,’ [according to Olds,] ‘has the ability to reprogram itself on the fly, altering the way it functions.”(par. 12.) Olds talks about the brain beginning able to be changed. What Carr talks about is the internet changing the way in which it thinks from what people get from the Internet. After a few more paragraphs Carr says, “The Net’s influence doesn’t end at the edges of a computer screen, either. As people’s minds become attuned to the crazy quilt of Internet media, traditional media have to adapt o the audience’s new expectations.” (par. 18.) If every way we gather information then we will expect to see all media to change and that will soon make all text shortened and try to keep the interest until people want the change.
The article starts the quote from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 A Space Odyssey; “Dave, stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dave. Will you stop Dave?”(par. 1.) This was from a movie written in 1968, about a super computer that controls the ship on the trip in space. Carr uses this passage to get his idea across. Carr states “Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neutral circuitry, reprogramming the memory.”(par. 1.) Then he goes on to state how he used to, “Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy.” (par. 1.) Then he talks about recently. “Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages.” This is the before and after affect on how much time he has spent online. Carr says, “For more than a decade now, I’ve been spending a lot of time online, searching and surfing and sometimes adding to the great databases of the internet.” This has been the reason why Carr has altered his reading habits.
Then Carr later goes on to talk about, “Bruce Friedman, who blogs regularly about the use of the use of computers in medicine, also has described how the Internet has altered his metal habits.” (par. 5.)Carr then goes to state a quote from Bruce Friedman’s own writing, “I have now almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print.”(par. 5.) This just shows that Carr isn’t the only one who feels that the world of internet has changed the way people think. Searching on the internet has changed the way in which we learn and read text. The reason used is that “the Internet has altered his mental habits.”(par. 5. ) What Friedman talks about shows reasons as to the Internet does mess with our minds. People of this culture no long write as much at a time or read as much as a time. Friedman states, “Even a blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb.”(par. 5.) The amount of knowledge taken in has been decreased.
Later in Carr’s article there is a quote by James Old, “’The brain,’ [according to Olds,] ‘has the ability to reprogram itself on the fly, altering the way it functions.”(par. 12.) Olds talks about the brain beginning able to be changed. What Carr talks about is the internet changing the way in which it thinks from what people get from the Internet. After a few more paragraphs Carr says, “The Net’s influence doesn’t end at the edges of a computer screen, either. As people’s minds become attuned to the crazy quilt of Internet media, traditional media have to adapt o the audience’s new expectations.” (par. 18.) If every way we gather information then we will expect to see all media to change and that will soon make all text shortened and try to keep the interest until people want the change.
Carr’s main claim/controlling idea
In his article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nick Carr claims that people are relying too much on quick and easy search engine, and he uses the most widely used, Google Search Engine, to support his claims. The idea and usage of deep reading and deep thinking is diminishing with the computer and the internet being just a click away from information. Our minds have changed and even adapted to become bored with reading an article that is really long. The users of Google have changed their minds to think in quick spurts with short attention spans, and now rely upon the rapid results of a search on the internet.
Today’s generation may be reading more than anyone else in the 1970s and 1980s, Carr claims, however, it is a different kind of reading, and is this different reading helping us? Maryanne Wolf is worried that it isn’t, “[t]he style of reading promoted by the Net. A style that puts “efficiency” and “immediacy” above all else, may be weakening our capacity for the kind of deep reading that emerged when an earlier technology, the printing press, made long and complex works of prose commonplace,” (par. 7). Not only is the Net promoting the need for immediate updates and information, but so is the media. “As the media theorist Marshall McLuhan pointed out in the 1960s, media are not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought,” (par. 3). If that statement by Marshall McLuhan was only made in the 1960s, just think how much greater influence the media has on the way we think today. Nick Carr, himself, makes an excellent metaphor of how the internet has affected him, “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski,” (par. 3). Carr’s mind now expects to take in information the way the internet distributes it, like “[a] swiftly moving stream of particles.”
Nick Carr makes very interesting claims of how the internet has changed the people who use it, and instead of the internet adapting to us, we are adapting to the it, in which we now think the way the Net does. Carr ends his article with Kubrick’s dark prophecy, “[a]s we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence,”
Today’s generation may be reading more than anyone else in the 1970s and 1980s, Carr claims, however, it is a different kind of reading, and is this different reading helping us? Maryanne Wolf is worried that it isn’t, “[t]he style of reading promoted by the Net. A style that puts “efficiency” and “immediacy” above all else, may be weakening our capacity for the kind of deep reading that emerged when an earlier technology, the printing press, made long and complex works of prose commonplace,” (par. 7). Not only is the Net promoting the need for immediate updates and information, but so is the media. “As the media theorist Marshall McLuhan pointed out in the 1960s, media are not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought,” (par. 3). If that statement by Marshall McLuhan was only made in the 1960s, just think how much greater influence the media has on the way we think today. Nick Carr, himself, makes an excellent metaphor of how the internet has affected him, “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski,” (par. 3). Carr’s mind now expects to take in information the way the internet distributes it, like “[a] swiftly moving stream of particles.”
Nick Carr makes very interesting claims of how the internet has changed the people who use it, and instead of the internet adapting to us, we are adapting to the it, in which we now think the way the Net does. Carr ends his article with Kubrick’s dark prophecy, “[a]s we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence,”
Nicholas Carr mla
Nicholas Carr talks about in his article "Is Google Making Us Stupid", how he thinks that places like Google are making him think differently then before. He talks about a story of a guy name Fried Nietzsche who would type up his work on a type writer and was able to do it with his eyes closed. "One of Nietzsche's friends, a composer, noticed a change in his style of his writing. His already terse prose had become even tighter, more telegraphic" (Par. 11). Like what Carr is saying technology is changing the way people write and Nietzsche's friend was able to notice that from what his writing said. Carr also says, "[o]nce I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski" (Par. 4). His ideas are very similiar to Syvn Birkerts and that he used to be a in-depth reader but now has lost that ability and is only skimming around from book to book. Carr states in his article that he was once a good reader and now when he reads books or articles he can only make it as far as getting to the third or fourth page before loosing his attention on what he's reading. "The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle" (Par. 2). Carr feels that all the Google information access has made his mind turn into a computer, jumping from link to link, only interested in what can be read in a short time.
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