Is Google Making Us Crazy

To Be Literate To be literate in the twenty-first century can have a number of different meanings. Throughout the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid” by Nicholas Carr, “Get Smarter” by Jamais Cascio, and the book “Amusing Ourselves to Death” by Neil Postman there are multiple examples of what it means to be literate. In Nicholas Carr’s article he explains why he believes the internet is making us stupid and pointing us in the wrong direction for the future. With the complete opposite viewpoint is Jamais Cascio in which he tries to persuade his readers that the technology in store for the future is only leading us towards bigger and better things. In Postman’s he gives great examples of why the written word is much more valuable and meaningful …show more content…
In paragraph thirty two he states, “The human brain is just an outdated computer that needs a faster processor and a bigger hard drive”(Carr 32). This quote ties in directly with the idea that literacy means being able to adapt to new technological advances. If your brain is simply an outdated computer that requires new parts then you need to be able to get those new parts. In today’s age knowledge of computers is becoming more and more important. For example, over 50% of jobs in the United States require some form of computer knowledge or degree. This number is astonishingly high and only increasing as the years go on. A little later in his article Carr says, “Deep reading, as Maryanne Wolf argues, is indistinguishable from deep thinking”(Carr 36). This touches on the idea that one needs to have the ability to read and write. When you obtain your information through the internet it can diffuse the relative importance of the information because of the way it is presented. In a book or article all information of that subject or event is write in front of you in context. On the internet it can be in front of you then you see a picture of a cute dog in the corner of your screen and click off the article from which you would learn valuable information to instead look at pictures of …show more content…
On page 111 Postman states, “As the printing press did in an earlier time, television has achieved the power to define the form in which news must come, and it has also defined how we shall respond to it”(Postman 111). This quote simply portrays just how valuable the knowledge and understanding and technology has come. The printing press was invented in 1440, the television in 1927, and the first computer in 1946. There is nearly a 500 year gap between the printing press and the television however the technology advanced from the two is quite large. Technology dictates the way we receive and understand the majority of our information. Another idea that Postman touches on in his essay is that in the occurrence of a disaster where the computers crash and we are left with no technology we will always have the written word. The written word lasts forever which is why the ability to read and write is

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