Essay #1, Part 1

Jacob Osmer

Professor Miller

English 110

September 10, 2023

Gee Whiz, Technology! Essay

Technology is present in every part of our daily lives, whether it be the alarm on our cell phones that wakes us up every morning on time, “Googling” something, or sending an instant message to a friend or family member. Some claim they couldn’t live without their cell phones, while others preach the benefits of separating yourself from all the distractions present in that tiny device. Nicolas Carr’s essay, “Is Google Making us Stupid?” and Richard Forman’s fear that we’re becoming “pancake people” in contrast to the “cathedral-like” people of “complex and inner density…who carried inside themselves a personally constructed and unique version of the entire heritage of the West,” both point towards the negatives consequences of technology on the human mind. These viewpoints cannot be denied, and I do share many of their fears, but there is no doubt that technology has had many benefits for humanity.

Technology is anything that humanity has created using the many resources at our disposal. For example, even a pencil is considered technology. However, in the context of Nicolas Carr’s essay and how most people view the word “technology”, technology refers to anything humanity created which makes use of the internet, like accessing it through a smartphone, computer, television, and other various devices.

Social media is something that is almost impossible to avoid in the United States and is probably one of the biggest sources of internet content. A lot of digital content on these platforms are “news” sources. According to the Pew Research Center, PRC, about 71% of Americans watch local news channels and about 65% watch networks news channels over the course of a month (PRC), which equates to about 236 million and 216 million Americans, respectively. However, these numbers have been changing. While most adults get their news from watching tv, younger adults and teens like me get their news from social media apps, where anyone can post about things going on in the world. Seeing President Herbert’s funny Instagram posts provides a quick laugh, but social media has expanded from just a way to stay connected with friends to a monetary opportunity. I first found out about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the morning news and from word of mouth, but just about everything I know about the conflict was filtered through social media and shown to me through some algorithm. Occasionally, social media sites like YouTube would flag videos as misinformation and provide an evidence-based explanation below, but most of the time I was just trusting that the information I was seeing was factual. It isn’t just me though. PRC found that “over half of Americans (54%) either got their news ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ from social media, and Facebook was the most popular social media site where American adults got their news.” Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are filled with accounts that push out news, whether it be a legitimate news source or someone doing it for fun or monetary gain. It’s great that technology has allowed people across the country and the world to get news almost instantly, but is it all good? To say this makes me a hypocrite, but getting information from one source and just accepting its credibility is naïve and ignorant. From social media sprouts many untrue rumors, like the deaths of celebrities, conspiracy theories, and false news stories. In addition to this, a common fear of social media is that it creates unreasonable expectations which can lead to mental health issues, especially in younger users. Social media is great in theory, but often ends up causing more harm than good.

Throughout human history, the way we communicate has changed. Cave paintings, smoke signals, carrier pigeons, telegraphs, and letters are all technologies that have faded or begun to fade out of relevance. In today’s world in just a few moments, a message can get sent between any two people who have compatible communication devices, like a smartphone or computer. The convenience of this is obvious; we can communicate fast, efficiently, and whenever or wherever we want. However, from my personal experience, being always connected is not always a good thing. Instant messaging is great for conveniently reaching a friend, family, or coworker, but because of its ease, a lot of people spend less time talking to people in person and more time communicating online. I think that this habit is detrimental to the communication skills of our youth, including me.

Scott Karp said, “What if I do all my reading on the web not so much because the way I read has changed, i.e. I’m just seeking convenience, but because the way I THINK has changed?” Nicholas Carr used this in his essay, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” where Carr and his acquaintances voice their concerns about the internet’s effect on their ability to read in-depth. “I now have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print… I can’t read War and Peace anymore,” said Bruce Freidman. And I have found this prevalent in my life too — I always just thought I was a quick reader, finishing the English class assignments long before anyone else. Skimming is a great skill to have when you’re required to scan through a paper and find key points, but it’s quite a nuisance when pleasure reading. It wasn’t until I got into one of my more recent spontaneous bouts of reading that I realized I wasn’t actually reading. Just as Freidman in Carr’s essay observes, “Even a blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it,” I found that I was letting my eyes slide across the pages, instead of taking in each individual word and taking the time to process them. However, unlike Freidman I don’t find myself reading online books. Reading pdfs can never replace the feeling of flicking through the pages of a physical paper book.

Carr’s essay includes a section on writer Friedrich Nietzsche whose eyes were failing just as the typewriter was invented, and how his writing style completely changed, “His already terse prose had become even tighter, more telegraphic.” And in the same way I wonder if the introduction of technology has changed how I write. Is the quality of my writing different between a handwritten quick-right while preparing for the AP Literature test versus the words I’m typing out right now? Mentioned in my Journal #3, my method of writing includes a lot of jumping around from paragraph to paragraph, copy/pasting whole sections around the paper, and throwing out as many ideas as possible before connecting them into a linear piece of writing. This process, however, is a lot tougher on paper. In my journal I said, “I like the strategy that I use versus the linear writing strategy because it’s very easy for me to make sure my thoughts stay consistent between paragraphs. I like to think that instead of being linear, top to bottom, I can constantly cycle back through my writing as I please.” When writing on paper, doing a writing style like this would require a lot more time, and therefore wouldn’t be feasible in most situations. I do think that technology has changed my process of writing, but I can’t be sure the way I write has changed like Nietzsche.

In the same collection of writing as “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, Carr brought up the concept of reading as an unnatural process, and that distractedness is our natural state. “To read a book is to practice an unnatural process of thought… We have to forge or strengthen the neural links needed to counter our instinctive distractedness, thereby gaining greater control over our attention and our mind. It is this control, this mental discipline, that we are at risk of losing as we spend ever more time scanning and skimming online. If the slow progression of words across printed pages damped our craving to be inundated by mental stimulation, the Internet indulges it. It returns us to our native state of distractedness, while presenting us with far more distractions than our ancestors ever had to contend with.” He portrays humanity’s unique ability to fight against our natural instincts; we are no longer surviving out in the wild, on alert for predators, surviving. In the modern age we can read, write, and relax. He believed that humanity had once reached the point where everyone was “cathedral-like” and could deeply analyze text, but now we are returning to our “natural state of distractedness”. I believe that technology has greatly benefited humans, but there are so many ways in which technology is setting us back. So, in conclusion, I agree with many of the points that Carr and his associates made, and personally experience many of the consequences of the internet’s efficiency, but I also believe that society is better off with the technology we have.

Bibliography

Carr, Nicholas. “Is google making us stupid?” The Best Technology Writing 2009, 2017, pp. 84–97, https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300156508-009.

Jurkowitz, Mark. “How Americans Get TV News at Home.” Pew Research Center’s Journalism Project, Pew Research Center, 11 Oct. 2013, www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2013/10/11/how-americans-get-tv-news-at-home/.

Gee Whiz, Technology! Essay Draft (600 words)

Jacob Osmer

Professor Miller

English 110

September 10, 2023

Gee Whiz, Technology! Essay

Technology is present in every part of our daily lives, whether it be the alarm on our cell phones that wakes us up every morning on time, “Googling” something, or sending an instant message to a friend or family member. Nicolas Carr’s essay, “Is Google Making us Stupid?” and Richard Forman’s fear that we’re becoming “pancake people” in contrast to the “cathedral-like” people of “complex and inner density…who carried inside themselves a personally constructed and unique version of the entire heritage of the West,” both point towards the negatives consequences of technology on the human mind. These viewpoints cannot be denied, and I do share many of their fears, but there is no doubt that technology has had many benefits for humanity.

Scott Karp wrote, “What if I do all my reading on the web not so much because the way I read has changed, i.e. I’m just seeking convenience, but because the way I THINK has changed?” Nicholas Carr used this in his essay, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, where Carr and his acquaintances all voice their concerns about the internet’s effect on their ability to read in-depth. “I now have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print… I can’t read War and Peace anymore,” said Bruce Freidman. And I have found this prevalent in my life too — I always just thought I was a quick reader, finishing the English class assignments long before anyone else. Skimming is a great skill to have when you’re required to scan through a paper and find key points, but it’s quite a nuisance when pleasure reading. It wasn’t until I got into one of my more recent spontaneous bouts of reading that I realized I wasn’t reading. Just as Freidman in Carr’s essay observes, “Even a blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it,” I found that I was letting my eyes slide across the pages, instead of taking in each individual word and taking the time to process them.

My favorite part about Carr’s essay was when he brought up the concept of reading as an unnatural process, and that distractedness is our natural state. “To read a book is to practice an unnatural process of thought… We have to forge or strengthen the neural links needed to counter our instinctive distractedness, thereby gaining greater control over our attention and our mind. It is this control, this mental discipline, that we are at risk of losing as we spend ever more time scanning and skimming online. If the slow progression of words across printed pages damped our craving to be inundated by mental stimulation, the Internet indulges it. It returns us to our native state of distractedness, while presenting us with far more distractions than our ancestors ever had to contend with.”

Gee Whiz, Technology! Essay Draft (600 words)

Jacob Osmer

Professor Miller

English 110

September 10, 2023

Gee Whiz, Technology! Essay

Technology is present in every part of our daily lives, whether it be the alarm on our cell phones that wakes us up every morning on time, “Googling” something, or sending an instant message to a friend or family member. Nicolas Carr’s essay, “Is Google Making us Stupid?” and Richard Forman’s fear that we’re becoming “pancake people” in contrast to the “cathedral-like” people of “complex and inner density…who carried inside themselves a personally constructed and unique version of the entire heritage of the West,” both point towards the negatives consequences of technology on the human mind. These viewpoints cannot be denied, and I do share many of their fears, but there is no doubt that technology has had many benefits for humanity.

According to the Pew Research Center, PRC, about 71% of Americans watch local news channels and about 65% watch networks news channels over the course of a month (PRC), which equates to about 236 million and 216 million Americans, respectively. However, these numbers have been changing. While most adults probably get their news from watching tv, younger adults and teens like me get their news from social media apps, where anyone can post about things going on in the world. I first found out about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the morning news and from word of mouth, but almost everything I know about the conflict was filtered through social media and shown to me through some algorithm. Occasionally, social media sites like Youtube would flag videos as misinformation and provide an evidence-based explanation below, but most of the time I was just trusting that the information I was seeing was factual. It isn’t just me. PRC found that “over half of Americans (54%) either got their news ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ from social media, and Facebook was the most popular social media site where American adults got their news.” Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube are filled with accounts that push out news, whether it be a legitimate news source or someone doing it for fun or monetary gain. It’s great that technology has allowed people across the country and the world to get news almost instantly, but is it all good? I am not sure that unfinished

Scott Karp wrote, “What if I do all my reading on the web not so much because the way I read has changed, i.e. I’m just seeking convenience, but because the way I THINK has changed?” Nicholas Carr used this in his essay, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, where Carr and his acquaintances all voice their concerns about the internet’s effect on their ability to read in-depth. “I now have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print… I can’t read War and Peace anymore,” said Bruce Freidman. And I have found this prevalent in my life too — I always just thought I was a quick reader, finishing the English class assignments long before anyone else. Skimming is a great skill to have when you’re required to scan through a paper and find key points, but it’s quite a nuisance when pleasure reading. It wasn’t until I got into one of my more recent spontaneous bouts of reading that I realized I wasn’t actually reading. Just as Freidman in Carr’s essay observes, “Even a blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it,” I found that I was letting my eyes slide across the pages, instead of taking in each individual word and taking the time to process them. However, unlike Freidman I don’t find myself reading online books. Reading pdfs can never replace the feeling of flicking through the pages of a physical paper book.

Gee Whiz, Technology! Essay Draft (1000+ words)

Jacob Osmer

Professor Miller

English 110

September 10, 2023

Gee Whiz, Technology! Essay

(maybe introduce the paragraph with a sentence first) According to the Pew Research Center, PRC, about 71% of Americans watch local news channels and about 65% watch networks news channels over the course of a month (PRC), which equates to about 236 million and 216 million Americans, respectively. However, these numbers have been changing. While most adults probably get their news from watching tv, younger adults and teens like me get their news from social media apps, where anyone can post about things going on in the world. I first found out about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the morning news and from word of mouth, but almost everything I know about the conflict was filtered through social media and shown to me through some algorithm. Occasionally, social media sites like Youtube would flag videos as misinformation and provide an evidence-based explanation below, but most of the time I was just trusting that the information I was seeing was factual. It isn’t just me. PRC found that “over half of Americans (54%) either got their news ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ from social media, and Facebook was the most popular social media site where American adults got their news.” Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube are filled with accounts that push out news, whether it be a legitimate news source or someone doing it for fun or monetary gain. It’s great that technology has allowed people across the country and the world to get news almost instantly, but is it all good? I am not sure that still unfinished

Scott Karp wrote, “What if I do all my reading on the web not so much because the way I read has changed, i.e. I’m just seeking convenience, but because the way I THINK has changed?” Nicholas Carr used this in his essay, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, where Carr and his acquaintances all voice their concerns about the internet’s effect on their ability to read in-depth. “I now have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print… I can’t read War and Peace anymore,” said Bruce Freidman. And I have found this prevalent in my life too — I always just thought I was a quick reader, finishing the English class assignments long before anyone else. Skimming is a great skill to have when you’re required to scan through a paper and find key points, but it’s quite a nuisance when pleasure reading. It wasn’t until I got into one of my more recent spontaneous bouts of reading that I realized I wasn’t actually reading. Just as Freidman in Carr’s essay observes, “Even a blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it,” I found that I was letting my eyes slide across the pages, instead of taking in each individual word and taking the time to process them. However, unlike Freidman I don’t find myself reading online books. Reading pdfs can never replace the feeling of flicking through the pages of a physical paper book.