Nicholas Carr, author of "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" is worried about the impact technology has and will have on our nation's intelligence. It began with his observations of his own behavior. When he would read books and long articles he would have trouble concentrating and would find his mind wandering. He believes it's because of how much time he spends on the internet. The internet is about fast access and minimal reading. "Research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes". Therefore, the amount of time people need to dedicate to reading has diminished. Carr continues to compare the pros and cons (gains and losses) of current technology. He points out that the world wide web can be the most significant impact on the human brain because it replaces so many daily or frequent intellectual activities.

            Carr states that the Internet provides “'efficiency' and 'immediacy' above all else" and "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." Carr also points out that the internet will change our way of thinking and perception for good, especially our concentration and attention spans. He points out the internet has many distractions and people use it in a way that they can do several activities at once, and jump back and forth easily. He also believes that everything in our society that we watch, listen to and read are going to conform to the style of the internet because of its unbelievable popularity.

            The internet has made such an impact in our society at an unbelievably fast pace. Our generation watched the internet form and morph into what it is today. While we were young, the internet barely existed, now it is the central point for most of our lives. As I write this post, I have my email and Facebook open in different tabs, if a (1) comes up on the tab letting me know of a new message/notification, I will automatically click it. Before "tabs" existed and the notifications on the tabs existed, I wouldn't have these things open while completing work. The internet continues to find ways to become efficient and make everything accessible, but also provides more room for distraction. As I write this, and as I complete work on the computer (which is where most school work is completed these days), I take breaks to browse the web or get distracted with the notification. I don't believe it affects the quality of my work, but it affects the time it takes for me to complete it. The internet may be changing the way we think, but it's not changing our intelligence, but rather our concentration and work ethic.

            It is inevitable that the internet and technology will continue to impact our lives. Therefore, the change the internet is making in the way our brains functions is not a negative one but just an inevitable one. Simply because our concentration has changed does not mean that our intelligence is dwindling. Getting through a book does not measure intelligence. It is important to be able to think and conceptualize critically, and books will help us do so. However, technology is growing and evolving at a rapid pace every day, and the human brain is bound to change along with the definition of "critical thinking".

Discussion Question:  How has the internet's impact on our lives/society changed since we were young?

Works Cited:
Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" The Atlantic July-Aug. 2008. Web. 23 Jan. 2012.