In a 2008 article for The Atlantic, Nicholas Carr asked, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Carr argued that the internet as a whole, not just Google, has been “chipping away [at his] capacity for concentration and contemplation.” He was concerned that the internet was “reprogramming us.” [1]
However, Carr also noted that we should “be skeptical of [his] skepticism,” because maybe he’s “just a worrywart.” He explained, “Just as there’s a tendency to glorify technological progress, there’s a countertendency to expect the worst of every new tool or machine.” [1]
The article, and Carr’s subsequent book, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains (2010, revised in 2020), ignited a continuing debate on and off the internet about how the medium is changing the ways we think, how we interact with text and each other, and the very fabric of society as a whole. [1]
Is the Internet “Making Us Stupid”?** Take the ProCon Poll **
Discussion Questions
1. Is the internet making us, as a society, “stupid”? Cite your evidence and explain how you believe the internet is or is not “making us stupid.”
2. Does the internet affect the way you think? Have you noticed good or bad effects after being online? What effects and what were you doing online that you believe caused those effects?
3. How can we use the internet responsibly? Give examples and explain why they are important.
Take Action
1. Read Nicholas Carr’s original pro argument at The Atlantic.
2. Analyze comments by 11 experts on whether “constant use of digital technologies [are] affecting our brain health” at Vox.
3. Consider historical examples of technophobia at Slate.
4. Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? If so, how? List two to three ways. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the “other side of the issue” now helps you better argue your position.
5. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives.
Sources
| 1. | Nicholas Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?,” theatlantic.com, July/Aug. 2008 | |
| 2. | Nicholas Carr, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, 2020 | |
| 3. | Joseph Firth, et al., “The ‘Online Brain’: How the Internet May Be Changing Our Cognition,” World Psychiatry, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, June 2019 | |
| 4. | Maryanne Wolf, “Skim Reading Is the New Normal. The Effect on Society Is Profound,” theguardian.com, Aug. 25, 2018 | |
| 5. | Bonnie Kristian, “Our Parents Warned Us the Internet Would Break Our Brains. It Broke Theirs Instead.,” theweek.com, Nov. 25, 2020 | |
| 6. | Will Conaway, “Technology Is on the Rise, while IQ Is on the Decline,” forbes.com, Apr. 29, 2020 | |
| 7. | Bob Yirka, “Researchers Find IQ Scores Dropping since the 1970s,” medicalxpress.com, June 12, 2018 | |
| 8. | Mahita Gajanan, “IQ Scores Are Falling Due to Environmental Factors, Study Finds,” time.com, June 13, 2018 | |
| 9. | Rory Smith, “IQ scores Are Falling and Have Been for Decades, New Study Finds,” cnn.com, June 14, 2018 | |
| 10. | Bernt Bratsberg and Ole Rogeberg,” Flynn Effect and Its Reversal Are Both Environmentally Caused,” pnas.org, June 26, 2018 | |
| 11. | Scottie Andrew, “Are Humans Dumber? Study Finds IQ Scores Have Been Dropping for Decades, and the Media Might Be to Blame,” newsweek.com, June 12, 2018 | |
| 12. | Brittany Levine Beckman, “The Internet Tricked Me into Believing I Can Multitask,” mashable.com, Jan. 31, 2021 | |
| 13. | David Burkus, “Why You Can’t Multi-Task,” psychologytoday.com, Nov. 15, 2018 | |
| 14. | Jodie Naze, “Does Using the Internet Reduce Your Intelligence?,” computerworld.com, May 10, 2005 | |
| 15. | Ashley Collman, “College Students Say They Can't Send in Their Absentee Ballots because They Don't Know Where to Buy Stamps,” businessinsider.com, Sep. 19, 2018 | |
| 16. | Joseph Stromberg, “Is GPS Ruining Our Ability to Navigate for Ourselves?,” vox.com, Sep 2, 2015 | |
| 17. | Maura Judkis, “Do Millennials Really Not Know How to Cook? With Technology, They Don’t Really Have To.,” washingtonpost.com, Apr. 12, 2018 | |
| 18. | Porch, “Cooking Nightmares: A Generational Look at Capabilities in the Kitchen,” porch.com (accessed Mar. 17, 2021) | |
| 19. | Janet Burns, “Early Trains Were Thought to Make Women’s Uteruses Fly Out,” mentalfloss.com, Aug. 26, 2015 | |
| 20. | Vaughan Bell, “Don’t Touch That Dial!: A History of Media Technology Scares, from the Printing Press to Facebook,” slate.com, Feb. 15, 2010 | |
| 21. | Len Wilson, “11 Examples of Fear and Suspicion of New Technology,” lenwilson.us, Feb. 11, 2014 | |
| 22. | Adrienne LaFrance, “In 1858, People Said the Telegraph Was 'Too Fast for the Truth' Sound Familiar?,” theatlantic.com, July 28, 2014 | |
| 23. | Taylor Danielle, “9 Times in History When Everyone Freaked out about New Technology” ranker.com (accessed Mar. 15, 2021) | |
| 24. | Josh Barro, “Thirty Years Before SOPA, MPAA Feared the VCR,” forbes.com, Jan. 18, 2012 | |
| 25. | John Rosales, "The Racist Beginnings of Standardized Testing," nea.org, Apr. 24, 2018 | |
| 26. | Frontline, "Interview: James Popham," pbs.org, Apr. 25, 2001 | |
| 27. | Young Whan Choi, "How to Address Racial Bias in Standardized Testing," nextgenlearning.org, Mar. 31, 2020 | |
| 28. | Christopher Bergland, "Why Do Rich Kids Have Higher Standardized Test Scores?," psychologytoday.com, Apr. 18, 2015 | |
| 29. | Eloy Ortiz Oakley, "Commentary: Standardized Tests Reward Kids from Wealthy Families," sandiegouniontribune.com, Nov. 27, 2019 | |
| 30. | Carly Berwick, "What Does the Research Say about Testing?," edutopia.org, Oct. 25, 2019 | |
| 31. | Tyler Sonnemaker, “The Number of Americans without Reliable Internet Access May Be Way Higher than the Government's Estimate — and That Could Cause Major Problems in 2020,” businessinsider.com, Mar. 12, 2020 | |
| 32. | Microsoft News Center, “Nextlink Internet and Microsoft Closing Broadband Gap in Central US,” news.microsoft.com, Sep. 18, 2019 | |
| 33. | Kathleen Stansberry, Janna Anderson, and Lee Rainie, “Experts Optimistic about the Next 50 Years of Digital Life,” pewresearch.org, Oct. 28, 2019 | |
| 34. | Rebecca Thorne, “Social Media as a Communication Tool for Disabled People,” everyonecan.org.uk (accessed on Mar. 16, 2021) | |
| 35. | Namkee G Choi and Diana M DiNitto, “Internet Use among Older Adults: Association with Health Needs, Psychological Capital, and Social Capital,” Journal of Medical Internet Research, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, May 2013 | |
| 36. | Andreas Ihle, et al., “Internet Use in Old Age Predicts Smaller Cognitive Decline Only in Men,” nature.com, June 2, 2020 | |
| 37. | Erman Misirlisoy, “This Is Your Brain on the Internet,” medium.com, Sep. 3, 2018 | |
| 38. | Saga Briggs, “6 Ways Digital Media Impacts the Brain,” opencolleges.edu.au, Sep. 12, 2016 | |
| 39. | Brian Resnick, Julia Belluz, and Eliza Barclay, “Is Our Constant Use of Digital Technologies Affecting Our Brain Health?,” vox.com, Feb 26, 2019 | |
| 40. | David Ingram, "The Internet Is Tricking Our Brains," nbcnews.com, Dec. 9, 2021 |
