Reading Response 5 "Is Google Making Us Stupid?"

The central claim in Nicholas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” is that the internet is affecting the way we read, and think and the way we use our minds is different. Nicholas Carr says “Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going- so far as I can tell- but it’s changing.” He goes on to explain different ways it is changing and why he thinks its changing. The biggest difference Nicholas Carr sees is in his use of the internet and how he used to read. He used to be able to read long and lengthy books and articles but now its hard for him to get through an article. He can only get through a couple pages and then his mind starts to wonder. One of his most important claims is that “…what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation.” He supports this quote very well with incorporating the views of two bloggers and the scholars of University College London who did a five year study on students and how they use two different popular research sites. The bloggers had two different blogs. The first wrote about online media and how it was affecting him personally. The other blogger wrote about the use of computers in medicine. Because of the internet the author of the second blog said his thinking had become “staccato” meaning he thinks more quickly about things. He thinking is the way many people think these days. Because of the internet thinking has become faster and the way we do things has become faster. We want it now and we want it done now. A lot students today grew up on the internet so their thinking is always fast paced and don’t read in depth. The quote is important so we realize how fast paced our culture has become and how involved with the internet everyone is. Another important claim is that “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 1970s or 1980s..” We have understand that reading a book and reading online are completely different. Our minds work differently when we read a text message then when we read a novel. It is important that we know what these skills are and how to use them differently. When Nicholas Carr quotes Maryanne Wolf we see this significance. She says we have to teach our minds to do different things. While our minds are changing we will be to learn new things.
I agree that the internet is affecting our minds because my experience going on the internet and then trying to focus on certain assignments confirms it. Many students who grow up on the internet have a hard time concentrating and focusing on assignments. I know for me I used to be able to focus deeper on assignments now I can get distracted so much easier. I have to force myself to concentrate and focus. The internet has made it easier for me to get distracted. I sometimes go online while trying to complete an assignment so it takes me that much longer to complete it. My attention span has become shorter and shorter. If I get bored I will start doodling on my papers and sometimes zone out. The internet has made it easier for students to get distracted and not focus as well.