Technology & Our Ability To Read

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     In a recent discussion of Internet usage, a controversial issue has been whether Google is stifling the human brain. On the one hand, some argue that technology made it easier for people to access more information. From this perspective, the internet will save time for the student to get more resources for assignment and research in school and that it's also accompanied humans with their daily life tasks. On the other hand, however, other argue that the more technology advanced, the more student will get distracted by it, and the more human will depend on it instead of using the natural power of their memory. In the words of Nicholas Carr, one of this view’s leading proponents, “what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation” (125). According to this view, the internet is making it hard on the human brain to stay focus when reading and limiting their brain capacity. In sum, then, the issue is whether we should worry about internet usage or not. Although the web is helping users with getting their needs, it was decreasing the brain's ability and interest to read and stay focus on a particular passage.          

     The technology was founded for the purpose of simplifying human tasks. For example, companies used to had people to hand-write all the data about the company and employee information which works there, but with the computer now they could store everything simpler than before and less detailed. So, in this sample, they would only fill in the blank what it’s necessary since the computer had already all the basic information that needed. In that case, we allowed the computer to think for us instead of using our mind and body to do the work, and that’s what Carr’s talks about in his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” where we entrust the work to the machines. Therefore, technology giving our brain a break from thinking and that break might shut down the mind in the long run.         

      The Internet is doing all the job that need to be done. As a student, reading is the big piece in the whole process of learning, and that what some class requires them to do. So, to write a reflection paper for a book that needs to be read; the student would go on The Web to get all the information they require briefly for that particular paper instead of going all the way to read the whole book to complete that paper. And the reason behind is when they try to read that specific book they will feel bored after seconds from starting, and their mind will drift away to another thing that seems to them more interesting than what they are doing. So, they would resort to the internet to ease their task and save time to do the paper faster so that then they could go back again to technology to satisfy their desire. The same thing here is happing with Carr, where when he tries to read a particular book; his mind would start to look for something else to do that naturally require less reading and words to focus on.          

     Humans resort to technology to get their work done simply and briefly with less time to spend on and that giving the brainless time to think and slowing the ability to be creative. But getting more deeply in that process; it seems that Google is the tool that most people use to get their work done so that that they could go back again to it for other technological machines following the think that looks more appealing to them. Therefore it’s a back and forth process where we use technology and The Web to get back to the same machine but for other purposes and uses. So, that what it even accelerate and increase the time for the brain to stay in a temporary coma from thinking until a person decides to use what shall be called his creativity with work again.

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Thanks for reading :)

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