Essay on “Is Google making us stupid?” by Nicholas Carr

Introduction of Is Google making us stupid

“Is Google making us stupid” is an article written by Nicholas Carr. This article was published in the Atlantic Magazine and the theory has been discussed here that the internet is the platform; which is rewiring all of the aspects of a human mind like how it actually operates. The author has taken more of the skeptical approach towards the internet along with its increased use as a source of the medium for reading. Carr emphasized that the internet is the thing which has changed the way, he reads and it has also shortened the attention span along with the contemplation, as well as, the capacity. Here, for the most part, I completely agree with the thesis of the author that Google has changed our minds in so many ways and made us stupid. But one thing needs to be clarified here that whether it’s a positive or negative development to discuss. In personal, I incline towards the uncertainty when any of these things start to suddenly evolve without any regard for the triple effects. Thinking of human being is considered to be the most important element for the existence and it is completely uncomfortable to think that any technology such as Google can control it.  

Further Discussion of Is Google making us stupid

In this article, Carr describes a way that the Internet has affected us through a process particularly. He said that “What the Internet seems to do is like chipping away all of my capacity towards the contemplation along with the concentration as well. Now my mind expects to get in the information according to the way the Internet is distributing, like in the manner of swiftly moving stream of the small particles” This has been narrated by the author himself. Here I absolutely agree that some kind of the deep aspect of thought along with the contemplation has been lost completely somewhere in the age of the internet. There is no doubt in it that all of us are conversant with the internet world, and its usage from a very young age. But here the difference has been felt which is that how the brain of human beings is being operated that is quite parallel or directly associated with the increased level of time spent on the internet and staying online. I found out that all of us start getting annoyed when any of the pages took even 30 seconds to load. At previous times, things were quite different. The loading of the page at this speed seemed to be normal in the past. But now things have changed a lot and the internet is controlling our minds greatly. We feel completely incomplete and life seems so dry when there is no internet around us. We feel that life is really incomplete without the internet. It is significantly controlling our minds, and we don’t feel like doing anything else at all and this picture seems to be very horrible.

It was pretty much difficult for me to select that which kind of the quotes need to be part of this Essay and which should not as I felt each and every part is so important, and it needs to be analyzed in this Essay. The way, Author clearly described that by the rise in technology along with the overwhelming availability of the information; the digital age is the one that has come about in all of the forces. It was also said that they can only grow up from here further. The author is also clarifying that no doubt the internet is the platform from where one can get any of the information and can increase their knowledge easily.

Google is the platform that reduces all of the efforts to get access to a variety of information. These days everyone is so busy finding the solutions from the internet according to the writer as they don’t have enough time to spend time reading books or to be creative enough. By the use of Google, people start depending on the ideas and opinions of others, and they don’t think on their own. Before the excessive use of the Internet, people used to be creative and their minds also used to get sharp. But as now Google is being used at everyone’s home it made people completely helpless and they don’t even make an effort to think on their own to explore more ideas. Carr has an example, “I am not the only one here. When I mention a different kind of troubles in regard to the friends, most out of them say the same that they are also having the same experience.” It can be understood here easily how different people living in a society are being affected by the excessive use of Google as well as the internet.

Conclusion of Is Google making us stupid

After analyzing the article in detail, it can be said that it was an eye-opener in terms of using Google. In my opinion what I think or believe is that the author has almost the same opinion related to Google and the internet, which can be observed all around the world, where people are not so social, and they have become lazy in their lives. Carr has also referenced the HAL computer because he is the one who believes that when human beings start depending more on artificial intelligence, then ultimately the man intelligence will also become the same as artificial intelligence. He believes that people won’t be even 1% capable to think on their own and take decisions for their lives if they continued to rely so much on platforms like Google. But on the other side, I also believe that Google even makes people way smarter because they can easily find information at any given time whenever they want to. It has made the lives of people much easier and they can even easily communicate with their loved ones from any part of the world. Well, the time can prove whether the Carr fears were right or wrong whether people are losing the ability to think or even getting better or smarter due to Google.