Within his essay, Nicholas Carr argues that the exponential growth of Internet use in people of all ages has changed the way we seek out and absorb information. He quotes multiple successful, well-versed people who have admitted that as their use of the Internet has grown, their reading habits have changed or diminished. Also, Carr describes how researching information or searching for articles of interest has been drastically altered. He details this change saying, “My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles.” The speeds at which we expect to find and absorb information have changed, and, according to him, this has changed many people’s reading habits because it is now
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I think it is true that the Internet is attempting to reinforce a necessity for speed and efficiency. Nowadays, accurate, relevant information really is expected to be found in the shortest amount of time possible. I’ve seen this change in myself at times, and I do think that this is negative because it can cause one to miss something useful or important when reading physical text. And I do believe that it has become somewhat more difficult to simply sit down and read through an extended article or as good book. I am an avid reader, and I really do enjoy a good book, but I have realized that it is harder to read material that I am less personally invested in. I don’t think that the ability to read deeply has been ruined, it may have simply been altered. Personally, I do not agree with Carr’s perspective on modern research methods. I don’t think it has gotten more difficult to focus and research for a paper or project, or that it is difficult to spend time on a site or resource and determine whether it is a valid, credible source. Research is imperative for a valid, well-written paper on any topic. So, I don’t believe that this skill has diminished much at all since the advent of the Internet. I do think that the thought processes of pre-Internet generations would be different, but only slightly. The main difference is the methods of access to research, but perhaps the organization of information once research is done
I think it is true that the Internet is attempting to reinforce a necessity for speed and efficiency. Nowadays, accurate, relevant information really is expected to be found in the shortest amount of time possible. I’ve seen this change in myself at times, and I do think that this is negative because it can cause one to miss something useful or important when reading physical text. And I do believe that it has become somewhat more difficult to simply sit down and read through an extended article or as good book. I am an avid reader, and I really do enjoy a good book, but I have realized that it is harder to read material that I am less personally invested in. I don’t think that the ability to read deeply has been ruined, it may have simply been altered. Personally, I do not agree with Carr’s perspective on modern research methods. I don’t think it has gotten more difficult to focus and research for a paper or project, or that it is difficult to spend time on a site or resource and determine whether it is a valid, credible source. Research is imperative for a valid, well-written paper on any topic. So, I don’t believe that this skill has diminished much at all since the advent of the Internet. I do think that the thought processes of pre-Internet generations would be different, but only slightly. The main difference is the methods of access to research, but perhaps the organization of information once research is done