inclass #3

Jeremy Keen

In-class Essay #3

3/10/10

The effects of the internet and its fast pace information processing are causing the loss of some vital social and personal skills.

In Nicholas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” he explains his views on many facets of the internet’s effects on daily life. Carr opens his article with an ominous paragraph from the end of Stanley Kubrick’s movie 2001: A space Odyssey where HAL, a super computer, pleads for its life. As astronaut Dave Bowman disconnects the memory circuits that control HAL’s artificial brain “Dave, my mind is going.” HAL says, longingly “I can feel it. I can feel it.” Carr whole heartedly agrees with these words as he states “Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry…” Then he goes on to talk about his theory, that the internet is changing the way he thinks and processes information. Carr explains that he now he finds it harder to stay focused on books and long articles, finding that his mind begins to wander looking for additional stimuli. The kind found when “surfing the net,” quick clicks to hyperlinks, while scanning headlines and blog posts.

Learning new thoughts and new ways of thinking to find answers to questions faster is the goal of most people today. The brain is made to learn and adapt to any new stimuli that is continuously used. The more times we do any function the better we get at it. The neural pathways begin to wire together for faster retrieval and processing. So Carr’s assumption that something or someone is tinkering with his brain is correct, but that someone is himself. Always remember that anything done repetitively causes a change in the thought process. Good or bad our brain can be programmed to process anything in any way as long as it keeps being inputted the same. This is why vigilance on is the key to keeping any good habits that you have and want to keep. Every small seemingly insignificant nicety we do with and to each other can be learned or unlearned. When was the last time you saw a man open a door for a lady? The best of our habits can be lost with ease when they are not being repeated and reinforced.

It is not all loss when talking about mental capacities and functions, the brain has a great recovery rate of functions that were learned and not used. Just think about the habit you want to renew and do it the more times you do it, reading a long story or practicing good manners it makes no difference, it will get easier to remember and become second nature in no time. As for Mr. Carr if he really wants to change my suggestion is to take down time in life, relax and slow down the input stimuli and allow some deep time with his books.