Nicholas Carr, the author of this essay, writes how the internet effects our daily lifestyle, the way we think, and even our very own personalities. Carr touches on the fact that many individuals are unable to focus on long stories, novels, and essays. He makes a great point when he writes:
"My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I'd spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That's rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, and begin looking for something else to do."After reading this statement, I was really able to relate to what was said. There is rarely a time where my focus is spent fully on just one thing. I'm always multi tasking and I seem to always have trouble to just sit down and read like Carr has proposed.
Carr also writes about the invention of the mechanical clock and how instead of listening to our bodies, we now have a man-made schedule that tells us when to wake up, eat lunch or dinner, go to work, and even go to bed. Everything we do is focused on the clock, "We stopped listening to our senses and started obeying the clock" Carr claims.
Besides for the the invention of the clock, Carr writes how media is changing as well. Since our lives so heavily rely on the internet, the way media delivers its information has to change as well. "Television programs add text crawls and pop-ups, magazines and newspapers shorten their articles, introduce capsule summaries, and crowd their pages with easy-to-browse info-snippets" Carr says. If everything were not to be shortened, it would be "less efficient" and pages would just be skipped over.
My favorite quote of all in this reading: "The human brain is just an outdated computer that needs a faster procesor and a bigger hard drive." This is such a great point.
There is something to be said about this article. Nicholas Carr really proves some great points that many individuals like you and me would not realize unless it is thrown at our faces. It's sad to think that everything we do relates back to the internet and the world wide web. We lose ourselves in technology and many of us don't even know who their real self is. We are lost without facebook, and devastated without our phones. It is sad to think about. However, on the flip side, the internet and further technology has advanced our world tremendously and without it, we would not even be close to where we are today. We are not only able to communicate with people around the world, but we are able to invent and create an endless amount of fantastic things.
I personally think we rely on the internet and other technologies too much, and should try to take a step back and focus on other important things.
I fully agree with your last comment, but i find it hard in myself to believe the "fast-paced" generation we were born in will ever change, technologies' addiction. I hope our brain isn't just another outdated computer because i'd really like to continue using mine whether it be constructive or not.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up some interesting points! Austin's right: the internet has been integrated into society far too deep for any hopes of return. I think this new tool's benefits far outweigh the negatives; if indeed we are becoming more fidgety, it's a small price to pay for the wonders of the worldwide web.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with what you said about how we rely on the internet too much, but also that we wouldn't be where we are today. And I also know what you mean with how you can't focus and you always have a goal on mind when you get on the computer, but it never works that way. Like when I was doing my ap comp hw, i'd end up on facebook instead!
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