Is Google Making Us Stupid Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Is Google Making Us Stupid - Essay Example Is Google Making Us Stupid? The particular article in question which this brief analysis will discuss is that of Nicholas Carr’s †Is Google Making Us Stupid?†. The pervasive paradigm shift that Carr discusses has occurred over the past 20 to 30 years has been hailed by many as a great move forward with regards to the overall capabilities and development of the human race. However, there is an alternate view as well; one which warns against the fact that many individuals within society are slowly but surely becoming addicted to the very technology that was initially intended to aid them in accomplishing tasks of different varieties. It is the belief of this author that neither of the sides to this debate has all of the facts or is utilizing them to the correct degree. Rather, technology, although a definite aid in accomplishing tasks that would otherwise take quite a while has become something an addictive aid that threatens to reprogram the way in which the human mind and creativity are evide nced. Firstly, it does not take a great deal of analytical or scientific discovery to realize that the way in which technology has reshaped and classified our world is without question. Moreover, a sociological increase into the way in which technology has shifted interpersonal dynamics, relationships, and communication has been conducted by a variety of researchers and convincingly pointed to the fact that the current era of texting, instant messaging, Facebook et al has significantly decreased the amount of time that individuals spend in face-to-face communication and has moved society convincingly towards something of a more introverted nature. (Carr 1). Although, as Carr discusses, introversion in and of itself is not necessarily a poor character trait, it must be noted that the overuse and reliance upon these technological tools which have already been discussed has created a dynamic by which formerly extroverted individuals are merely introverted and carrying out a great deal of inte rpersonal communication that one might otherwise carry out face-to-face via the Internet or other technologically enabled means. However, communication is not the only thing that suffers from an overdependence upon technology. As Carr discusses next, memory recall and the perennial knowledge that any and all information can be readily retrieved has created a situation in which memory and the ability to recall tidbits of information are placed at a much lower premium than they might have been in an era in which the likes of Google or other prominent technological means by which data can be retrieved had existed. Again, it does not take a great deal of imagination to envision an era in which it was necessary for the schoolchild, or even societal shareholder, to be nominally familiar and remember such information as capitals of states, a rough understanding and appreciation for the order and number of presidents, how many chromosomes exists in human DNA, who the first woman in space wa s, for the year in which the state of Israel was created (Cottler 24). As can be seen, there is something to be said for the amount of memory recall that individual can possess and leverage as a means of readily interjecting key understandings and tidbits of fact, data, and history into conversations and pertinent situations. However, with an overdependence