Is Google Making Us Stupid Essays

In the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Arthur Nicholas Carr explains how people that have a smartphone or reliable and convenient access to the internet, regardless of the device used spent significant portions of their days on the internet undertaking various activities. These activities include interacting with friends and family, researching for educational and professional purposes, and entertaining oneself only to mention a few.

So, there are many benefits that can be entirely attributed to the vast availability of the internet and the many roles that it plays. However, there are also certain adverse impacts associated with the known internet and its search engines that are broadly used globally. The first adverse impact of the internet and its search engines is the reduction of the concentration span of the masses. Another adverse impact caused by the search engines is a decline in critical thinking capability among individuals.

The first negative impact that the internet and the search engines used on the internet have on the human population is the creation of a critical dependency of human beings on artificial intelligence by such as Google. As people depend more on computers and search engines like Google, it becomes more and more difficult for individuals to perform their day-to-day tasks without using Google for primary purposes such as navigation and readily providing any information required in the course of the daily functioning of an individual. In addition, the level of dependency on search engines like the popular Google is that the level of dependency on them for the whole society is almost similar. This is because they serve the role of being a problem solver or a one-stop-shop for all challenges encountered. In addition, from what was quoted from an interview conducted with the founders of Google, this dependency is only expected to increase since their goal is “a HAL - like a machine that might be connected directly to our brains”. For instance, for students undertaking a research project, Google is every bit as crucial as for the company collecting vital data about its competitors and the product market.

Therefore, the absence of Google would be a calamity to both the professional running the huge company and also to the student in the process of pursuing their studies. Taking a look back in time, there were alternative solutions to some of the challenges and needs met by search engines in the present period. However, in the present period, most individuals would not know how to create a workaround that eliminates the roles played by Google in their day-to-day life and activities.

Besides, another adverse impact of search engines like the famous Google is that they have eliminated the need for critical thought processes that in the past played a vital role during the problem-solving problem. The reason behind the lack of critical thinking in the present society is because there are always tailored solutions for most challenges that manifest themselves currently. The current period can be viewed as a manifestation of Frederick Winslow Taylor's vision when he was quoted saying “Once his system was applied to all acts of manual labor…it would bring about a restructuring not only of industry but of society, creating a utopia of perfect efficiency”. As a consequence, the need for critical thought processes that were initially employed to come up with creative solutions to problems no longer exists since, with a simple visit to the search engines, one can attain many options provided by people who have been in similar situations. Even though in the end the challenges that present themselves in the lives of individuals are usually sufficiently met by the solutions attained through the use of search engines, there are many other benefits that could initially be fostered by the critical thinking process. One of them was a person’s ability to come up with different points of view for perceiving a problem that made them understand it better in its various parameter which could then enhance one’s understanding of the situation. Another demerit of the elimination of the critical thinking processes is that it eliminates the need for creating creative solutions since there already exist other options that are considered both relevant and sufficient readily available on the internet which can be obtained through search engines such as Google.

Search engines have also significantly responsible for the rapidly deteriorating concentration capability of the masses globally. This further translates to an inability to write any long and engaging texts due to difficulty in committing. There, are several factors that are internet-related that can be considered to be partially responsible for the low concentration spans. The first one is that since the internet readily provides a wide pool of information individuals no longer study widely during the course of research. Nicholas Carr best captures this when he says “I see within us all (myself included) the replacement of complex inner density with a new kind of self-evolving under the pressure of information overload and the technology of the ‘instantly available’ ”. On the contrary, most individuals usually just focus on the most recent articles and ignore the papers and articles written earlier on. In addition, most individuals usually scheme through the recently published articles before referencing them where they consider them to be appropriate. Besides, another reason that makes it difficult for individuals to focus while on the internet is the presence of the many hyperlinks that are usually found on websites that can immediately redirect an individual from one website to another with only a click of burton. This makes it difficult for individuals to commit to reading anything fully while there are other websites before him claiming to lead to more interesting alternatives.