Is Google Making us Stupid?

Answer

• Is Google Making us Stupid?

              Approximately 90% of the people around the globe are suffering from digital amnesia (Roberts). This is accrued to the Google effect, as most people will not commit data to memory. Instead, most users rely on the usage of the technology to obtain answers to their questions, and hence treating the web as a memory extension (Roberts). The advent of the internet technology has encouraged most people to result to the use of search engines such as Google to access information. Despite this, the informational sites on the digital platform are dominated by hyperlinks as a form of distraction and huge chunks of information which encourages scanning and skimming to access the required information. This form of online reading fails to improve the ability of the brain to grasp new concept. Evidently, the mind is dynamic, thus making it difficult to grasp details collected from Google as a source (Carr). As a result, in the current digital age, fundamental adjustments are required to overcome the dangers associated with the use of Google for learning. Although Google is an effective information source, its usage limits the brain’s ability to comprehend new learning, thus making the users stupid.

  Background

              Google makes us stupid. The use of the technology exposes users to an environment whereby failing to comprehend new information is considered as the new norm. Diverting from the traditional forms of written text reading, people are embracing new techniques of reading online content such as skimming the materials to gain the required knowledge. Combining this change with the high cases of distractions evident over the online platforms, it is evident that a loss of concentration required for deep and effective learning is no longer experienced with Google as the informational source (Darling-Hammond 96). Carr reveals that people like Bruce Friedman have also lost their capacity to grasp information collected from the web or other sources. Carr quotes Friedman stating, “I have now almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print...even a blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it” (2). This fact reveals that literary abilities possessed by people are lost with time as a result of the continued internet usage. The internet has transformed how people think and read. This has further affected the process of information being stored in the long-term memory, a factor defining the human intelligence richness (Sehgal).

  Google is making us Stupid

              The internet is making the users stupid by making them lazy. Notably, when collecting information from the online sites, the users fail to take their time to read the content to the end to understand the message being relayed. Instead, people skim through the content, an activity not favorable for an effective content mastery. The skimming and scanning process is ineffective in fostering learning since it ensuring that the collected information is mainly stored within the short-term memory in the brain. Reading content to understand its meaning facilitates the process of transferring the information from the working memory to the long-term memory (Sehgal). However, this is not the case with online reading associated with the skimming and scanning activities of Google users who fail to take time to understand the message and information communicated.

  Although Google holds a wide array of information, people rarely spend time to understand the meaning message relayed on the sites. Instead, most people believe that the content is right. Moreover, the users fail to make mental connection to the content showing that they are always highly disengaged when interpreting the details. Darling-Hammond recommends that internet users should undertake the initiative to educate their minds about how to translate the symbolic characters seen in the language to generate an understanding of the content read (Darling-Hammond 98).

              Google transforms how users handle and store the available information. Carr provides an indication that Google has the ability to increasing the ability to remember where vital information is available over different online platforms but not necessarily the details about the content. Arguably, when using Google as the source of information, people fail to prioritize the act of storing information in their minds at the same level as in the past before the advent of the internet technology. This is mainly driven by the fact that people believe that the information derived from the web is always available and accurate (Stefanova, Jelena and Pérez 252). Through engaging in web searches, accessing information is a simple process but remembering the details is not guaranteed. For people to understand the detail presented over an online information source, it is necessary that desirable critical thinking capabilities and deep thinking should be considered. Deep thinking is a critical element for an effective memory construction (Stefanova, Jelena and Pérez 252).

              Google shortens the process of information comprehension. Carr suggests that people are using their cognitive abilities in the best ways that they should. Arguably, people only rely on the system to collect answers without much indulgence of their thinking process. As a result, paying attention to the message provided over the online sites becomes a challenging process. In comparison to the past, it is evident that people are engaging in more reading since the materials are easily accessible over the online platform. In support of this derivative, Carr implements the sentiments of Maryanne Wolf by indicating that, “when we read online, we tend to become ‘mere decoders of information’” and, “our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction remains largely disengaged” (Carr 3). In this case, Wolf’s thoughts are used to portray the variance between textual and online reading to offer proof that the reading completed over the online platform makes it difficult for the people to comprehend the relayed information.

  Online reading is related with distractions which limit the seriousness of the readers to comprehend information without drifting. Reading through the online platform is associated with several distractions For instance, constant pop-ups are common over the online sites as well as the presence of social media sites which users are always ready to access when presented with the slightest opportunities (Leslie). The distractions encourage the users to multitask which further worsen the memory comprehension capabilities. When users come across a hyperlink when accessing information online, they are interrupted to make a decision about whether to click or not. This redirects the users from reading towards a situation whereby they have to make judgments. This affects the learning process by negatively influencing the ability of the person to comprehend and retain the information accessed from the online source (Sehgal).

  In comparison to using the internet to gain knowledge, reading a book is more effective in enhancing a user’s intelligence. Unlike the internet, written text is focused and readers end up retaining much information as they read texts without links. Sehgal argues that reading a book is under-stimulating but effective in promoting intelligence unlike in the case of accessing information from Google. Reading a book is under-stimulating and effective in facilitating the brain to transfer the collected information to the long-term memory from the working memory. In this section of the brain, one stores and organizes their concepts and thoughts making it simpler to be accessed in the future. However, in the case of the internet, the distractions from the hyperlinks creates a situation whereby the users transfer a lot of information to the long-term memory, at once, thus resulting to a cognitive load and difficulty in remembering most of it (Sehgal).

  Counterargument and Rebuttal

  Although Google may be associated with distractions brought out by the pop-ups and hyperlinks, it is evident that the technology does not make us stupid. Notably, Google offers a wide pool of information which users can access at any time. The information is effective in promoting learning by availing material which could have been difficult to access traditionally without the existence of the web. Arguably, Google alongside other smart engines have directed people towards an environment whereby worrying about information scarcity are not a factor of concern (Estes). People are increasingly embracing desirable habits which work effectively in the current new information environment.

  Google does not make its users stupid but smarter.  Arguably, the use of the internet has an increased potential to improve human intelligence. This is founded on the fact that the web grants an access to a wide range of information which exposes the users to an environment whereby they can be more informed and can make better choices. Additionally, Google makes us smarter by ensuring that people become more creative when approaching problems into thought processes (Estes). The fact that people become more experienced in scanning and scheming through the information presented over the web suggests that Google enhance the user’s creativity in how they approach problems through implementing an integrative way of thinking. Noticeably, proficient Google users have the capacity and the ability to spend to spend less time recalling and most of their time in solutions generation.

  Conclusion

  Conclusively, the advent of the internet technology and the establishment of Google search engine have only been effective in making people stupid. With the technology, more than 90% of the users suffer from digital amnesia despite the fact that the search engine offers users with a wide pool of information at their disposal, Google only makes people lazy and shortens their ability to comprehend the information presented on the online site. People have increasingly lost their mental abilities since they do not focus on reading with an aim of absorbing the information derived over the online platform. Notably, users will scan and skim the presented details on the site as an easy way of gathering details from the web. This is associated with a drastic impact as the process negatively influences the users, memory and comprehension. Through the use of Google as an information source, users have lost their concentration abilities as reading through long texts is now proving to be problematic.