Did our Way of Processing Information Change?

Is Google Making Us Stupid? was a cover story magazine of the Atlantic, written by Nicholas Carr. It was published in July/August 2008. This article tells us how the Internet is affecting our way of processing information. Carr did his best to find all sorts of evidence to convince his audience that the Internet is changing our brain. He did his research on studies from different universities, bloggers, and his own experiences on the issue. Carr enables the readers of the Atlantic to relate/ engage their emotions to his own observations. The knowledge that was given was to appeal to readers if they agree or disagree. As a reader, I find his argument somewhat effective because I did a little research on him that gave him more credibility. At the beginning of the article, Nicholas quoted a line from Stanley Kubricks 2001: A Space Odyssey, David Bowman states Ive had an uncomfortable sense that someone or something has been tinkering with my brain Im not thinking the way I used to think. Nichola is explaining how the supercomputer is messing with Dave Bowmans brain as a metaphor. When I did my research on Carr, whom is a known author for the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. One of his books in 2010, which was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a New York Times bestseller. Throughout the article, he relies a tad bit on his fame to convince the readers that he is an expert on the subject. Most of what was mentioned in the article was based on his personal opinions on the issue. For those whom have no background information of Nicholas Carr, they might most likely automatically think the article would be ineffective. Carr moved on to mentioned how his friends and acquaintances experienced the same problem. Saying that most of them find it both difficult and cannot finish reading a book from beginning to end. I understand that he is trying to make his argument more credible by involving others who experience the same thing. In this case, he did not tell us who his friends were or what they did for a living or perhaps their age range which may have perhaps spread a little light on the conclusions they have on the subject. Anyone can agree or disagree with him, but what could have made them valid is their backgrounds. Carr also mentioned that he follows a few bloggers that have spoken about the subject, Bruce Friedman and Scott Karp. Scott Karp is someone who writes a blog about online media, and Bruce Friedman is someone who blogs regularly about the use of computers in medicine. No offense, but bloggers are also not as valid or as substantial not to completely dismiss their reviews. However, when it comes to reliable sources because anyone on the Internet can start a blog. University College London, a well-known university that Carr uses as one of his sources. The study from this university suggests that people who visited research sites usually skim through pages of a book or article. He failed to expand on this source for his argument because he only stated what he found from the university. His next source was from Maryanne Wolf, a developmental psychologist at Tufts University. Her expertise on the subject is that reading is not an instinctive skill for human beings. Meaning how we process information will depends on what we tell our brain to take in and how it is taken. Wolf said that how we read online is different from how we read printed text. Our ability of making connections while reading online lessen because of all the distraction that is part of the Internet. The third source he tried to use was a little story about Friedrich Nietzsche, a philosopher back in 1882. Nietzsche bought a typewriter which change his way of writing. Friends of Nietzsche said that his writing became duller, the quality of his writing is better through a pen and paper. Given the typewriter is a form of computer in its own way, the assessments based on Nietzsches drop-in quality or substance when it came to writing with his hands versus typing the story could be used as substantial evidence. I somewhat agree with his friends conclusions on his writings as I did a little research on his writings before tis use of the typewriter and after. I did indeed find his writings did to a point vary in terms of quality.

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