Nicholas Carr: Is Google Making Us Stupid

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Nicholas Carr: Is Google Making Us Stupid
The article Is Google making us stupid by Nicholas Carr was published in The Atlantic in 2008. The author talks of the extent to which the internet has affected the overall thinking of people and their attention span. At the essay begins, Carr describes a scene where the supercomputer Hal is being destroyed, and it pleads for its life as each wire is removed. The supercomputer complains that its brain is going, this symbolizes human beings. The slight difference between the two is that a person is destroying Hal whereas human beings sabotage themselves. From the article, it is true that Google and the technology, in general, are slowly making people stupid.
The writer talk of how he feels his brain is being restricted, and so are some of his friends and acquaintances. They no longer hold a book and read, but instead, they click on few links on the internet (Carr). The problem with this is that the kind of results found through such research is not comprehensive enough. Also, the internet has led to a reduction in people’s attention span and their level of critical thinking. The current generation believes that Google has all the answers which have made them lazy.
The orderly arrangement of the articles is excellent as Carr starts by explaining the positive impact that the internet has impacted on the human race before diving into its negativity. And to justify his allegations, the author presents examples of research conducted by various scholars and universities.

It is evident that for the past thirty years since new technologies were introduced it has rendered humankind incapable of reading and thinking critically (Carr). Nicholas gets to convince his readers that people no longer take them and read stuff or analyze situations; instead, they quickly jump to Google and seek answers.
The argument presented by Carr is not only insightful but also relatable to everyone. Nowadays a majority of us barely use our brain under any real-life circumstance all because of over-reliance on the internet. The contemporary generation lacks focus and engagement between each other. It is therefore hard for people to work in unison towards anything constructive. However Carr mentioning the various ways through which the use of Google has affected people, he does not suggest possible solutions to the problem. A reader of the article is left with the question of what he or she should do. Perhaps this was intentional; Carr wanted to leave his audience questioning their lifestyle so that they can realize the best action to take.
Works Cited
Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic, July 2008, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/. Accessed 2 Oct. 2018.