Is Google Making Us Stupid?
Is Google Making Us Stupid is an article that was posted in the July/August 2008 edition of The Atlantic.
Nicholas Carr, the author, states that the internet makes him lazy. No longer can he read a book because he starts to drift and his mind begins to wander. He states that in the past decade his mind has started to want to receive information at the net's pace - which is a click away. He stated gone are the days of going through footnotes and such to look for quotes, now with a few simple clicks its easy to find what you need without having to spend hours searching. When he posed his problem to his friends he found he wasn't the only one feeling that way, many of his friends stated the more they use the web the more they have to fight to stay focused on long pieces of writing. Many of his friends all together confessed that they have stopped reading books simply because they have used the internet so much they just don't have the attention span anymore to read any long passages.
Another one of his friends said he had even lost the ability to blog more than 3 or 4 paragraphs, simply because they knew someone would stop reading it and they got tired of writing it.
I really thought this was interesting, showing how much we rely on the internet and how its making us lazy as a whole. Do you think this is so for our students?
Nicholas Carr, the author, states that the internet makes him lazy. No longer can he read a book because he starts to drift and his mind begins to wander. He states that in the past decade his mind has started to want to receive information at the net's pace - which is a click away. He stated gone are the days of going through footnotes and such to look for quotes, now with a few simple clicks its easy to find what you need without having to spend hours searching. When he posed his problem to his friends he found he wasn't the only one feeling that way, many of his friends stated the more they use the web the more they have to fight to stay focused on long pieces of writing. Many of his friends all together confessed that they have stopped reading books simply because they have used the internet so much they just don't have the attention span anymore to read any long passages.
Another one of his friends said he had even lost the ability to blog more than 3 or 4 paragraphs, simply because they knew someone would stop reading it and they got tired of writing it.
I really thought this was interesting, showing how much we rely on the internet and how its making us lazy as a whole. Do you think this is so for our students?
I disagree. I think that people who are lazy will be lazy, and people who want to learn will use the internet for that purpose. Yes, with Google information is more readily obtained than having to go through books, but that doesn't mean that better efficency equals laziness.
Using academics as an example: What if someone had to do a report on Quantum Theory. 20 years ago that person would go into the library and reword whatever was written in the Encyclopedia, and they may or may not understand what they are writing. With Google, YouTube, and Wikipedia, I think the internet offers the tools for students to actually "understand" what it is they are reporting on through video, visual aid, and explanations written in plain english.
Of course, I'm not blind to the fact that some students may just copy and paste the wikipedia article or buy a paper online. However, it goes back to my first statement that people who are lazy will take shortcuts, and people who want to learn will use the internet to investigate further. In the end, the people who are lazy are just cheating themselves.
Posted by wish i was on lake norman on October 30, 2008 at 12:24 AM EDT #
I think Google does make us lazy as well as other technology. My generation are terrible spellers because we grew up with spell check. Also, in classes, many times professors require a certain number of "book" sources because they know students will only use internet sources if allowed. It doesn't require any amount of research to find the answer to anything you want to you. Simply type it in Google and within the frist few hits, you have found your answer. I know there is no way to stop this and as teachers the best thing we can do is educate our students on how to best search the internet and find the most reliable sources/info.
Posted by Lauren Philbeck on October 30, 2008 at 12:18 PM EDT #
I have a great Zits cartoon where the mother is reminiscing about going to the library to do research and the son is incredulous. "You WENT to the library?"
I heard a panel discussion at a conference this week where some business people were talking about Gen-X employees. Their philosophy was not that the young people were lazy, but that they had different priorities. One man called them "The Mr. Rogers Generation -- they all think they are special." They enjoy the creative parts of their work, but lose interest quickly when they get to the parts that aren't fun. There are certainly more efficient ways to do things now, which is not bad. But we need to be sure students learn the BEST way, not just the easiest way.
Posted by Rhonda on November 01, 2008 at 12:42 AM EDT #
You both raise interesting points.
Lauren - I agree with your statement on spelling, as well as grammar. However, I think that is also strongly related to cell phone texting, and not necessarily the internet. (IE: if you spell something wrong, Google will not give you accurate results).
Also, teachers ask for book sources not because books contain more (or better) information, but rather because they want to teach their students HOW to research. I could try to argue the point that the internet actually has a better source of information, however I think its very dependent upon the topic being researched.
Rhonda - I have heard the GenX argument many times and the relation to "Mr. Rogers." Being part of that generation, I think I can agree that the statement is accurate to a certain level. Granted with all work environments there is a generational gap. It happened in 1908 and its happening in 2008. It has nothing to do with the internet, but rather the old way of doing things, and the new way of doing things. GenXer's do have a shorter attention span and do think they are worth something [special]. I also think they work hard and bring forth more "problem solving" skills than other generations may have. They look to actually solve the problem either through conventional or unconventional methods.
Posted by wish I was on Lake Norman on November 04, 2008 at 11:27 PM EST #