From
The Shallows, chapter “Eight: The Church of Google,” create “quotation sandwich”: locate a
pertinent quote, build a “frame” around it, and “blend” the author’s
words with your own. While being fair and accurate, use the quote, but
bend it to your purpose; use it for your “I say”—yes / no /
okay, but.
NOTE: After posting on the blog, open up the CANVAS assignment (by the same name) and DO copy and paste the URL address into the CANVAS "WEB URL" text box so that I have record of your submission on Canvas. Thanks.
The internet has altered the attention spans of humans significantly. “Web surfers evaluate the contents of pages so quickly that they make most of their decisions unconsciously.” As Carr stated earlier in his book, the internet has been designed as a quick tool to help humans learn what the need quickly and ignore what they don’t. This has therefore caused the human brain to begin skipping steps, shortening the time we think, and eventually acting subconsciously. This fact urges on the web designers to create simpler, quicker pages and the cycle continues.
ReplyDeleteIn writing there are good sources and there are bad sources. The good will steadily help increase your work, and the bad will steadily make it further far fetched. A good source literally throws you into the right direction with your research. Google, however, is more of a source that has its positives and negatives. In the book, “The Shallows” Nicholas Carr explains how, “Google is neither God nor Satan, and if there are shadows in the Googleplex they’re no more than the delusions of grandeur” (176). I agree with what Carr is saying because it explains it saying that google is a good thing (very helpful), but it is on a path as to where it could compete to think faster than our creators—which is scary.
ReplyDeleteWhen surfing the web, there are a plethora of search engines all producing different sources. In chapter eight of "The Shallows", Nicholas Carr claims that“Google is neither God nor Satan, and if there are shadows in the Googleplex they’re no more than the delusions of grandeur” (176). Choosing an incorrect source will result in an inaccurate research paper. To write a good paper, you must have a good source of information. The distracting ads and the colorful sites are usually incorrect so you must be careful on which source you select.
ReplyDeleteMathematicians and engineers believe that they can build and program a machine to be as intelligent as a human. “…Every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to stimulate it” (175). This is important to Carr’s argument because he is trying to get the readers to realize the control machines have now. While this is true, machines, or “thinking” machines, don’t really have any clue as to what they are thinking. So they can not fully stimulate what the human brain does.
ReplyDeleteMany people are trying to make google like the human brain. Our brains today are scattered and unable to concentrate for long periods of time. "The intellectual technologies it has pioneered promote the speedy, superficial skimming of information and discourage any deep, prolonged engagement with a single argument, idea, or narrative." It is scary to think that google is the top search engine that lures people into its trap of speedy, shallow thinking one click-on-a-link at a time.
ReplyDeleteHaving greater access to new and better technologies and search engines is a blessing, but also a curse. In Nicolas Carrs book, “The Shallows” he explains, “As the technologies for data processing improve, as our tools for searching and filtering become more precise, the flood of relevant information only intensifies” (170). We have tried finding a way to control the constant flow of current information but it only makes the problem worse. The new technologies make information have easy access and this amps up the issue of deep thinking. I agree that people tend to become distracted easily by the flow of better technology, but this technology is very helpful for academic reasons.
ReplyDeleteSocial media and technology are changing so rapidly before our eyes. Social networks such as, Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace are constantly competing to have the most people on their sites to get the most income from it. In chapter 8 of “The Shallows”, Carr says, “To be up to date requires the continual monitoring of message alerts. The competition among the social networks to deliver ever-fresher and more plentiful messages is fierce.” (156). I agree with what he is saying. If you are not constantly checking Facebook, Instagram (which was not mentioned), or Twitter, you feel like you are missing out on what’s happening and like you are completely out of the loop. When we hear a message tone or ring tone it’s like as if it’s almost impossible to just hear it ring and not check it, we are always checking everything to stay in with what is happening right then.
ReplyDeleteIn today’s society you can look up anything on the Internet. One of the most visited search engines people use is Google. When people use Google they have the whole world of information at their fingertips. One thing that Goggle has been helpful for is online books. Someone could Google any book and they would have all of the information and text in seconds. Carr states, “They plan to dress these “books” clad with hyper links, tools, and tabs, “each eagerly angling for a share of the reader’s fragmented attention” (165). Carr talks about how this is a positive thing because it helps people find books to read. I agree with what Carr is saying because normally people want to see the overview of the book before reading it and using Google’s information is a quick and convenient way to do this. Google has made more people inclined to read books because all of the information is right at their fingertips.
ReplyDeleteNicholas Carr in the book misses no opportunity to remind the readers that we have came to a world ruled by what was once a “boon”. Carr believes that “[t]he last thing the company [Google] wants is to encourage leisurely reading or slow, concentrated thoughts. Google is, quite literally, in the business of distraction” (157). Carr relates Google to some of the distractions he discussed in Chapter 6. As to support Carr's idea, I too, believe that those blue, ordinary but attractive hyperlinks are hard to resist. Therefore, the truth of the matter persists that technology has paralyzed people and impaired their sense of awareness.
ReplyDeleteWhen, as humans, we use and operate with computers as much as we do we become attached. Unable to discontinue use because of how our lives are so intertwined with the “life “ of the computer and the internet. Some would even go as far to say, “The human brain is just and outdated computer that needs a faster processor and a bigger hard drive- and better algorithms to steer the course of its thought”. You are what you do. Our brain is so instructed in the ways of the computer that we psychologically become one.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter eight of Nicholas Carr's "The Shallows" Carr contemplates how the website Google has developed the way we think and shortened our attention span. Carr states,"The development of a well-rounded mind requires both an ability to find and quickly parse a wide range of information and a capacity for open-ended reflection... The problem today is that we’re losing our ability to strike a balance between those two very different states of mind. Mentally, we’re in perpetual locomotion.” Carr is explaining how our minds must have the ability to comprehend information and reflect on that Information. He believes that Google is affecting the way we go about retaining information.
ReplyDeleteSpeed is key when it comes to the web, and publishers on the Web have it down to a science. Their main goal is to catch user’s attention and have them visiting their page before the user even really thinks about it. Carr suggest that the “history of the Web suggests that the velocity of data will only increase” (157). To publishers it’s all about the money, so the more their pages distract you the quicker they gain the income. Carr believes, and I agree, that these ads are a huge problem when it comes to our lack of focus.
ReplyDeleteSince I began reading the novel "The Shallows", I have heard many other students criticizing Nicholas Carr and saying that he is too "old-fashioned" and that he "hates technology". However, this is definitely not the case. While discussing Google's plan to digitize all books, Carr presents the argument that "The problem today is that we are losing our ability to strike a balance between those two very different states of mind [taking time to efficiently collect data and taking time for 'inefficient contemplation']. We are in perpetual states of locomotion." (168). Carr makes it clear that he supports the benefits of technological advances, and believes there is a time to use them. What he is saying is that many people are beginning to lose the sense of value in slowing down and thinking deeply. Humans are getting too caught up in the idea of retrieving information fast so you have more time to do other things fast and so on. Carr is completely right, we need to set boundaries for how we let technology affect us. Using the Internet is great, but don't let it consume all of your time. Make sure that you are setting aside time to focus on other things that are important to you. Deep thinking is an extremely valuable skill that needs to be maintained, not overshadowed by new technologies.
ReplyDeleteIn Nicholas Carr’s, “The Shallows,” Carr argues how the creation of Google is revolutionary. The amount of information provided by Google improves cognitive skills by the ability to “search” information quickly. Google produces Structures passages that make the words more understandable by a reader thus making the reader more aware what’s on screen. Carr shows theat “ you have to try and make words less human and more a piece of the machinery” through the use of a quote by Mayer (151). This allows the reader to be more engaged in the information as is becomes more suitable to the topic at hand depending on the information on the site. Google provides useful information and is helpful to the people who use it to there advantage but also use it correctly.
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