Is Google Making us Stupid?

24 Comments

• I am surprised that the article was written so long ago because it describes exactly what is going on today. I do think many individuals are loosing their ability to have a deep read so easily as a majority of people read social media posts all day. Most “articles” or information that we obtain are short and to the point. This format just makes things convenient for our fast paced lives. Is the internet changing the WAY we think? Kind of. If we have a question, everyone says ‘just ask google.’ Well what happened to discussions, debates, and cracking open a book? It takes too much time. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of people who don’t fall into the category of “the internet has all the answers”, but it is crazy to look around and see everyone on their phone 24/7. I know there are many more comments and opinions on this article, as it has many topics throughout, but overall the internet has its pros and cons. It is just a matter of how you use it.

• As mentioned in the article, the internet has served to make humans more productive by providing vast quantities of information readily available with the help of search engines. Although I am guilty of the “skimming” activity when digging through the web, I don’t believe it has impacted my ability to focus on reading and interpretation of writing. Rather, I believe that skimming to find information and reading to interpret information are two mutually exclusive realms of thought.

• I my self would rather read from a book than go searching the internet for information but have also found that i will waste more time searching or playing around on things that are not worth my time and if i do read something online i wont actually sit there and really read it but read enough to get a general idea of what the text was about.

• In my personal opinion, this is very true. The fact that we depend on electronic-based material for almost all our reading is lowering our desire to read intellectual books by educate authors. The way everyone in our culture now communicates with each other is overly laid back and casual that our desire to sound intelligent seems significantly decreased. Granted, this is not true in every person’s case; however, many of us are leaning towards convenience in everything we do, and that is our downfall.

• A lot of information and a lot to read about with just a click, That make us as human beings distracted. I believe that using Internet as the main source for reading and getting knowledge will make us stupid by reducing our focus capability.

• People’s way of thinking is changing into the way that computer process information. People are now processing information without really understanding the information.

• I agree with the author that our culture has been heavily influenced by the technology available to us through the Internet’s numerous resources…and not always in a good way. It’s telling, perhaps, that I have become so accustomed to acquiring my news and other information in brief anecdotes, that I found myself losing patience with the length of this article as I read it. I also found Brin and Page’s desire to transform Google into A.I. not only disturbing, but disgusting. Not only is the human mind complex beyond comprehension, but their “supersmart brain” would likely only be fed with their ideals…ideals that many others may not agree with. Our world would become the one found in films such as “The Matrix”, with machines ruling mankind–because man not only allowed them to, but programmed them to do so. That said, I am thankful that I retain the patience (and interest) to read many a lengthy book or article (i.e. Lord of the Rings, which is an annual tradition for me, and I am currently in the middle of reading). The Internet is not evil in and of itself, but it has most certainly changed our brains’ capacities for data, among other things. It is a tool that can be both helpful and harmful.

• I completely agree with this article. Unfortunately, I am guilty of becoming bored & skimming through things when they are too long. Honestly, I have a hard time staying focused and retaining the information that I am reading most of the time. It is sad but true. I never looked at the internet being a part of the problem, though. So this has opened up my eyes and maybe I’ll be leaving google and social media alone for a while to get myself back to being able to actually read and retain the information for which I am reading. Very thankful for this eye-opening article!

• I don’t think Google is making us stupid, but it is making us impatient. We like getting information in small bits, not long drawn out paragraphs. We also like articles and online searches that are direct and to the point. Google, and going online in general, does not hinder our ability to still learn new material. We just want to be able to find the answers to our questions in the quickest possible way. While constant use of the Internet is changing the way we think, it is not hindering our ability to be able to learn new information.

• When it comes to finding an answer to any question, people always say “Just google it”. It has become the new way of research and the way people get their answers. Don’t get me wrong I am guilty of doing that as well, if I need help with something, my first thing is “ohh I am going to google it”. It has come a very popular thing to do now a days, but just as it can be harmful it can also be positive. I don’t agree that it’s making us stupid, if used in the right way, but I do believe it can play games with our minds at time. For example, if you have some weird symptoms going on, what is the first thing you do? Google what you have going on, of course it suddenly tells you that you are dying or have a chronic disease and then you start to freak out, so in situations like that, yes I do agree google makes us stupid. There is also times when google is necessary. For example, looking up a recipe or just doing some research for school. That doesn’t make us stupid but, more knowledgeable in the subject. In conclusion, use google in a productive way and not in a way that makes us stupid.

• I agree that the internet is making our minds slower and our attentions spans shorter than they used to be. I read to the 5th or 6th paragraph and I started to get antsy thinking i’m almost done reading only to find out it was much more left. Everything used to be pencil and paper in school and now I hate the fact that majority everything is technology based to the point where we don’t even have to proofread and do corrections for our grammatical errors since the computer does everything for us.

• From my point of view, the article mentioned exactly the fact that the internet has served many convenience to humans by providing huge quantities of information. However, I do not agree with the point of the author that it has impacted our ability to focus on reading and interpretation of writing. I find nowadays most teachers still require students read lots of articles not only on the Internet but also in the books. Therefore, I strongly believe that skimming to find information and reading to interpret information are both relating to each other and our skills are not really affected because of the Net.

• In my opinion, Google is making us stupid, because it doesn’t require as much brainpower. Here is a quote from the article, “It almost seems that they go online to avoid reading in the traditional sense”; we don’t have to think as much as we searching on google. Reading information on Google, after all, is not the same thing as understanding that concept and holding it in our memory.

• I feel that it is very true, well it is at least for me. To tell you the truth, i had trouble reading through the entire article and as the article said you become unfocused and find it very hard to pay attention and that’s exactly the way i felt.

• In today’s world googling everything much easier. It’s not like back in the day where we would have to go to a library and get information. The question is “does Google have all of the right answers”? You will never know. Everyone is able to put what they think onto the internet not giving us the exact information we need, that is what comes off as stupid. Looking for answers rather than thinking of one is weakening our brains. I strongly agree that our generation today expects the internet to have it all figured out so we don’t have to do anything.

• Stupid might not be the “right” word that I would describe with what is going on here. I would agree with the fact that our minds have developed different thinking styles, but Goggle in my opinion is mainly changing the way our minds think and also decrease the stamina for thinking. In addition I would say that goggle is not the main reason for all this. Social media and other things like youtube, entertainment sites, etc, are things that have made us this way. Once we start reading a book for example, our brains start getting either tires or bored and the brain knows that there is other distractions out there for an easy way out of that Bored stage that we get in. Now as to back in the days, we would have our lifestyle knowing that there was not anything like what we have now to make us stop reading. Our minds have just changed the style of thinking and this will keep progressing in that route unless something comes out that gives us the best of both worlds although i doubt that. Its all up to us.

• Google is Great. I am guilty. I now longer watch the news, I read the new on my phone. I am so guilty, read one article and jump around to the next and end up being on line for hours. I google everything from recipes , natural remedies. One of my kids get sick I read about their sickness and the medication the doctor prescribe. I go to Google first. Google maps ,I use everytime I get in my car. I have become dependant on my phone for numbers and address. Everything is a tap away on my phone. I am lost without it, I like being connected. I will agree Its making us stupid. I followed direction one time and knew going another way would be faster but I still followed Google maps to navigate me. That was stupid. Google thinks for me, I have become lazy and very dependant on technology.

• I do agree with this article. In this age, everyone is so heavily dependent on the Internet, and just technology in general. Elderly people are seen using the internet and more recently, babies as well.

  The Internet is rather accessible, therefore, it has proven to be a better choice when compared to going to the library and collecting data from multiple books. As humans, we tend to lean towards the choices that are most convenient for us. In this case, it so happens to be the Internet. You are able to get information about a particular topic with just a click, from the comfort of your own home.

  However, it is imperative that we understand that not all sources are going to be credible. We have to critically analyze a source, before applying it to our lives. Failing to do so may result in anxiety, overthinking and maybe even restlessness. I say this because when we look up something on the Google, we tend to believe everything that is written. The end result, leaves us seeming to be stupid.

  We should not believe everything we read, especially on Google.

• It seems lately that more and more people are scatterbrained and have an inability to focus on a subject for more than 20 minutes at a time. I myself used to enjoy reading lots of really long books, but I haven’t done that for a really long time. Easy access to information has created cognitive pathways that make reading long articles difficult and unrewarding. After I read this article (about three weeks ago) I tried to stop asking google for this and that, but instead tried digging through a book. My attempts were unsuccessful, and tiresome, but I will continue to do this.

• Right now, technology is running. Internet provides many features to share knowledge, is a data warehouse can answer questions for everyone. so i think Internet is gradually rearranged nerve system in the human brain.

• I disagree with the notion that Google is making us Stupid. I can not remember a time when working smarter and faster was a bad thing. There are ways to use google so that you read articles and books found in any library without having to get out of bed. How is that bad. Are we more likely to skim to get the information we need, of course but again why is this a bad thing. We have come to a point in our life where we can call people out on lies because we have a database in our hands. Google has opened an infinite amount of sources that you may not find in one library. Work smarter not harder is a saying I have always believed in and google has made this an obtainable goal.

• I am definitely guilty of googling, but I don’t think this has made me “stupid”. I think that the evolution of the way we are able to access information has its pros and cons. Pros are that we have useful information readily available almost anywhere we go, I can’t count how many times my parents read a map wrong and how much time we lost by going the wrong way or how many stories I’ve heard my mom tell me about having to look through dozens of books for information that now Google can provide! Google has helped us save time to hopefully put towards something more productive like spending more time with our families or having more time to do more with our lives. I think what the internet and Google have given us is more time and that is priceless! Cons could be that people with addictive personalities could let it take over their lives click after click. I think the best way to look at it is as a tool, when you need it use it, when you’re done focus on the things that matter. I think sometimes that because it has created this new way of communicating, shopping, working, it can be easy to get sucked into, but as long as the user isn’t letting it take over every part of their lives it should be fine. As far as processing the information, I guess I feel like my attention span and ability to analyze information hasn’t been affected… I think Google has saved us tons of time and allowed us to get further faster, which is smart not “stupid”!

• My understanding is Google is not making us look stupid, but it makes us lazy. These days people depend on Google to get their answers. And also when people look up what they are looking for, some might be true and some might not. Are society counts on finding their information from internet sources. People who use libraries are most likely to find real sources that they need, rather than the Internet. Older information from books are not always found on the Internet, but it helps readers Understand the source that they are reading. On that note, that is why I think Google is not always reliable.

• I don’t think Google is making me stupid. Google gives me access to a lots of information at my own convenient. If I am motivated to reading an intellectual book, I can still do that and it up to me if I want to focus on reading or playing game on my computer.