Does The Internet Make You Dumber Analysis

Carr (2010) writes about how the Internet makes us less intelligent in his article “Does the internet make you dumber?”. He states that the Net causes distractions and leads to lack of focus, and also it is turning us into shallower thinkers. Carr argues that the Net has bad effects on our brain and different media technologies impact negatively on how the brain works. He believes that using screen-based media leads to the brain’s weaknesses in cognitive processes because of following only a specific instruction. Moreover, Carr talks about how multitasking makes it difficult for us to sustain concentration. Two important issues from the article that I would like to discuss are Carr’s statements on how multitaskers distract easily and how the

Net results in the dominance of brain’s short-term memory over its long-term memory. I personally agree with both of them.
The first issue is about media multitasking. Carr (2010) refers to the scientific studies in which the brains of multitasking Internet users are shown to change as a result of their behavior. Consequently, such changes would make them more distracted. I think that, nowadays, the Internet is the significant cause of an increase in people’s multitasking. By spending much time on the Net, especially using tools such as Facebook or any other social media outlet, the users become more distracted, by temporary activities, and would think less deeply. In my case, I have realised that I was losing my own capacity for concentration. Even when I was away from my computer, my mind seemed hungry for quick hits of information. I asked myself, could my loss of focus be a result of all the time I have spent online? As a result, I believe that multitaskers have to try hard enough to control over their attention because they distract easily.
The next important idea is about short-term memory.

Carr (2010) states that the internet makes it harder for users to remember anything and also for the brain to move memories into the long-term memory. Furthermore, he thinks that by skimming information, the ability to read longer texts like novels will be diminished. I agree with him that for being able to retain vast quantities of knowledge in our long-term memory, paying deep attention is definitely needed. I believe that readers are less likely to remember information when they expect it to be available on the Internet. In my opinion, the Net is hampering our abilities to recall information. Whenever any break happens while doing my assignments, e.g. checking emails or sending a text message, it takes a couple of minutes for my brain to be able to concentrate again. So, the division of attention can cause some disabilities to focus the mind and then it results in the dominance of brain’s short-term memory.
In conclusion, multitasking has effects on the users’ abilities to retain their concentration, and also short-term memory overcomes long-term memory due to using the Net. Carr’s thesis is interesting and I agree with him. It is important to remember that excessive use of the Internet might cause permanent changes to the way our brains act; therefore, we, as users, have to pay more attention to the new digital age of media

consumption.