• Home Page
  • Online Reading On One's Mind In The Shallows By Nicholas Carr

Online Reading On One's Mind In The Shallows By Nicholas Carr

Improved Essays
Show More
The use of technology is increasing with each new generation we reach. Newer, more advanced devices are created, making paper a fleeting necessity. This can be viewed as positive or negative in many different ways. Nicholas Carr explores the effects of online reading on one’s mind in The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. Through the explanation of many experiments and tests, Carr gets across the point that online reading is a gateway to distractions and interrupted learning: thoughts are scattered and information is not fully retained. He admits that the Internet is a useful tool, but as much as it helps us, it can also hurt us. While reading online the mind is tempted with links and advertisements making it difficult to completely focus on the information you visited that website specifically for. Not only does this interrupt the mind’s thought process, but it could completely shift a thought process to a whole new topic. This leads to a lessened retention of information and an unclear idea of what was just read. In addition to interrupting the learning process, the Internet also creates a lack of social interaction. People turn to social media as their means of communication. The term “social media” …show more content…
Online reading can lead to distracted learning, interruption of thoughts and lower retention rates. Despite the many benefits of Internet use, it should be limited in school so students can learn to the highest of their abilities with fluidity and minimal deviation and interference. Carr also made many insightful points on the disruption of social interaction due to the increase in social media use. In conclusion, even though the Web has had many favorable effects on society and learning, it can also be a distracting tool in the curious minds of young

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Nicholas Carr's Essay 'Is Google Making USupid?'
    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Nicholas Carr's Essay 'Is Google Making USupid?'

    Nicholas Carr discusses the effects of the use of technology in his essay, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” First, he points out how constant technology use causes the mind to change. In discussing his mind, Carr states how it’s “changing. [He’s] not thinking the way [he] used to think” (315). In other words, Carr believes that the prolonged hours spent on the Internet correlates with his loss of concentration after reading a few pages of an article or a novel.…

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Nicholas Carr's 'Is Google Making USupid?'
    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Nicholas Carr's 'Is Google Making USupid?'

    Nicholas Carr, the author of “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, makes the argument that the internet or “Net” is causing a decline in the ability of people to read and absorb information. On one hand Carr expresses that the “Web has been a godsend” to him as a writer (532), on the other hand he is critical of the Net. He gives examples and testimonies of how he, and some esteemed colleagues, can no longer read through long literary works without distraction, all due to the internet and the inundation of information it provides. While the creators of Google state that “Certainly if you had all the world’s information directly attached to your brain, or an artificial brain that was smarter than your brain, you’d be better off” (537), Carr appears to disagree, as do I.…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Google Making USupid Thesis
    • 1311 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Google Making USupid Thesis

    In his article entitled “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” (2008), Nicholas Carr, a published technology author, argues that the use of the internet has altered the way our mind thinks, the way we communicate, and even the way we read. This affects society in such a way that we are no longer able to focus while reading printed text, let alone online articles with distracting factors such as hyperlinks and flashy pop up ads. Carr provides several sources of anecdotal evidence, case studies, and authority figures each in their respective fields, which contributes the foundation used to substantiate his claims throughout the article. Carr is hoping to inform his audience of the affects as he explains that although a very powerful computing system, the internet, has left us with fleeting attention spans and diminished comprehension skills.…

    • 1311 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Shallows: How The Internet Is Changing Our Brains By Nicholas Carr
    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Shallows: How The Internet Is Changing Our Brains By Nicholas Carr

    Five years ago, journalist Nicholas Carr wrote in his book The Shallows: How The Internet Is Changing Our Brains. The book is about the way technology is taking away his ability to concentrate. In the book, Carr explored the many ways that technology might be changing the way we think. Carr became particularly worried how it was taking away our ability to think for long periods at a time. Today, Facebook and cellphones have a greater place in our lives than they did in 2011 when Carr wrote the book.…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    'Rhetorical Analysis Of Carr's Awakening'
    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages

    'Rhetorical Analysis Of Carr's Awakening'

    As profound as the relationship described is, Carr does not avoid the pitfall of strong convictions in his piece. Carr presents studies that show that the web is definitely impacting the users. However, Carr’s feeling about this change is one heavily associated with negatives. Maryanne Wolf of Tufts University notes that “the style of reading promoted by the Net, a style that puts “efficiency” and “immediacy” above all else, may be weakening our capacity for the kind of deep reading that emerged when an earlier technology.” “Weakening” is indeed a word that draws attention to negative connotation.…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Is Google Making USupid, By Nicholas Carr
    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages

    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…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis: Is Google Making USupid?
    • 1048 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Rhetorical Analysis: Is Google Making USupid?

    Although having his colleagues say they have been affected by the use of the Internet in the same manner as Carr, that does not give us evidence that the Internet is affecting the way we think. The evidence Carr provides ranges from quotes to case studies and a variety of sources, but primarily to solidify his claim. Maryanne Wolf in Carr’s article states is a developmental psychologist at Tufts University. Before introducing the evidences, he made sure the audience knew the credibility of the Wolf before stating a statement by Wolf. Wolf states that “the style of reading promoted by the Net, a style that puts “efficiency” and “immediacy” above all else, may be weakening our capacity for the kind of deep reading that emerged when an earlier technology.”…

    • 1048 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Is Google Making USupid Personal Response
    • 1323 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Is Google Making USupid Personal Response

    While I do not disagree that the internet may have made it more difficult to pay attention to the multitude of paragraphs, I find his conclusion that the internet has completely rewired our brains a bit out there. Carr admits “...we still await the long-term neurological and psychological experiments that will provide a definitive picture of how Internet use affects cognition”, thus I find it impossible to take Carr’s insistence that the Internet causing people to take up “power browsing” more often to be a sign of anything bigger (Carr). Carr’s skepticism about the at the thought of the internet supplementing our intelligence seems unjustified, as people have been supplementing their knowledge with that of other humans, books, and many other sources of information outside of the internet for generations. The fear that Carr expresses of becoming technology reliant is rather obsolete, as the world is simply shifting from print books to the same information in PDFs online. If Carr sees no issue with reading books to gain intelligence or information, there is no reason for him to fear technology when it is improving ways to do this and many other aspects of…

    • 1323 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Is Google Making USupid Cons
    • 1371 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Is Google Making USupid Cons

    I saw you posted that, but it was so long… I didn’t read it.” The Internet has destroyed my capacity for long-term memory, because my brain confidently assumes that “I can just look it up later.” Hours spent flitting through Google and Wiki-Wandering, enjoyable as they may be, have done nothing for my ability to sit down and read a quality source from start to finish. I lament my negligible concentration span, and my inability to just sit and read, for the only way I can really dive into a book anymore is if I shut off my phone, computer, and iPad; effectively quarantining myself from the temptation of the Internet.…

    • 1371 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Analysis Of Nicholas Carr's Essay 'Is Google Making USupid'
    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Analysis Of Nicholas Carr's Essay 'Is Google Making USupid'

    In Is Google Making Us Stupid, Carr and his friends have seen a shift in their cognitive experiences because of their time online with the expansive amount of information online. Carr mentions a blogger, Bruce Friedman, and he describes that the internet has altered with his brain, “I now have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print,” and Friedman said that his thinking has taken this “staccato” sort of quality to it. Not only that, he cannot even read a “blog post of more than three or four paragraphs” without having to resort to skimming (Carr 93). This sort of behavior is something that the internet is teaching not just the young, but the average adult. According to Maryanne Wolf, reading is not a skill that we use as an “instinct,” unlike the natural urge to talk and communicate with others (Carr 94).…

    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Thesis For The Shallows
    • 1774 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Thesis For The Shallows

    “When we go online, we enter an environment that promotes cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking, and superficial learning. It’s possible to think shallowly while reading a book, but that’s not the type of thinking the technology encourages and rewards” (116). Today we are not learning we are only memorizing which only lasts a couple of days at the most. It’s the rise of social media and other entertainment that has us hooked. We are no longer incorporating those lifelong skills we once had we are expecting to get the fish without fishing.…

    • 1774 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Does The Internet Make You Dumber By Nicholas Carr Analysis
    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Does The Internet Make You Dumber By Nicholas Carr Analysis

    The essay, “Does the Internet Make You Dumber?” written by Nicholas Carr, addresses the negative impact that the internet has on us. He uses experiments from highly recognized universities and people to support his view. He emphasizes that the use of technology and multitasking distracts us which leads to lack of focus, “turning us into scatter superficial thinkers.” Carr conveys that while we may think we are good multitaskers, we need to focus to meaningfully understand and retain knowledge. He expresses how negative the loss of mental discipline and strength can affect our lives with the use of a hyperbole.…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    The Negative Effects Of Screen Technology On Cognitive Development
    • 1110 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Negative Effects Of Screen Technology On Cognitive Development

    According to Carr (2010), reasoning has been fundamentally altered by the Internet into superficial thought processes through skimming, diversions, and facile learning. The research confirms that the ‘mental calisthenics’ involved in surfing the Internet, consequently puts even more of a strain on the brain, which then results in the lack of comprehension (Carr 2010, p. 3). For example, navigating Wikipedia, where there are numerous links to other sub-topics, have been found to considerably increase distractibility and oversimplified thinking because of the countless information the brain is inundated with, such as advertisements, formats, and others. In essence, screen technology through the loss of focus and depth of thought has radically changed cognition, which is pernicious to an intellectual…

    • 1110 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Is The Internet Making Us Dumber By Nicholas Carr Analysis
    • 1055 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Is The Internet Making Us Dumber By Nicholas Carr Analysis

    As technology develops, some people worry about the effects of those changes upon our society. Mr. Nicholas Carr, the author of “Is the Internet Making Us Dumber?” (Wall Street Journal) claims that the internet as a medium for information is having a detrimental effect upon the human brain and changing the way we think in a negative way. He claims that the internet has an excess of information and distractors that detract from our ability to focus, concentrate, and consolidate memory properly.…

    • 1055 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Social Media's Negative Effects On Adolescent
    • 1494 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Social Media's Negative Effects On Adolescent

    The use of the internet to interact with others can also build confidence for real social interaction. Connecting with others online is vastly less stressful than having a face-to-face encounter. Social media is a way for people to expand and maintain their networks, as well as strengthen social…

    • 1494 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings