Kristin Gardner

Professor Barnes

English 1201

5 February 2019

Is Google Making Us Stupid? Academic Argument

Have you ever felt that your intelligence was challenged by the internet? Well, that seems

to be the case with most people. As computers become smarter, we seem to get dumber because

we rely too heavily on the internet. I agree with Carr’s claim in his article “Is Google Making Us

Stupid?” that as we come to rely on computers to understand our world, our own intelligence

seems to “flatten”.

I’ll be honest, I have also succumbed to using the internet to get most of my information

that I use on a daily basis. It’s the easiest way, right? Well, it turns out that even if it’s the easiest

way, it may not be the best for you. I have, at times, felt that I could not understand a large

article or text. My mind just seemed to drift elsewhere and I could not absorb what I was reading.

In Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, he says “Now my concentration starts to drift

after two or three pages” (Carr 2). Computers seem to do this to us, making our attention span

shorter and making us rely on quick answers instead of being willing to read longer texts.

I have read many articles on the effects of social media on our brain, education, etc. and

they all seem to have the same conclusion; it’s bad. It’s not only social media, but the internet in

general that is making us reliant on it. Carr says, talking about reading, “It’s not etched into our

genes the way speech is”. We have to learn how, but it is easier if we just look it up for a quick

answer.
 In conclusion, our own intelligence is “flattened” when we use computers and other

devices to inform us. We don’t really think for ourselves when we rely on the internet to,

essentially, do the thinking for us. Carr does a great job of explaining how these types of media

affect our brain. When these computers continue to become “smarter”, it will, in turn, make us

dumber.