The world we live in is not the same one our parents or grandparents grew up in. Technology has advanced at an astonishingly rapid rate. My own generation has grown up with the technology, and we have always had it. Personally, I cannot imagine not having access to a cell phone and a computer-or quick access to information. Need directions to go someplace? Use your cell phone. Need a recipe for dinner? Google it. Indeed, even the brand name, Google, has become a verb. The Internet is everywhere. It's on our desks. It's in our cars. It's in the palm of our hands. Most recently, Google Glass has put it on our heads-and Apple has put it on our wrist. Is it changing the way we think though? Is the Internet making us stupid? Personally, I think it all depends on how each one of chooses to utilize it. The Internet is like any other amazing technology. If used properly, it is highly effective. It can also potentially harm you. Consider cars and how they have changed people's lives. They can also kill. The Internet is no different. It's up to each user to decide. .
Many people have questioned whether or not the Internet is changing us. In his Atlantic article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid," author Nicholas Carr writes, "Over the past few years I've had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn't going-so far as I can tell-but it's changing." Carr goes on to explain that in his own personal habits, he's noticed that his attention span has changed dramatically. Bruce Friedman, a physician who blogs about science and technology, has written about the same thing: "I now have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print," Friedman writes (Carr). And he wonders if his online time has caused it. He has noticed that his reading has become more skimming, and it "has taken on a 'staccato' quality, reflecting the way he quickly scans short passages from many sources online" (Carr).
