Review Of Nicholas Carr's Essay 'Is Google Making USupid?'

In his essay, Is Google Making Us Stupid? , Nicholas Carr argues, that although the Internet has allowed us a vast vortex of knowledge, that it is not only changing the way that we consume information, but fundamentally rewiring our brains to change the way we think. Carr argues, that the pervasive use of search engines such as Google hampers our ability for the deep and concentrating reading central pertinent to critical thought. Our over reliance on such technologies, Carr claims, has taken over where our minds use to be. People no longer in deep critical thinking and reading like they use to, but instead our dependency on the web has made so that short, easy to digest information - easy content, no substance.

Carr opens his essay
His use of the Kubrick scene at the beginning of his essay helps to effectively hook the reader, leaving them to wonder, just how the extended metaphor ties it all together. “That’s the essence of Kubrick’s dark prophecy”, Carr concludes, “as we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence”. This poignant concluding line ties his argument together; only when the reader gets to the end do they fully understand what is truly to at risk here. So what if Google doesn’t allow us to read as deep as we use to, it allows us to read more? Some may still argue. Isn’t that the point of technology? To free us from unnecessary labour. But Carr presents to us, that what we stand to lose is our prized creative capacity, our capacity for deep and intelligent thought and our very humanity.

Carr’s comparison of him once being “a scuba diver in the sea of words” contrasted to “zipp[ing] along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski” helps the reader to further relate to his anecdote. The juxtaposition between these two images illustrate the point the author is trying to make. The difference between the breadth and depth of the information we now consume. The metaphor is a familiar one, as many readers can easily imagine these two starkingly contrasting image. Whereas the Jet Ski may get further along across the