Nicholas Carr's Essay: The Human Global Society And The Internet
Jesse FItzharris - Shallows Essay - 1st Period
The Human Global Society and The Internet
Glazed, shambling, distracted. These are words often used to describe the “digital zombies” of the modern world. Many people, including Nicolas Carr, fear that “The price we pay to assume technology’s power is alienation.” In his words, “The tools of the mind amplify and in turn numb the most intimate, the most human, of our natural capacities - those for reason, perception, memory, emotions.” Are the modern digital media we consume today negatively affecting the human race? I believe that this immersion into our technology signifies an ever greater connection with other people. If anything, we are more connected as a society, and more human than ever. …show more content…
This is only natural, as you can’t become skilled at something that you never do. An example given was the fact that weavers lost their manual dexterity with the advent of the power loom, though they could produce much more cloth as a result. Another example would be how the map numbed our ancestors’ ability to comprehend a landscape. However, the “amplification” and “numbing” of our mental skills is harder to track. Perhaps on a personal level, we have alienated some of our more human traits, but as a whole, the human race has definitely become more perceptive, reasonable, and emotive. Our collective memory has expanded a
The Human Global Society and The Internet
Glazed, shambling, distracted. These are words often used to describe the “digital zombies” of the modern world. Many people, including Nicolas Carr, fear that “The price we pay to assume technology’s power is alienation.” In his words, “The tools of the mind amplify and in turn numb the most intimate, the most human, of our natural capacities - those for reason, perception, memory, emotions.” Are the modern digital media we consume today negatively affecting the human race? I believe that this immersion into our technology signifies an ever greater connection with other people. If anything, we are more connected as a society, and more human than ever. …show more content…
This is only natural, as you can’t become skilled at something that you never do. An example given was the fact that weavers lost their manual dexterity with the advent of the power loom, though they could produce much more cloth as a result. Another example would be how the map numbed our ancestors’ ability to comprehend a landscape. However, the “amplification” and “numbing” of our mental skills is harder to track. Perhaps on a personal level, we have alienated some of our more human traits, but as a whole, the human race has definitely become more perceptive, reasonable, and emotive. Our collective memory has expanded a