Reading Connection #1

With everything good that comes along there is usually something bad that comes with it. Although the internet and Google have allowed people to obtain the information that they need almost effortlessly, it has also made people’s attention span a lot shorter when it comes to things like reading books. If the internet was not around now and I had to find information to write a paper I would have no idea how to find the information needed. I also don’t think that I would be able to sit down and put that much effort into finding it. What made me think of this was when I started to read the article “Is Google making us Stupid” I was just skimming it. Then I read the quote from Bruce Freidman who said, “Even a blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it.” Then I realized how much this really does affect me and I went back and read though the article and although it took a lot longer I got a better understanding of what was really being said.

When reading “Is Google making us Stupid” it made me notice that with good comes bad, now more than ever. For example, it talked about how although we may be reading more than we did thirty years ago, when people got most of their information from the television, but it is not nearly the same kind of reading. Now most of our information comes in the form of the internet so that you can just search for the little section that you need and you don’t have to read through an entire article or even page to find it.
In the news article is “Modern Life Ruining Childhood” it talks about how children are spending more time on computers and in front of TVs and less time playing outside and the bad effects it has on them. Also it talks about how in the last couple of years the number of children being diagnosed with ADHD has been rising. Another thing that is shown is that children at the age of 11 who take a cognitive test are scoring 2 to 3 years younger than 11 year olds did 15 years ago.

I feel as though with all of the bad that comes with Google and other technologies there is also a lot of good too. Even though I understand what they are saying and see my self doing it, I don’t think that I would ever be able to live with out the internet. Also the fact that people anywhere are able to get information that they need is something that is important. People simply need to learn to balance out their time and make sure they don’t over use the internet.

Works Cited

Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?". TheAtlantic.com. July, August 2008. 2 October 2008. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google

Palmer, Sue, Michael Morpurgo, and Susan Greenfield. "Is modern life ruining childhood?" BBC News. 12 Sept. 2006. 3 Oct. 2008 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5338572.stm>.