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Kathleen Volpei

Professor Granillo

English 101

22 October 2018

Technology Hurts!

Imagine a society where something we use everyday starts to reprogram our brain. That

society is ours and we are constantly being surrounded by artificial intelligence and Nicholas

Carr’s essay unmasks what the internet is doing to our attention spans and our neural

connections. The author, Nicholas Carr, has a personal fear of the internet and his many

experiences along with studies conducted by various universities motivated him to speak out

about the reprogramming of our brains thats is happening everyday we employ the internet. In

Nicholas Carr’s essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid” he utilizes pathos and logos to address the

neurological changes that are occuring due to technology. Those unfamiliar with this theory may

be interested to know that it basically boils down to the internet adjusting our critical thinking

and attention spans long term.

Although many believe that the immediate access to all and any information through the

most powerful search engine in the world is a huge advantage that makes our lives easier, in

reality technology is hurting us. Technology and Google in general is very helpful when it comes

to research, homework, and work matters due to the unlimited access to hundreds of sources.

While most people believe that this access makes tasks go by quicker, they are mistaken because

each server they use is full of advertisements and click bait to keep people distracted.
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Technology is hurting us and people must change their norms/routines to escape from this

overarching enmity that is taking over our society.

Several factors motivated Nicholas Carr to write this piece about google. These factors

include his personal experiences which implemented a fear inside him along with several studies

supporting his theory that google is making us stupid. Carr is an avid writer and reader about the

issues of technology and culture, through his personal experiences he states that “the deep

reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle [and] the net seems to be chipping

away his capacity for concentration and contemplation” (Carr 425-426). Carr blames the internet

for this decline he is experiencing. The internet is constantly advancing and attracting more and

more people to it which is why Carr felt obligated to shed some light on what is actually going

on. He has a genuine fear that the internet is destroying not only his but his societies critical

thinking tool and their ability to focus. Carrs fear is only amplified due to studies that provide

further support. Maryanne Wolf, a developmental psychologist, at Tufts University said, “our

ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and

without distraction, remain largely disengaged” (Carr 428). Carr relates to this submission from

Wolf and is concerned for society. As humans our brain’s ability and what we are able to do with

our thoughts is what sets us apart from other species, which is why they need to be protected at

all costs. Carr’s argument about technology’s effect on our most precious thinking tool is very

authentic and alarming. He employs his argument through rhetorical devices such as pathos and

logos.

Nicholas Carr’s argument is deeply rooted in pathos and logos. Pathos, the appeal to

emotion, was shown through Carr’s fear which was a huge part of his essay because he showed a
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great concern for himself and the society. Logos, the appeal to logic and facts, gave Carr’s

concerns legitimacy. As explained in the essay, reading does not come naturally to humans

meaning we need to, “teach our minds and the media or other technologies we use in learning

and practicing the craft of reading. These play an important part in shaping the neural circuits

inside our brains (Carr 428). The only academic reading most people do is when it is required for

school or work. People do not read as much nowadays and technology is to blame. Texting and

scrolling through posts reading captions is what is taking up most our time and it is affecting our

cognitive development. Nerve cells within our brains “routinely break old connections and form

new ones. The brain has the ability to reprogram itself on the fly, altering the way it functions

(Carr 430). These effective usages of logos really shows the readers what our brain is capable of

and what can occur to it when we keep feeding it the wrong kind of information. These

compelling facts that surfaced in Nicholas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid” opens

the door to further research.

Our brains are our most powerful thinking tools and when something our society relies so

heavily on is affecting the way they are working is concerning. Our critical thinking along with

our attention spans have declined drastically. ​A study by Microsoft has found that, “we stay focused

for a mere eight seconds, while goldfish can manage nine, before we are distracted by phone calls, social

media alerts or the news feed on our computers” (McMahon 1). The fact that a fish with a brain the size

of a pea has a longer attention span than us humans is very degrading. Technology is hurting us and no

inventor ever thought this would happen. These unintended consequences from the overuse of our phones

are quite damaging. Something even more concerning is that according to Pew research: “32 percent of

eighteen to twenty-nine year olds believe the could not live without their cell phones”(Stimpson 2). The

numbers do not lie and they will only keep growing due to this technology surge. People nowadays are so
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reliant on the internet that they would not even be able to navigate without it. Google maps is an app that

is so overused that when people are handed a real map to work with they are dumbfounded. Everyone is

so reliant on their cellphones for many different aspects of life. These include navigation, communication,

and research purposes. All these different aspects of life that we are utilizing through the usage of

technology is hurting us as human beings. People are so addicted and reliant of their phones and this

weathering has to stop for the sake of our attention spans and our abilities to think critically free of

distraction. Paul Atchley, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Kansas, explained that we should

all take breaks from technology, social media in particular, but “even if we do try to limit our use of social

media, our brains sometimes trick us: we suffer “phantom text syndrome”, in which we think we just

heard an alert from our tablets or smartphones” (McMahon 1). This is credible proof that our brains are

being reprogrammed due to this obsession with our phones. This constant notification that occurs in our

heads interrupts our thinking process. Thinking critically is at an all time low due to distractions being at

an all time high. Our generation is the most susceptible and something has to be done due to the fact that

our brains are still developing.​ Susan Greenfield, a professor of pharmacology at Oxford

University, speaks out about what actually occurs within our brains.

The anatomical functions of our brains are amazing and Susan Greenfield provides

insight of what makes up our brain and what it is capable of. Greenfield is concerned because our

brain is so sensitive and she believes technology can have, “unforeseen effects upon the

developing minds of young people” (1). Our brains do not stop developing till we reach the age

of twenty-five therefore what we feed our brain while it is still developing is pivotal. The brain

absorbs everything which is why it is key to read a book, do a brain teaser, or go on a walk and

get fresh air. Our brain needs breaks from technology and all this mass media thrown at us

nowadays. We are born with “all the 100 billion neurons we will ever have and after birth the
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physical growth of the brain is largely a result of the growth of connections between brain cells”

(Greenfield 1). We only have 100 billion neurons which seems like a lot but they grow, connect,

or break with each and every experience, meaning we need to provide our brains with fruitful

and compelling occurrences. These occurrences determine if one unmasks the full capacity and

potential of their thinking cap. If our society continues to make surface level connections

everyday due to our excessive exposure to technology we will be at risk and exposed to

brainwashing as we know it. Every experience we have, “everything we encounter, every

thought we have, leaves its mark upon our brain” (Greenfield 1). Regarding the mark upon our

brain, each event literally leaves a mark in which the brain develops a new wrinkle. This is why

older people tend to have a more “wrinkly” brain due to the fact that they have experienced so

much more. We only get one brain in our lifetime therefore people should fill it with

knowledgeable, helpful, rewarding, and valuable aspects of life. Sadly, kids brains nowadays are

full of useless and negative gadgets that the media and technology feeds them on a daily basis.

The young minds are at stake and Nicholas Carr provided one of the first warnings to this

technology take over. Our brains are precious and so complex. Despite all the complex

technological advances and algorithms required, the brain is the most complex yet natural thing

in our world. In Carr’s essay he discusses how everyone can have a reasonable and valid fear that

google is taking over and brainwashing anyone who utilizes it. Research showed that technology

is legitimately hurting our attention spans and our thinking critical tool. In order to combat the

decline of attention spans and the lack of critical thinking our society must take a stand and

protect our most powerful thinking tools. Each generation is being exposed to more and more

technology everyday and these are the people that are supposed to be our future leaders,
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inventors, and so much more. Technology is an overused tool in our society and it is hurting us

mentally and physically.

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Works Cited

Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid.” ​They Say I Say​, Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein,

Russel Durst, Version 4. The Atlantic Magazine, 2008, location unknown.

Greenfield, Susan. “Dumbing Down Minds?” LexisNexis Academic, The Times Educational

Supplement, November 24, 2006.

McMahon, Barbara. “What Too Much Screen Time Is Really Doing To Your Brain.” Proquest,

The Times, June, London (UK).

Stimpson, Emily. “Can Teens Stay Connected Without Losing Touch?” EBSCOhost, Our

Sunday Visitor, June 14, 2009.