Nicholas Carr's "Is Google Making Us Stupid?"

As I was reading Carr's article, his found difficulty for reading long articles of text began to take form in my own reading. As I read the article, I found myself starting to skim through the passages with long anecdotes, looking for numbers and facts that seemed interesting to put in this post. And even though I consciously knew I was doing it, it seemed more efficient than reading through every typed word on the screen. I, too, have become a slave to the brevity of the internet. As Carr stated, I now have the need to find the information I'm looking for in the quick swipe of my eyes across a few lines, not digging into the well formed passages of an article. And Google has made this entirely possible, presenting us with vast tankards of knowledge that can be tapped at a click of the mouse, and facts can be found by the description under the web page, allowing us to not only avoid traditional reading, but even avoid going a step further to look at the actual source of the information. In my opinion, Google isn't making us stupid. However, I do believe that the ease of searching for whatever we want is far superior to the notion of delving into a book, starting the cogs in our mind and interpreting the information we need to know. And it's not just reading either. Carr quoted Nietzsche, who said that "our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts. Instead of meticulously scrawling out our notes on pen and paper, the computerized typing element now allows for quick, easy-flowing ideas, sometimes lowering the quality of a well thought out passage. In my eyes, and in a tone that's less demeaning, this is the essence of blogging. A quick, effortless post that sprays the thoughts of the writer over the post. And yet, my fellow blogger gives me hope. Over the two days of internet compilation, I saw a lot more reading of lengthy articles than I expected. The internet gave easy access to these writings, and allowed us to easily keep in touch with the world. So even though Google is driving us away from the traditional sense of reading and interpretation, the internet is giving us the world, literally at our finger tips. You just have to dive in.