In a world filled with so many new technologies that try to make an average humans life easier; there are bound to be downfalls. Nicholas Carr is a writer who always used to love getting caught up in books and researching information. Things have changed though. He’s noticed that he loses concentration while reading and finds himself forcing his attention back to the book just after three pages. Carr believes there is one thing to blame; the internet. People are just looking for at most three paragraphs to answer their questions. That’s why the world of web research has taken off. People are now getting lazier and only want their questions answered and that’s it. While I read Nicholas Carr’s essay I couldn’t help but analyze it. There were four things that I did while analyzing. The first is separating the facts and opinions of Nicholas Carr. After that I identified the evidence. Following, i identified the cause and effects. Finally I went on to describe the tone of the essay.
While reading Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, I found many facts and opinions. It is very important in analyzing writing to know the difference between the two. If you do not know the difference you may believe something that shouldn’t be, or even become confused about the topic. I found in Carr’s essay that there was a abundant amount of opinions. Normally I would not consider this a solid read; but the way he did and facts I found very important. Carr’s bottom line opinion was that the internet is making all of us not think as much and just search for a quick answer to everything. The way Nicholas put in examples of other technologies that have changed the way people think and live back up his theory on the internet. One technology that Carr points out that changed the way we lived is the clock. “The clocks methodical ticking helped bring into being the scientific mind and the scientific man. But it also took something away. As the late MIT computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum observed in his 1976 book, Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation, the conception of the world that emerged from the widespread use of timekeeping instruments “remains an impoverished version of the older one, for it rests on a rejection of those direct experiences that formed the basis for, and indeed constituted, the old reality.” In deciding when to eat, to work, to sleep, to rise, we stopped listening to our senses and started obeying the clock” (Carr). By Carr stating this I think he very strongly backs up his opinions. If a clock can change the way we think and live just think about the way the internet has changed us and what it can do as technology advances more. I can distinguish between Carr’s facts and opinions because his facts are all backed up with research, and experiments done by mostly universities and scientists.
The next step in analyzing a article is identifying the evidence and the arguments presented. There were three main arguments that stood out to me as the reader. Carr’s first argument to me was the way every source is now creating shortcuts to make readers more interested. Many magazines and papers are now including summaries in their work. “When, in March of this year,
The New York Times decided to devote the second and third pages of every edition to article abstracts, its design director, Tom Bodkin, explained that the “shortcuts”would give readers a quick “taste” of the day’s news”(Carr). With this being said it just points out that the worlds is getting lazy and are relying on shortcuts; so different media’s have to play by the new media rules. Another Argument of Carr’s that stood out to me was “The internet is a machine designed for the efficient and automated collection, transmission, and manipulation of information, and its legions of programmers are intent on finding the “one best method””(Carr). This just points out that the creation of the internet was to create a machine to be that best and supply all the information you could possibly need. The last argument that stood out to me was the way Carr believes that Google and other search engines are trying to replace the human brain. He fears that the internet is one day just completely replace the use for the human intelligence. Why would anyone have to learn anything if there is a source that knows everything and all you have to do to find something is make a couple clicks with your mouse? In Carr’s mind the internet could someday be a scary thing.
Identifying cause and effect is the second to last step in analyzing a reading. Carr’s use of cause and effect was not greatly used. There was really only one main cause and effect that I felt was important. With the invention of the internet; many people have become dependent on it as a source. Not long ago people would have to read a book, interview people or do experiments to find the answers to their questions. With the amount of search engines, like Google people no longer have to spend hours looking for answers. Some like Nicholas Carr may think this is a bad thing. People are no longer enjoying to read and are just speeding through life and not enjoying learning and enriching their brain. This cause and effect is a lot like many other technologies that where invented in the past decades. With new things comes change.
The final step to analyzing is discovering the tone of the paper. I found Carr’s tone mostly serious. He is trying to point out that the internet could be causing more problems than good and something should be done about it. I believe the way he went about using his tone I think really helped strengthen his article. He barely put in any of his emotions; which makes writing sometimes weak. In his opening paragraph he did use a joke to get the reader attention but he went about it the right way and strengthened his work if anything. The use of Carr’s language was also very affective. He used easy, strong words to help the reader understand and believe what he was saying.
With so much change constantly going on in our world it is important for people like, Nicholas Carr to step back and think about what’s happening and if it’s the right thing. Carr is concerned that with the large reliance on the internet, people are not using their brain as much as they should be. People are always just looking for the easy way and that is exactly what the internet is supplying. Sure people are smart and getting smarter but is it because there relying on new sources that just give them the answer and don’t have to work for it? Like every college student I rely on the internet for everything. Anything I don’t know I say “just Google it”. This just points out what Carr is trying to get across. I agree with Carr completely. I used love to open a book and get caught up in it when I was younger. These days I don’t read a book unless I have to for class and even then I might just skim to find the main idea. This article was a great piece that held up many good arguments, opinions and facts, cause and effect, and a great use of tone.
