English 100 - Fall 2013
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Is Google Making Us Stupid AND 17 Minute Video Discussion
Please post your discussion questions/comments here.
In your question(s)/comment(s), you must make a connection to both the video and the essay. You may do this by drawing on both in ONE question/comment, or you may post two separate questions/comments, each focusing on either the text or the video.
Please choose engaging ideas that we can discuss and expand on during Thursday's class in a meaningful way. We will use your posts to guide Thursday's class.
YOU ALL WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION. I WILL SIMPLY ACT AS A GUIDE/MEDIATOR.
Feel free to connect to any past discussions, readings, or videos.
Have fun! :)
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This article says that advertisements and headlines displayed on the web, "scatter our attention and diffuse our concentration". Shouldn't this article be called, "Are Advertisements Making Us Stupid", instead of saying Google is making us stupid?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think the video truthfully shows everything that an individual does while on a computer. We search, play games, communicate, listen to music, and much more; yet, issues can arise from multitasking. When Noah was on Skype with his girlfriend he was ignoring her and instead focusing his attention on games and his friend. I think the lack of communication due to the internet was the main point of the video. The girl at the end supports this further by saying the best conversation is one that you have with a stranger and telling Noah to go outside and do something more productive instead of being on his computer.
DeleteBoth the video and the article agree that the internet is an addiction that almost everyone who owns a computer has. What once was supposed to be a device to make us smarter is actually making us have shorter attention spans. After watching the video, I kept wondering, why do we care so much about what other people are doing. With Facebook, Skype, and our iMessage, we never get away from the world around us. It is almost a full time job keeping up with everyones social networks.
ReplyDelete"What once was supposed to be a device to make us smarter is actually making us have shorter attention spans." Good point
DeleteI do not believe that google is making us stupid because it provides another resource of information to learn. It may be in a sense a lazy way to receive information but society has turned a majority of its attention towards technology so that is normally why people prefer the internet for research instead books. I found it interesting that "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" mentioned how hard it is to keep focus while reading at the start because it reminded me not to daze off/start daydreaming as I continued to read. I still dazed off and had to reread many times to be honest haha. I find it funny that they talked about how they can't read long lengthy paragraphs and here they are writing endless pages for us to read. Are they trying to prove their point or do they really need to say all this information to express what they want to get across? The noah video was a good example of lack of communication and the harm it can do. I can see how Noah would react this way. Everyone wants instant response, especially when using technology because its so fast and when people don't receive a response they sometimes over think situations and do things they regret. I feel that the internet and the information it provides allows people to express something they are not or talk about information they don't really know anything about, example is when Noah googled the lead singers name to act like he knew who the singer was to impress and connect with the girl.
ReplyDeleteThe article metions how a British mathematician, Alan Turing,proved that a computing system will be able to absorb other intellectual technologies, which is prevalent in the short video of Noah. Noah's computer was used for many internet based applications such as facebook, skype, chat roulette, etc. Seeing that the downfall of Noah's relationship with Amy is due to the internet, particularly facebook, have our relationships with people in general changed because of the internet? What are some postives and negatives of the internet when it comes to communicating with people?
ReplyDelete"Is Google Making Us Stupid?"
ReplyDelete"The more pieces of information we can “access” and the faster we can extract their gist, the more productive we become as thinkers. "
Is the internet making us stupid or just simply more efficient? I could agree with "lazy" or even "demanding" but stupid doesn't seem right. Ideas, knowledge, and random information is spread across the internet that is adding to people's
Note: Reading this article about there being a difficulty to read without distractions made it really hard to read without getting distracted.
"Noah"
This film made me question how productive the internet is to people that are younger(or even older)? Are internet user's more likely to get distracted and procrastinate?
The internet does not benefit relationships in this film. Do all internet user's act like this?
“Is Google Making Us Stupid?”
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with the Carr’s point of view of how the Internet destroys one’s capabilities to concentrate on reading long passages or blogs. If that was true, I would not be able to read this article for homework because I would have given up after the first paragraph, according to Carr. I think that it depends on who one talks to about this, because I know other people, other than myself, who are still capable of trying to concentrate on reading long blogs and passages on the Internet. Maybe Carr’s claim only affects older people, who never grew up around the Internet and the importance of it today. From what I observed, I don’t think that Carr’s claim applies to people around my age.
“Noah”
This video is really realistic because he doesn’t pay much attention to his girlfriend on Skype and multitasks as he’s talking. I think that’s how people, especially in my generation, use the Internet today. They use the Internet as a quick way to find something that they want to search for. The video also does a good job portraying how teenagers and young adults would use the Internet, trying to do multiple activities. I can see how the effect of how fast the Internet is on Noah himself. Noah has a really short attention span because of how fast the Internet is. I think that this video does a great job in expressing the issue the Internet creates with its instantaneous usage.
"Is Google Making Us Stupid?"
ReplyDeleteThis article felt so relevant to my life. Growing up I loved reading big books and throwing myself into the story, engaging with it, and yet now whenever I pick up a book I get bored after the first chapter. This is largely due to the distractions, such as the internet, that I didn't have as a child, yet I feel like the author places too much blame on the internet. As we grow up we begin to have a lot more responsibilities, I think our worries may have a lot to do with the lack of concentration that the author assumes is all due to the internet.
"Noah"
This video was not shocking to me but I'm sure that if my parents, or anyone from the older generation, saw this they would be amazed at the amount of different things that can be done at the same time and the speed of it. The purpose of this video was to show the negative side of the Internet yet I didn't find it very convincing. Although the internet can be harmful it creates many more benefits than it does damages.
In the article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" it states, "the more pieces of information we can 'access' and the faster we can extract their gist, the more productive we become as thinkers." Do you think people are using google as google had intended?
ReplyDeleteIn the video about a teenager named Noah, he is able to hack into his soon to be ex-girlfriend's facebook profile. He even changed her relationship status without her permission. Do you think because we live in fast pace world, people make rash decisions, like Noah, and forget to consider the consequences? Or is it a personality trait?
Both the video and the article portrait that the internet is effecting our attention spans. The author says that after reading just a few pages "[gets] fidgety and [begins] to look for something else to do." In the video about Noah the viewers can clearly see that he cannot hold a conversation with his girlfriend over video chat without visiting and checking other websites. What other aspects in our lives, besides reading and video chatting, is the internet effecting us in with our decreasing attention spans?
ReplyDelete"Is Google Making Us Stupid?"
ReplyDeleteThe article talks a lot about internet being distracting and not being able to concentrate when we read something. Yet this article was so long it was really hard to not be distracted, so I'm not sure if they felt like if they did that it would prove their point or if they really had that much to say. They also make the assumption that we believe everything we read on the internet and no longer have our mind of our own, I think thats a bit too extreme.
"Noah"
I found the video interesting. I consider myself a multitasker, but the way Noah was multitasking was a lot. It helped prove the point that individuals get so distracted on social networks and what is going on with everyone we forget about the real world, and having real connections and conversations with people face to face.
Both the article and the video address one's attention span. After reading the long article I felt that the author intended to make it long to prove his point even further. It also addresses the effectiveness of google. Is the internet simply making it easier for us to obtain and learn information more quickly, or is the internet one big distraction? Internet use has definitely increased over the past few years with the development of new social media. How might this consumption of an individuals time spent on social media be detrimental to their overall learning and studying habits?
ReplyDelete"Is Google Making Us Stupid?"
ReplyDeleteThis article says that Brin and Page, the creators of Google, assume that "we'd all be better off if our brains were supplemented, or even replaced by an artificial intelligence." The author of the article then suggests that the creators of Google must believe "there's little place for the fuzziness of contemplation" and "ambiguity is not an opening for insight but a bug to be fixed." Do you agree with this? Or do you think that our ability to critically think and question what we are being told is an important part of intelligence?
"Noah"
This video was really relatable. When I started to watch it I had twitter, tumblr, and google tabs open so I really relate to the idea of being easily distracted. I thought it was interesting how Noah did things like change his girlfriends relationship status. Its obvious she would get mad at it him for hacking her account but he didn't think about that and did it any way. Are all the distractions on the internet causing people to make rash decisions and not think their actions through?
Why do people get paranoid over information they read on the internet? How do they know it is real? (17 minute video)
ReplyDeleteThe article says,” When we read online we become ‘mere decoders of information’. Our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged”. Is it bad that people are learning a new style of reading from the internet? (“Is Google Making Us Stupid” article)
"Is Google Making Us Stupid?"
ReplyDeleteThis article points out a lot of facts about the Internet regarding how our attention spans have shortened while reading long articles. I caught myself doing this as I was reading this very article and I had to go back and reread. We have been trained by the internet to skim things to navigate ourselves to the important information we need and then forget about all the other fluff in articles. It says, "The human brain is just and outdated computer that needs a faster processor and a bigger hard drive." Is this statement suggesting that the human brain is incapable of attaining so much information in a short amount of time?
"Noah"
This video was definitely interesting to me. So many of out tech savvy's have grown to love multitasking. This video shows the negative side of it and how we can get caught up in all the technology and forget to cherish our relationships with real life people face to face and not looking at a screen. Is this a look at real life that everybody can relate to? Has anyone lost relationships with anybody due to ignoring them because they were to caught up in technology?
Both the article and video made me realize how distracting the internet can be to us and alter our thinking. if we're handed down and spoon fed all this information, its hard for us to have our own thoughts. "Their thoughts and actions feel scripted, as if they’re following the steps of an algorithm. In the world of 2001, people have become so machinelike that the most human character turns out to be a machine." With the internet, we start to think and respond appropriately to whatever information is given instead of thinking for ourselves first. Like the article, the video also emphasizes how powerful the internet can be in altering our thinking. Noah was fine with his girlfriend until he started snooping around facebook and whatnot. He started creating all these scenarios and problems in his head that weren't there. The internet doesn't necessarily make us stupid but it does alter our perceptions.
ReplyDeleteGoogle isnt making us stupid. In fact, its actually making us smarter. We can research many topics together and connect different pieces of information to make new ideas. The internet makes it easier for us to find resources. The articles title also says Google, yet he barely even mentions Google through out the article.
ReplyDeleteThe video seems very realistic and I believe that many individuals who use computers do what was displayed in the video. Was the video trying to explain how the internet affects our social life? How does this relate to the article where it concentrates on the internet affecting our intelligence?
Google is not making us stupid. The reason people may have a shorter attention spam could possibly be because they know it will take them under five minutes to find what they are looking for so they decide to do some other things on the internet first. The main reason people get side tracked is because they have a computer that can search for literally anything. Once an idea pops into my, I instantly focus on that rather than finishing what I was doing. So yes, I do agree that the internet can cause people to get side tracked but I do not agree that it is making us stupid.
ReplyDeleteIn the film, it really shows how side tracked people can get. The kid Noah did about ten things within the first couple minutes of being on the computer. It shows how social media can really have a powerful effect on people.
After reading Carr's article I don't think Google is necessarily making us stupid. Reading one of the user's comments below he says that even though he surfs the internet reading lots of "mental fluff" he is still able to be immersed in books and other forms of literature. I agree with him I do too look up a lot of random topics on the internet or "mental fluff" as the user calls them but that has never stopped me from getting immersed in a good book. Any good book or any interesting forms of literature will immerse anyone who is interested enough to read them. I don't think we should be skeptical of the way the internet and technology has advanced instead we should embrace it. I think it is natural for people to gain more insight in the world and to also make it easier to gain knowledge through any means such as the internet.
ReplyDeleteIn the 17 minute film "Noah" I found it very interesting at how the guy's interactions in the internet is somewhat similar to the interactions many people of the younger generation today do on the internet. I feel as though many of my peers including myself could see ourselves in the same situation the guy is in. I also found the guy's friend "Kanye East" very interesting. Kanye East's name and the type of language he uses in the chat might be a resemblance to the way many teenagers talk in slang and how many of them are deeply immersed in pop culture.
I was truly surprised when the article mentioned that Google would like to be an artificial intelligence because it seems that Google is trying to lead in that direction and we haven't paid attention to it. I mean some can argue that Google Glass can be the method Google is testing how artificial intelligence adapts of people. What do you guys believe is Google truly heading in the direction of artificial intelligence or are we worrying for nothing?
ReplyDelete