emac 2322 Is Google Making Us Stupid? by Nicholas Carr

Summary: The attention span of the average individual has decreased dramatically due to the increase in the use of the internet. We find it hard to delve into text for hours at at time and as a result have become experts at skimming over reading. The internet is seen as an aid in our loss of concentration because of it's never-ending spew of links. These links propel us further into the mass of information on the web and more links creating an endless clicking cycle. We are still reading the same amount if not more than past generations just in a different way, a faster way. This faster need for information is what Google is trying to harness and make easily accessible. Google wants to become the search engine that " understands exactly what you mean and gives you back exactly what you want." Does that make us stupid? I think Carr would argue no. Society is changing the way it gets information but that doesn't make us stupid just different.



http://discovermagazine.com/2009/feb/15-how-google-is-making-us-smarter

In this article the author talks about how some people think the internet and technology as a whole is making us stupid while others see the intelligence in it. Some argue that texting is causing us to lose our grammar and spelling skills when in reality it is forcing us to write more than previous generations ever have before. Several studies were performed to see how the brain is adapting to our new technologically based society.