Post by wrightwilliams on Aug 9, 2011 15:43:24 GMT -5
When I saw the premise of the article, "Is Google Making us Stupid?" by Nicholas Carr, I began to think about how I was going to write this response in my head. I was going to counter this article with my own love of reading and how the article didn't reflect me in the same way. However as I was thinking this I read the first two paragraphs and then skimmed my way down the article, barely reading any of it... I caught myself before it was too late and now better understand the purpose of the article. The immediacy of information is indeed making us look for the main point of the writing and then disregarding the rest.
Reading is something that is truly fun and special once you really get into it. I remember reading Goosebumps books in Elementary school and becoming so involved in the book that I couldn't hear others around me and when the book said it was raining, I legitimately believed it was raining when the day was actually sunny. However, by early High School I found myself spark-noting summer reading books every now and then and skimming through reading material consistently. Google may not be necessarily making us stupid, but it's definitely turning us into people looking purely for immediate and relevant information and not for basic enjoyment. The anyalytical skills gained from reading great novels could be in danger if the person does not legitimately read a book and attempt to understand it. Being able to recite facts read online is useless without the necessary skills to analyze and organize the information into a coherent thought.
Reading interesting books can help a person better understand themselves and the world around them. The way you interpret a book or the way you make connections can lead you to better understanding how you view the world in general and what type of person you are. For me personally, I enjoy reading about history, and making connections between one period of history to the next. My desired major in college is history and my interests in specific books and the connections I've made between time periods led me to pursue this particular major. Books are very telling of your interests and personality and are important to understand.
I've looked up historical information online as well as finding it in large novels. While it's still interesting to look it up online, the internet tends to present the information for what it is and nothing more. Novels such as "All Quiet on the Western Front" truly explore the relationships between people and events. They can give me in depth looks at history that simple facts looked up online could never do. Books have always been interesting to me and this article has led me to re-evaluate my life in relation to written information and how I approach it. I'll be more concious of skimming information and how I read.
Reading is something that is truly fun and special once you really get into it. I remember reading Goosebumps books in Elementary school and becoming so involved in the book that I couldn't hear others around me and when the book said it was raining, I legitimately believed it was raining when the day was actually sunny. However, by early High School I found myself spark-noting summer reading books every now and then and skimming through reading material consistently. Google may not be necessarily making us stupid, but it's definitely turning us into people looking purely for immediate and relevant information and not for basic enjoyment. The anyalytical skills gained from reading great novels could be in danger if the person does not legitimately read a book and attempt to understand it. Being able to recite facts read online is useless without the necessary skills to analyze and organize the information into a coherent thought.
Reading interesting books can help a person better understand themselves and the world around them. The way you interpret a book or the way you make connections can lead you to better understanding how you view the world in general and what type of person you are. For me personally, I enjoy reading about history, and making connections between one period of history to the next. My desired major in college is history and my interests in specific books and the connections I've made between time periods led me to pursue this particular major. Books are very telling of your interests and personality and are important to understand.
I've looked up historical information online as well as finding it in large novels. While it's still interesting to look it up online, the internet tends to present the information for what it is and nothing more. Novels such as "All Quiet on the Western Front" truly explore the relationships between people and events. They can give me in depth looks at history that simple facts looked up online could never do. Books have always been interesting to me and this article has led me to re-evaluate my life in relation to written information and how I approach it. I'll be more concious of skimming information and how I read.