"Is Google Making us Stupid?" Summary - Darci Peterson

In Nicholas Carr's essay, "Is Google Making us Stupid?," he claims that how our mind processes information depends on the training. People are losing concentration easier than before and instead of truely reading material, they are skimming and mentally noting what appears to be important. On the internet, which much of our time is spent, we often skim to get the imformation we need then move onto the next thing. He explains the effects the intenet has on it's users by saying, "The human brain is just an outdated computer that needs a faster processor and a bigger hard drive." Carr uses this comparrison to explain that the internet has trained out brains to skim and collect more information. There is so much available that it would seem that if the brain was a computer that the brain would infact need a larger hard drive to store all of the information.

With that, companies use the internet to advertise and our attention is fought for. According to Carr this is done on purpose to help advertisers make money. "The last thing that companies want is to encourage leisurely reading or slow, cncentrated thought. It's in their economic interest to drive us to distraction," he explains. By causing our minds to be distracted, when they do get the attention they strive for, we are more likely to in turn buy the product. We sift for information rather than rationality when so many things are available to view. This means money for companies. It is becoming so we cannot help the way tat our brain works. It is being trained to think as it does with the internet as popular tool; those who use it, use it often.

Ultimately, this thought process makes it harder to concentrate even off of the computer. It is also great for companies because a lot of the time viewers do not realize the effect of an advetisement they are viewing for they are just moving to the next rather than thinking about it.