Is Google Making Us Stupid?

My answer to this rather controversial question is, no. As was thoroughly pointed out by Carr in the essay, the internet, like many technological breakthroughs before it, is triggering a brain evolution. Since our brains are so "malleable", as he described it, they are extremely susceptible to drastic changes in function. Since our brains are now conforming to a very streamlined source of information, our attention spans are indeed depleting. Not only that, but our patience when it comes to receiving information.

However I believe Carr may have overlooked something when describing our new habits. That being computer screens. You may have noticed how straining it is reading a lengthy Wikipedia article on a glowing box. Our eyes aren't meant to decipher small complicated symbols such as letters on a glowing screen, so we often skim. I don't know the science as to why, but it's much less comfortable for our eyes to read from a digital monitor. I think that is a big reason why texts on the internet are often hard to finish. Of course, brain evolution also being a major point.

I think Carr's fear of us turning into mindless drones can be put to rest though. The human brain, though very prone to change, will always have its creativity component. As long as that's there, we have nothing to worry about. Yes, our thought process is changing, but the essay itself pointed to times this has happened before. There's really no need to cling to the old world, as new generations simply aren't going to care. That's just the way it is.