Many of us use Google to find all kinds of information. This, on face value, seems to be a good thing. Access to knowledge is powerful and makes you smarter, right? Not according to Nicholas Carr’s article in the July/August 2008 issue of The Atlantic Monthly, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” In the article, the author states the following, “the internet is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation.” He notes that we lose the ability to concentrate and focus on one thing, and our attention is easily diverted. Deep contemplative thought is being lost. Recent research points to these diversions and lack of attention/focus as a key factor in our lack of comprehension. We multitask, check email, hold a conversation, write an email…all at the same time.
As a followup to The Atlantic Monthly article, Nicholas Carr, reviewed the research and references the findings in an article for The Wall Street Journal titled, “Does the Internet Make You Dumber?“. The research points out that as we use new media/the internet we develop “”new weaknesses in higher-order cognitive processes,” including “abstract vocabulary, mindfulness, reflection, inductive problem solving, critical thinking, and imagination.” We’re becoming, in a word, shallower.”
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