Is Google Making Us Stupid

The main argument the author, Nicholas Carr, is trying to make is the fact that Google is making us less focused and reducing our ability to really read and get into different works of text. Carr describes the internet as reducing our ability to analyze and stay focused on a work of text. He describes the modern day Internet as a way to get information very quick and skimming over instead of going in depth. Carr believes it is changing our mind process to getting the information as fast as possible then moving on to what is next. He uses Socrates to back up his argument and Carr describes literacy as the ability to adapt to times to communicate and go about living our lives. Carr’s work of text is very similar to Socrates because in both works they are describing the Internet as changing the way we are thinking. Both sources believe that the Internet is hurting our ability to read and go in depth to large works because of how fast we are getting information now. In my opinion it is changing the way we think but this new way of thinking to me is extremely effective and beneficial because we are getting the info in a fast reliable way. Through doing this we are getting our work done at a much faster rate and becoming a more technologically advanced society everyday.

Digital Intimacy

In Thompsons article he’s arguing that social media is helping our lives become more public but also through the idea of gaining a self-uniqueness. It is interesting to see because as we keep going forward through this social media boom the way we’re thinking is changing everyday. No longer do we need to talk and interpret people face to face, but instead, we can just go on a social media site and from that one site gather a ton of information on someone. Doing this is taking away the ability to gather information and analyze. Thompson talks about ambient awareness, which is the information you gather from what someone puts up. The problem I have with this argument is you can’t really get to know someone just through social media. I have a bunch of friends whose personalities are completely different on social media sites than they are in the real world. Thompson does say how tweeting or posting a status leads people to think about their feeling and can become a bit of a philosophical activity. I have a hard time agreeing with this because for the most part on these social media sites we are skimming through information and we may post and think about our mood but this action for most people only happens a couple times a day. Overall I do not agree with much of Thompsons article but he does bring up interesting points and it makes us realize how far we have come through social media relationships.

Cognitive Surplus for the Better

This is interesting because cognitive surplus is not a defined discrete idea. But the way Shirky uses cognitive surplus is defined as being active in some way doing something productive. This is interesting because Shirky describes some of the past cognitive surplus’ such as when people in the 20’s were drinking gin and other type of alcohol in their free time for enjoyment. In recent times people have watched Television as a form of cognitive surplus. But today we are using social media as our cognitive surplus. Interacting as a world becoming a community. Overall the idea of social media being considered active might sound strange but the fact that we are all using it and spreading word faster than ever is extremely active. I personally believe that we are doing good for the future because this cognitive surplus is leading to more creative thinking and a completely remodeled way of interacting with each other that we have never seen before. In this reading there is a ton of repetition with the words mouse, gin, cognitive surplus, and youth. I think Shirky see’s a change in our cognitive surplus that will benefit out youth. Literacy relates to this because in every day social media we are being literate and active with our ideas, thoughts, and ways of thinking. We are all shifting and the way it seems is for the better.

The internet and it's effect on us

Overall this article is telling us about how Google is making us not as intellectually sound. Carr is telling us that all this quick information and this world of quick responses is actually making us machine like as he calls it. We aren’t able to sit down and read a long book with as much ease. We are in this fast and quick world where when you want something or need something the best way to go about doing it is the most efficient way. Carr talks about how the internet is making our thinking process altered to gather information real quick instead of actually analyzing and developing your own theory on the answers that are given. Carr talks about Socrates and how he thought the same thing when writing was becoming popular. Carr thinks very similar to Socrates but about computers completely taking over. He say’s we eventually will become machine like with brains smarter than our own. The mental habits for us as well have completely changed which Carr thinks to seem is a bad thing as we are becoming so fast paced expecting things to happen fast. Carr backs his article up with a study from Harvard, as well as frequent blogger about the internet Bruce Friedman. Carr also refers to various books talking about different topics that can relate to the computer like changes we are going through. Overall I believe the evidence is effective yet for me it doesn’t really make me think that by getting our information in a swift pace we are becoming not as intellectually sound. Although we may not be as adept to reading long novels we are getting our information in a very fast way making us even smarter through all the time we save and the overall ease of information in such a fast pace. The article I believe does a good job of answering the so what question in the final lines of the article “as we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence.” The quote pretty much outlines his whole article and answers the question of “so what?” Overall Carr writes a creative article that is well thought out and has good sources but for me I just do not think this will be an issue with our generation getting information so fast. I think we are getting smarter through the use of fast and swift information.

Topic Proposal

I have chosen to do my essay on Jim Rome’s twitter. Jim Rome is a sports analyst who used to work on ESPN. He had his own show “Rome is Burning”. The TV was very popular and was among the evening schedule for the channel. Jim Rome tweets often and is more of a sports personality in the way he puts his opinion forward instead of fact. Rome has a very sarcastic personality, which is why he has so many critics. He is always questioning athletes and putting his opinion forth, which is why he became so popular throughout the show’s history. His account is a good representation of how he is controversial and is always getting criticized by fans yet he responds in a humorous way. I’m looking forward towards analyzing his account because it will be interesting to see the way he tweets fans and athletes.

My Social Media Tatoo

Social media has become the number one form of entertainment for most people. You get a chance to see how others react with others and how others react with you. The crazy thing about it all is anyone can see what your doing with your life and how your representing yourself. On social media I represent myself as someone who doesn’t post to many items because personally I don’t really care enough to put whats going on in my life on the internet unless its real interesting. I will like photos and favorite tweets but I’m not the person to post all the time. I am always on twitter though because it is pretty cool to see what everyone’s doing.

I decided to analyze my best friends past five tweets. He has a variety of tweets but he tweeted five times in one day. I really don’t understand the point in doing this especially because they’re all random tweets. One is about how he loves miley cyrus, the next is saying to add him on xbox, the one after that says how much he’s playing grand theft auto, song lyrics, and then he makes a funny tweet about his brother. Thinking of my friend all these tweets do kind of represent him in his own way because he is funny and loves video games while also loves to be controversial which he is doing by tweeting his love for miley cyrus. But it is also kind of strange cause he really isn’t that talkative but I get why he tweets that much because he’s one of the more outgoing people although he’s not that talkative.

While on social media I feel I definetly need to have a precense posting at least once in a while to let people know I am still online and active but I definetly don’t feel the need to uphold a certain identity on social media. I always feel pressured to censor myself in front of anyone because if you don’t you there are a ton of bad consequences for that so not just on social media but in general I’m always censoring what I say and thinking before acting.

If an employer handed me all that I definetly think I would still get the job because I make sure I am careful with what I put online and will never post anything stupid that could get me into real trouble. That’s the problem with a lot of people now days is I don’t think they are really checking to make sure there being careful with what they post and say online.