Is Google Making USupid, By Nicholas Carr

Technology—mainly the invention of the Internet—is supposed to make lifeline easier, but according to Nicholas Carr, the invention has diminished our ability to comprehend the world of literature. In his article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” he explains how our brains have been reprogrammed to think, due to the way the Internet spoon feeds us the information we are requesting, in the most elementary ways. Throughout the entirety of the article Carr battles with the idea of whether or not the Internet is an instrument of knowledge or whether or not it will one day be the cause of an ignorant society. Inventions such as the typewriter and the Internet, Carr explains, have altered the way we think about and explore writing. Today, the Internet has become a lifeline for many. Instead of reading for information, the Internet has allowed us to skim for the main points rather than read an article or blog for its entirety. Carr’s basic structure—his use of abbreviated sentences and simple syntax—choice of conversational diction, and his humanization of reading allow him to warn society of the effects of artificial intelligence. His entire article is a caution about the decline of mental capabilities: attention, critical thinking, problem-solving. Carr’s examples of innovation and technology steer us to a more complex observation on the positives and negatives of technology, predicting that it could eventually lead to the downfall of mankind. Carr strategically opens his article with paragraphs doused with short, choppy sentences. The compressed sentences of the second paragraph—averaging about 12 words a sentence—help address that Carr is aware today’s society is practically unable to process large amounts of information given all at once. These sentences emphasize his realization that the use of technology has altered the way the human race thinks and interacts with written texts. Carr observes how “reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle,” adding that although the Internet is “an incredibly rich store of information” it has “chipp[ed] away [the] capacity for concentration and contemplation” which in turn has limited …show more content…
After almost six pages of swimming through a “sea of words,” Carr finally stumbles upon the topic mentioned in the title of his article—Google (par. 4). He picks at our brains, challenging us to get to this point in the article, testing the mental capabilities of the modern day human. Carr notes that “the Internet…[is] becoming our map, and our, clock, our printing press and our typewriter, our calculator and our telephone, and our radio and tv;” (par. 18) he expresses how all these inventions have been, in a way, beneficial to mankind. However, while the Internet is seen as the Holy Grail of information, “the Internet’s high church,” Google, feels their search engine is not as adequate as it could be. The companies goal of creating “an artificial intelligence is unsettling” worries Carr (par. 29). An invention such as this would make humans completely dependent upon technology. This reliance on machines would ultimately result in a desolation of much needed human qualities—educational and analytical thinking—leading to the decline of the “human.” Carr’s simplistic diction very rarely wavers. His choice of diction is that of an average person; he speaks as if speaking to a friend. Only occasionally does Carr use words that do not appear conversational. The use of these non-conversational words such as “pithy”, “ubiquity” heighten his diction, by doing so Carr automatically strengthens his syntax making him appear credible (par. 3 and