Lifesaver or Life Taker

Andrea Spencer

Miss Emily Grigg

English 101 A05

16 September 2015

Lifesaver or Life taker

         The Internet is something that some consider their lifesavers, while others believe that it takes their life away. In “Hal and Me” by Nicholas Carr, Carr discusses how the Internet is impacting each individual that is using the Internet. As the world has begun to revolve around the internet, learning has been greatly impacted negatively, as we have become dependent on it and our concentration now revolves around what we could be doing on the internet instead of the real world, and positively, as we can now look up any information we need at a speed that surpasses our old research methods.

        The first reason why the Internet has negatively impacted learning is because we have become too dependent on it. What happens if the internet crashes?  I believe most people would probably freak out due to our society's overall dependency on being "connected" via the internet.  Also, due to the overwhelming amount of new technologies, people can no longer spell, do mathematics, socialize, or do other basic functions on their own. Most kids or teenagers these days do not even know how to use a dictionary, thesaurus, or encyclopedia because “Google has it all" so they don't see it as a necessary skill. I myself am too dependent on the internet when it comes to googling how to spell a word or looking up a question the teacher has asked. It scares me when I have to write a paper without my computer or phone to help because without it, I can’t look up a word that I cannot spell. As Nicholas Carr wrote, “The Net has become my all-purposed medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mind” (315).  Even after unplugging, many people feel a craving for the stimulation received from technology.

        The second reason why the Internet has negatively impacted learning is that our concentration has become shorter. In a recent survey, it stated that the average attention span is five minutes. Ten years ago, it used to be 12 minutes. I believe the internet is a big reason why the attention span has dropped so drastically. As Nicholas Carr notes, “What the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation” (315).  For most of the current generations, when they read for just a few minutes, their mind will often begin to wander. They begin to think about what is on the television, did someone post something cool on Facebook, or even that this book is too long. Personally, I don’t read books anymore because I cannot concentrate long enough to get through one page. As Nicholas Carr says, “For some people, the very idea of reading a book has come to seem old-fashioned, maybe a little silly” (317). When the information is already organized and chunked, our brain doesn’t have to go the extra mile and do the work itself. The internet is affecting our brain and our concentration making long passages harder to read and us more likely to just skim now. Nicholas Carr wrote, "I skim. I scroll. I have very little patience for long, drawn-out, nuanced arguments” (316). The type of reading that’s done on the internet now is shallow; there is no deep thinking involved. It’s hard for people to actually sit down and read a book for class. Many people probably will not even read it because they can’t concentrate long each to actually read it all. Or they may star, put the book down, and never pick it up again. Concentration being effected by the Internet causes students to become lazy and to not have the ability to read or sit down and write a paper without somehow becoming distracted.  In the long run, the student will either rush to get the assignment done or not do the best they could if they would have been able to concentrate and focus on it longer.

        However, not everything about the Internet is negative, one point that’s positive about the World Wide Web is that it has increased the ability to have the information we need in within a few minutes. Instead of using books to do research, the Web offers many options and beneficial websites that will help gain the information quickly and accurately. In our Country, people like things fast and easy.  In even just the last decade or two, people would have to go to the library for hours to find information for an essay they needed, but now you do not have to do that anymore. Finding information is much faster with the technology we are able to use today. We have the ability to have any information fast and in the palm of our hands within seconds.  As Nicholas Carr points out, “the benefits they get from using the Net—quick access to loads of information, potent searching and filtering tools, an easy way to share their options with a small but interested audience – make up for the loss of their ability to sit still and turn the pages of a book or a magazine” (316-317). Some people enjoy the ability to scan or skim through documents because they are able to get their information faster without having to read everything. Most people do not have time to waste and certainly do not want to spend more time on something if they do not have to in today's world. We have so much new technology that has advanced our education system to become a little faster than it was years ago.   In the past, we had to think about things and actually come up with answers on our own, today whenever we need an answer we just type the question into a search engine and press Enter.