Is Google Making Us Stupid?

The world is in the midst of a cultural revolution propelled by the internet. When you call for help with your Dell computer, you are likely to reach a technician from India who offers assistance. The internet has brought the world to our doorstep but it has also caused isolation and a shallowness of thought that some find threatening to our minds' ability to think. This article by Nicholar Carr points out how the ever-increasing reliance on the internet may have an adverse, even changing, affect on our brains and how they function. I believe this may translate to extended problems in our cultural society.

There is no doubt that since the advent of the internet, the pace of life has quickened. We can reach information with the touch of our fingertips to keyboard. Technology has saved countless workhours and is no doubt more efficient. Gone are the days scanning through books and microfiche for obscure information. At the same time, we are becoming used to, perhaps programmed, to think that everything should be available to us without delay. In other words, our society expects immediate gratification and is unwilling to be patient. Now that dial-up has moved to high-speed fiber optics, we are still not satisfied. The pace of our processing information has also sped up. We are bombarded with pop-up advertising and television shows are in shortened sound bites, making them more palatable for society's taste. We are a society in a state of frenzy and the proof is in our classrooms.

Today's students are restless and easily distracted. Many are unable to sustain concentration for long periods of time unless they are sitting in front of a television or with a gameboy in hand. In fact, it appears that children, in general, need more and more stimulation to keep them interested in the subject materials. Hence, teachers are constantly seeking new ways to engage their students through the use of internet games, smartboards, and the like. Though we spend a lot of time discussing reading and writing strategies, less time is actually spent putting them into practice. Is the ever increasing use of technology to blame?

In conclusion, I suspect that our brains are losing the capacity for deep thought and reflection. Over time, the brain's neural circuitry may be hardwired for shorter, shallow bursts of thought across broader scopes. We have become more adept at skimming text for information, but are losing the capacity to think deeply about a given subject. If we, as a society, are unable to reflect, what then? There is the danger that we will be incapable of effective interpersonal relationships. Email and instant messages have nearly replaced the letter that may have taken hours to write. Despite these changes in the ability to communicate quickly and easily, our society appears to be increasingly isolated with more and more people suffering from depression and loneliness. Is technology to blame? Time will certainly answer that question as technology becomes ever more pervasive in our culture.