The Hidden Vice of Using the Internet
In the article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr argued that the more we use the Internet, the dumber we get. Carr pointed out that the Internet is a conduit that streams large amount of information into our brains when we “google” online. To get through the information, we must read faster, skimming through titles and contents’ pages for valuable information, key phrases, and paragraphs. Because of this reading style, we lose our ability to read deeply to interpret texts, to think deeply over ideas, and to make mental connections. In addition to the contents provided by the Internet, ads, messages, alerts, feeds, images, or treaming media kept popping up on the screen to distract and disengaged us from our reading. This effect will become permanent because our brains tend to re-shape and adapt to how we process information. I concur with Carr’s view that the internet we use in learning has changed the way we read and think, and it is a detractor to higher learning.
Many UC Davis students complained social-networking sites such as Facebook took away their time for studying. They choose to spend many hours of their time on social network sites rather than studying for their exams. These students seemed to be addicted to the social network sites. It is like a drug to them and they must logon to the sites whenever they have an opportunity to do so. These social network sites make the student users’ brains lazy. They are not thinking and unable to give their full attention during lecture times. The Internet affects their grades and academic achievements.
Every time I go to my computer engineering class at UC Davis, which is about a hundred students, I usually choose to sit in the back row of the classroom to have a better view of the professor’s PowerPoint presentation. The professor in this classroom has made it clear to his students that they may use their laptops in his classroom to take notes only. He prohibits...