Final Essay

Kyra Mitchell

Red ID: 817773678

Werry

RWS 100, 11 am

15 December 2014

The Positive and the Negative of the Internet

            The relatively new invention of the Internet has brought about many new ways to go about reading and writing. The Internet contains so many resources to write and learn, and to share ideas. The use of social media, blogs and email has drastically increased writing in an every day setting. Along with any chance in society, there is a debate as to whether the use of the Internet is good and beneficial or bad and harming. Many people have responded to this pressing conflict including Clive Thompson with “Public Thinking” and Nicholas Carr with “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Thompson takes the approach that the Internet is in fact improving society’s writing and reading capabilities. Where as Carr argues that the Internet is overall hurting society and changing the mindset of society in a harmful way. I agree with points that were made by both authors, but overall I agree with Carr that overall the Internet is harming to society, and hindering to the way we read and write. I was born when computers and the Internet were just starting to become popular, and now they are at an all time high with Internet in cell phones and on portable devices that can be accessed anywhere, in a moving car, even on an airplane. Seeing society chance and the impact it has on my life will help me present my own idea on how Internet is changing our ways of thinking, how new technology is creating a pathway to the mindset that quicker and more efficient is better, in addition to other texts that will help support and contradict my view.

            The Internet has brought many new technological advances with it, but we cannot ignore the negative side effects that come along with this new technology. In 2008 a writer named Nicholas Carr responded to this issue by writing an article in The Atlantic called “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” In the article Carr uses personal experiences, and  scientific research, to help make his argument effective, and relatable. Carr addresses how the use of the Internet has slowly disintegrated our use of cognitive functions in everyday activities, and worsened our reading and writing skills. Carr mainly talks about the effect the Internet has on our decline of concentration. The Internet has a lot of pop ups and adds and switching from screen to screen has weakened our minds along with our concentration levels. Carr believes that people have become too reliant on the Internet to the point that it is obstructing the abilities to let the brain evolve. Carr goes on to say, “The Net is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mouth” (Course Reader, 59). Carr here explains that the Internet is a useful recourse, and very convenient for finding information, but it is also that the information is persuading us and making us think differently. Carr quotes a media theorist Marshall McLuhan, who explained “media are not just passive channels of information. They supply thought, but they also shape the process of thought. And what the net seems to be doing is chipping away at my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles” (Course Reader, 5). Carr takes a new approach to the internet, saying yes it can be beneficial, but the constant everyday use of it, the role it plays in society, has worsened the effects it has on the brain.

             In the contrast, Clive Thompson wrote a chapter, “Public Thinking” in the book Smarter Thank You Think, addressing the benefits the Internet provides for writing. One main attribute the Internet has provided is a place for everyday writing that can be shared around the world, to anyone who wants to partake. According to Thompson, the increase in writing due to digital technology and the Internet has helped clarify thinking, generate ideas, increase writing skills and improve memory. Due to things like the audience effect it has caused writers to care more about their work and focus more time on improving their writing even if it is something as simple as a blog, the fact that others could be reading it, has greatly effected the way people write everyday. Thompson quotes a poet Cecil Day-Lewis on the effects the Internet have had on her, ““I do not sit down at my desk to put into verse something that is already clear in my mind. If it were clear in my mind, I should have no incentive or need to write about it. We do not write in order to be understood; we write in order to be understand” (Course Reader, 51). De-Lewis explains how writing can help her generate her thoughts, to help make sense of what she is thinking or feeling. This mass increase of writing has helped connect people around the world that would have never been able to connect before. Research being conducted, others are finding out about and offering their help. Oppressed people in conflicting countries are spreading the word about the oppression and having a voice for democracy that before were never heard. This is the benefit to the change that has occurred in society sue to the role the Internet and social media have in todays society.

            I have grown up in the middle of this new vast age of the Internet. In my time social media has taken off, and played such a strong role in many peoples lived especially that of the younger generations. For me, I have gone from carrying text books to class to the only thing I needed in school was a laptop. All my books are now found online for cheaper or even sometimes for no cost compared to the raising prices of textbooks, also compared with the advantages of not having to carry around heavy textbooks and having everything all in one device, the convenience is a perfect, it creates an environment for faster more efficient learning, which is what these electronic companies want you to think. But in reality it is a set up for disaster. Being on an electronic device all day, looking at a bright screen constantly creates poor concentration, along with procrastination. Being able to text your friends, look up funny videos, do online shopping, none of that can be ignore on a computer, it is constantly popping up distracting one from learning and focusing on finishing. I believe there is truth behind both Carr and Thompson’s views on the Internet, and the arguments made. Thompson makes an excellent point saying that the information provided by the Internet is information that would never be able to be accessed otherwise. The connections and recourses found on the Internet are very useful for learning and writing. That being said, Carr’s view on the negative effects of using the Internet cannot be ignored. Carr discusses how the Internet has created a decline in our everyday cognitive functions, discusses mainly how the Internet has deteriorated our mind and our level of concentration.

            When connecting Carr and Thompson’s views a pattern can be made. Thompsons main claim is that the Internet is a great resource for writing, where as Carr mainly focuses on the negative effects of reading on the Internet. I think an understanding can be made between both that the Internet can be a good resource as long as it is not over used. A lot of these observations are on the over sure of technology and the Internet. In today’s society it is easy to get caught up in electronics, but the everyday constant use of them is causing the poor concentration and lack of focus Carr argues about. Overall the use of the Internet can be very resourceful if used in moderation, just remember with every new change there is always a drawback.