Reading Connection #1

Casey Norton
Reading Connection #1

In society today, there is a constant easy way out. We can look to pills to cure our anxiety and sickness, we have computers answer most of our questions, and most people eat fast food. Nicholas Carr, the author of “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google) tells of his fears that his mind is drifting away. He talks about how when he reads, he cannot seem to stay focused for longer than three pages. Although, in most cases Google has made my life easier, there are moments in which I wish that I actually fully researched for a paper or did not stare at a computer screen all day while doing work.
The fact that Google gives a quick fix or a hasty answer makes our lives even faster paced. Every minute of my day is laid out whether it is in the library or down in a classroom working on the computer. Although I agree with Carr, there are many innovations in society that give an opposite view.
Revolutionary Minds on Seedmagazine.com shows groups of people adding amazing and innovative parts to their field. This website gives a spin to Carr’s article. Although Google gives humans an easy way out, it opens doors to everyone that has access to the Internet. This access brings bits of knowledge to different pieces of society. Looking at people on Revolutionary Minds shows that each person has the capability to add something to their field of study. Everybody cannot necessarily innovate stem cell research, but with the ability to use websites such as Google, people can gain knowledge efficiently.
Since most people have access to the Internet, it allows people to build on articles and websites, even on their own opinions of topics. Looking at moments throughout the Scientific Revolution, people could not communicate in ways such as this and could not build off one another’s ideas. According to Stephanie Olsen, the author of “Intelligence in the Internet Age”, the Internet gives intelligence to all. Although she believes the Internet is the easy way to gain information, she tells of how we should take advantage of how the Internet is so accessible to all. It gives equality to intelligence.

Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" The Atlantic. 2007. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google

Olsen, Stephanie. “Intelligence in the Internet Age”. CNET News. 2005.
http://news.cnet.com/Intelligence-in-the-Internet-age/2100-11395_3-5869719.html

Seed Media Group. Revolutionary Minds. Seed Magazine.com 2008. http://revminds.seedmagazine.com/