Educational Utopia

Peter W. Cookson Jr. addressed various paradigmatic changes needed in his article about school reform, by asking the question, “What Would Socrates Say?” He stated, “We are on the threshold of a worldwide revolution in learning. (Cookson par. 18). While ignoring obstacles, chief of which would be profit motive of the corporations in control, Cookson outlined a utopian vision of the world as a better place with ‘full immersion learning experiences.’ (par. 28). One could almost catch the contagion of his enthusiasm while reading about the classroom learning experiences of middle school students challenged to define and thereby learn “What is Justice” and larger issues such as providing clean water sources to the world.

Cookson clearly envisions a future of cooperation and collaboration between not only Teacher and Student but this spirit of unity transcends the classroom and extends out into the world at large. To me this view is (pardon me for saying so) naïve and overly trusting. Ask any 5 year old what Facebook is for and you’ll likely hear the answer, “It helps me make friends.” Children simply cannot be expected to understand that Facebook monetizes the friendships of its membership. Privacy is not a constitutional right. According to Steven Reisler, practicing attorney and Chair of the Seattle Chapter of the National Lawyers' Guild, the United States Supreme Court just last year ruled in a 5 to 4 decision that Corporations (being people) could not be limited in the amount of money they spent for political advertising (US Supreme Court 558US50). The FCC ruled against Comcast on a recent Net Neutrality issue and afterward Verizon Wireless positioned itself, stating that their subscribers should be allowed to trust them and there was no need for governmental control of access or content of what we call the World Wide Web. Virgin Media CEO says, “Net Neutrality is a load of bollocks”.

Cookson states that proponents of his concept believe “we can Google, blog, Skype and Twitter our way to enlightenment.” (par. 4). We are told, “Socrates used to challenge the status quo.” It is Cookson’s thought that Socrates "would embrace the new learning era." (par. 34). But could he? Even a philosopher and educator as great as Socrates could have difficulty in the modern day as we face the advent of our dawning age.

Summary by Annie Goodale

Author Peter Cookson Jr states in his article,"What Would Socrates Say?" that the socrates method of teaching is changing education. This new approach is already happening today in the 21st century(par 26). Throughout Cookson's article he keeps referring to education as being a social thing and gives a hypothetical example about students connecting with other students and teachers around the world via the Web to work together on a research project about "What is Justice?"(par23).
Cookson says, "None of us are education islands"(par14). In other words, we aren't learning by ourselves and each of us can bring our own perspectives to the table so to speak. Some students tend to learn best in a social setting where they can dialogue with other students about what they are learning, and allows them to put things in their own words and test one another to see if they really know the material or not. I think the Socrates Method of learning could be a good thing. It will take off fast with the changes in technology and like I said earlier it's already starting. Cookson's article goes hand in hand with Carr, Agger and Wurman on the topics of educating ourselves and how technology plays into that, but Cookson is taking a different spin on it.

“Quotation Sandwiches”, by Nichole Lee

In Nicholas Carr's article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" he suggests that it is the assumption of such companies like Google that "We'd all be better off if our brains were supplemented, or even replaced by an artificial intelligence" (Carr, par. 28). Carr's perspective on this challenges the idea of how brains work and think while reading online. Carr points out while we read online our brains think with less confusion, eliminating many of the steps we use while reading traditionally. So I have to ask myself next time I read an article online, is my brain simply working much like a "out dated computer, needing a faster processor and a bigger hard drive" (Carr, par.28) or am I allowing myself the time to process and focus on information in a traditional sense.

According to Illya, a student of WCC she states, "I feel it's very important to understand and utilize the traditional way of reading in our lives". Illya's comment seems to really relate to what Carr is trying to point out in his article. I believe Illya is not disagreeing with reading online but urging us to continue our understandings of text reading. Who is to say what works best for each individual, but that of the individual.

Quotation Sandwich

Kevin Eaton

In Michael Agger’s view, “On the Internet, we hunt for facts. In earlier days when switching between sites was time-consuming, we tended to stay in one place and dig. Now we assess a site quickly, looking for an information scent. We move on if there doesn’t seem to be any food around.” (Agger pg 1) Basically, Agger is saying with the internet being faster than it was if we don’t instantly see what we are looking for then we just move on and continue on the hunt for that thing.

The reason I chose that is because this is just yet another reason online writers are having trouble drawing the attention of the readers.

Nicholas Carr himself writes, “Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do.”(Carr pg 1) Carr is stating that even himself as a writer is having a hard time focusing on reading when there is an endless amount of entertainment at the very tips of his fingers.

This quote shows that even people such as Nicholas Carr and even maybe Michael Agger are having trouble focusing on one thing with the internet just being a huge source of entertainment that can distract almost anyone.

Quotation Sandwiches

In Nicholas Carr’s view; he explains how the internet and the media, has a strong influence in today’s society. Carr argues in his article that, “the more we use the web, the more we have to fight to stay focus in long pieces of writing” (Carr par.5). In other words Carr believes that, people who use the web tend to have more distractions and it is more of a mission to stay focused. While others are doing a research on important material, there are others that wonder off and lose focus of the material they were looking at a minute ago. The essence of Carr’s argument is that we don’t look at the reading material in depth. We look for bold titles, key words, just basically the main obvious information and just stay on the surface of the material, and don’t take the time to read in depth and understand the true meaning and point of the material.
On the other hand, while classmate and Whatcom Community College student Michael Sparkes puts it, “it seems to me that we are trading speed for depth, and risk losing the richness of our most cherished authors” (Sparkes). In other words, Sparkes believes that we are not taking the time to go in depth in the material. We skim right through the material quickly letting all important facts pass us by. As many people use that famous quote “time is money”, it’s really more of an excuse to take a look at things but having no clue of what it is about, skimming right through, but no willing to take the risk to enrich their mind, and gain knowledge.

The Art of Quoting

They say that quote is worth a thousand words. It validates, it inspires, it creates a solid foundation of argumentative fact. They say it assists the writer in corraborating and communicating the main points they are trying to get across. "A quotation, like a pun, should come unsought and then be welcomed only for some propriety of felicity justifying the intrusion" Robert Chapman. In Robert Chapmans view, a quote should pop in without explination and only be taken seriously if the writer explains it's meaning and justifys why it's there in the first plac
I say, yes. A quote only holds as much merit as the merit your writings and ideas give it. In my opinion quotes, unless used expertly don't really have a place in others writings. Well every once and a while they do, but I feel that you should be able to substantiate your ideas without using multiple quotes.

Dean's Quotation Sandwiches

Carr states, “As people's minds become attuned to the crazy quilt of Internet media, traditional
media have to adapt to the audience's new expectations.” Carr's point is that traditional media needs to make the stories they report on flasher and to the point fast the they used to do.

Carr himself writes, “Most of the proprietors of the commercial Internet have a financial stake
in collecting the crumbs of data we leave behind as we flit from link to link-the more crumbs, the better. The last thing these companies want is to encourage leisurely reading or slow, concentrated thought. It's in their economic interest to drive us to distraction.” The essence of Carr's argument is that where we go and the things we read and see on the Internet, some one is making money on it. Google is collecting bits and peaces of where we go and see so the next time we come back to look for what we want it is more tailored for us.

Two Sandwiches

Two Quotes
“You need to start at the beginning, so to speak, before you can really understand further concepts” – Heather

“I am a success when I do something that I myself can truly understand” – Richard Saul Warman

Sandwiches
Heather tells us “you need to start at the beginning, so to speak, before you can really understand further concepts”. Her point is that unless we have a good foundation on something you can’t learn it. You must learn to walk before you can run. You need to know the numbers before you can add, you need to know the alphabet before you can read. If we establish a great foundation on the subject we wish to learn in we can excel.

Warmen says “I am a success when I do something that I myself can truly understand” he is expressing how he feels when he truly understands things, how he feels and is successful when he understands these things. When we learn something new we are successful. Successful in establishing a great foundation to our learning.

Quotation Sandwhiches...mmm turkey..

As the prominent author Richard Wurman states, “The most essential prerequisite to understanding is to be able to admit when you don’t understand something.” If you can’t admit that you don’t understand whatever is being presented to you, then you’re going to be as confused as a deer in the headlights when it comes time to pass that information onto someone else. Basically, Wurman is saying that in order to understand materials given to you- whether it be a mechanics handbook or a math problem- you need to be ignorant and ask questions to help you in understanding. Wurman also states, “When you can admit that you don’t know, you are more likely to ask the questions that will enable you to learn.” In making this comment, Wurman urges us to think outside the box; let your ego take a nap and ask questions. I’ve always believed that you will never learn all that you can if you don’t ask questions.

Dakota's qoutation sandwiches

In Carr’s article titled Is Google Making Us Stupid? He says, “Old media have little choice but to play by the new-media rules.” In my essay I wrote about how the internet has made it so easy for people to get information that it makes them lazy and less skilled information gatherers. This quote from Carr’s article really extends my idea because our society has gotten so hooked on the web that we are slowly turning our back on books and media like TV, radio, and newspaper. We have been drifting further and further away from the simple ways of acquiring information and have been subliminally conditioned to think like computers.

As we are drained of our “inner repertory of dense cultural inheritance,” Foreman concluded, we risk turning into “pancake people”-spread wide and thin as we connect with that vast network of information accessed by the mere touch of a button.” Carr quotes this from Richard Foreman who is using the metaphor of pancake people to describe a culture with more information access but less personality. I think this is definitely true because as individuals get filled up more with easy information access they do seem to lose deep thinking and contemplation as well as the individuality and deep personality that is attributed to those tasks.

Quotation Sandwiches

“Quotation Sandwiches” 1-25-11


Author Nicholas Carr is studying how much the internet is affecting our ability for deep thinking. He quotes scholars from University College London who study our time on the internet as saying, “ We may well be in a sea of change in the way we read and think.” These findings should challenge us to think about an extraordinary evolution that may be taking place within our thought process.

Researchers found that people exhibit “a form of skimming activity by hopping from one internet source to another and rarely returning to any source they’d already visited.” What are the consequences of reading on line in this fashion? Carr is concerned that it is, “scattering our attention and diffusing our concentration” setting us up for potential cognitive shortcomings that could have far reaching effects. Katherine

Quote sandwiches

According to Carr, “the Net is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mind.” Carr’s point is that we, as a society, are using the Internet more to get the majority of our information. This goes along with my essay because I believe that this “Internet age” is still in its infancy and that as time goes on, we will get more and accept more form the Internet.


In his article, Is Google Making us Stupid?, Nicholas Carr maintains that, “As people’s minds become attuned to the crazy quilt of the Internet media, traditional media have to adapt to the audience’s new expectations.” Carr’s point is that as the Internet grows and we change the way we think, then it will have an impact on the way information will affect us. Advertisers will have to change they way they advertise and market their products. Books may take on a new many or use, TV may even end up playing a different roll in our lives. This to fit’s into my essay because I believe that these are the first steps to our greater evolution.

Quotation Sandwiches: Meagan

1. Nicholas Carr complicates matters further when he explains Google’s perspective on technology saying, “The more pieces of information we can ‘access’ and the faster we can extract their gist, the more productive we become as thinkers.” (Carr par. 24) In making this comment, Carr urges us to see both sides of the spectrum by taking a look at the culprit’s perspective. He shows us that Google sees nothing wrong with their company and feels that it only benefits the society – and naturally they would say that. My argument conflicts with Carr’s statement because all of the accessible information is causing our generation to limit our thinking ability. Mostly every question we have can be answered within seconds using Google’s search engine. As a result, deep and analytical thinking goes right out the window.

2. Michael Agger states, “In earlier days, when switching between sites was time-consuming, we tended to stay in one place and dig.” (Agger pg. 1) In other words, as web sites became easier and easier to operate, society has trained their minds to switch from site to site hoping that the next one will have more information and possibly be in a more simple format. This world keeps spinning faster and it seems as if people have no time to spare anymore. Everything seems to be rushed and quick - losing depth and quality. Nobody “digs” anymore for a deep understanding.

Quotation Sandwich Practice

Today's episode of TMZ on TV included a segment about the recently deceased Jack LaLanne, an American fitness expert and TV Host described as the inventor of the Jumping Jack. The changing nature of online information was witnessed as the commentators of the fast paced show checked their facts online during the broadcast. Wikipedia had first confirmed that Jack LaLanne was the inventor of the Jumping-Jack but the article was revised in realtime not even 30 seconds after the comment was aired to say, "Jack LaLanne never claimed to invent the jumping-jack but only to have popularized it in the United States." The Wiki article was also amended to say, "Lindsey from TMZ on TV is wrong."

Anyone with Internet access can write and make changes to Wikipedia, a self described quick encyclopedia and font of online knowledge. Annie Goodman, a blogger engaged in 'Conversations Beyond the Classroom' and student at Whatcom Community College writes, "The information we gain today might be void tomorrow." Her point, so well demonstrated by the good staff at TMZ on TV is followed by a relevant question, "So if information is constantly changing can we learn anything?"

Nicholas Carr, an author who writes on the social, economic and business implications of technology has revealed that the Internet changes the way we think. Our minds become engaged in a broader capacity when our decision making process gets involved. Information architects such as Google and other Internet search engine providers have become involved in the ominous business of adding artificial intelligence to the business of modern understanding. My discussion of the changing nature of information on the Internet is in fact addressing the larger matter of intellectual honesty and societies already strained capacity for trust.

Quotation Sandwiches

a.

• "Nielsen focuses on how to hold people's attention to convey information. He's not overly concerned with pleasure reading" (Agger 3)
  
  
• "We have to teach our minds how to translate the symbolic characters we see into the language we understand." (Carr 3)

b.

• Agger states that, "Nielsen focuses on how to hold people's attention to convey information. He's not overly concerned with pleasure reading" (Agger 3). Agger's point is that when writing online, as a writer you have to write in a way to keep the readers attention and not in the way a writer would want too.

I chose this because when writing in my essay about Lazy Eyes I talked about the meaning of the article which was how to read online. In the article he talked about how he had to write as a writer himself online and the main focus was to keep the reader interested.

• Carr himself writes, "We have to teach our minds how to translate the symbolic characters we see into the language we understand." (Carr 3). Carr’s point is that the Internet is making us so we don’t have to think and in the long haul, making us stupid. So the only knowledge our minds get is when we have to find a deeper meaning of the language we use and how we understand it.

I chose this because in my essay I use the article Is Google Making Us Stupid and talk about how Carr defines the Internet and the information/knowledge people are gaining and how it is nothing near the amount we need to keep our minds growing.

Quotation Sandwich

Quotation Sandwich using a peer quote
by: Annie Goodale

I think this whole issue of reading online and making writers change how they write is important because we are living in a society today that revolves around technology.
Fellow classmate and student at Whatcom Community College, Dean Macy writes, "Life is moving fast, information even faster. We need to get to the point and move on."(Dean Macy)
In other words, what I think Macy is saying that we need to keep things short and simple, because nowadays we don't have the time to spend in a lengthy article.
Our society is fast paced and they want information now. We don't want to wait til we've reached the end of a twenty page article just to find the information or the answer we are looking for, especially when we could find the same answer in a shorter amount of time. The information we gain today might be void tomorrow. So if information is constantly changing can we learn anything?

An illustration of a quote sandwich

   There are several opinions on the subject of the Internet and whether or not it may be making us stupid as suggested in Nicholas Carr’s article, “Is Google making us stupid” but one opinion I found to be particularly interesting and informative was A 2008 study conducted by the world renowned  Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA who was quoted as saying that “middle-aged and older adults who spent time browsing the web not only boosted their brain power but also could help prevent cognitive decline such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia later on in life” Using FMRI imaging technology the Scientist would scan the brains of the participants blood flow through the brain then compared them to a scan as the people were browsing the remarkable finding was that all participants displayed brain activity during book reading tasks which correspond to reading, language, memory and visual abilities but the browser savvy group also showed activity in parts of the frontal lobe which control decision making, and complex reasoning this study not only displays the plasticity of our brains but also our ability to continue learning as we get older and debunks the theroy that Google is making us stupid.

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

In the article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" Carr makes several strong points to suggest that the media is pushing us to think faster and what they call more "efficiently". Carr states, "the internet is a machine designed for the efficient and automated collection, transmission, and manipulation of information, and its legions of programmers are intent on finding the "one best method" to carry out every mental movement of what we've come to describe as "knowledge work".

With Google being one of our largest search engines out there and the abundance of information they provide us, one would hope that it would be in the company's best interest to give us accurate, straight forward information. Carr argues this is not the case. He states that it is not in the interest of these companies to encourage slow leisure reading or concentrated thoughts, but simply to distract us in a way that benefits them economically.

Technology has become a major component in the way we learn today. However, I think Carr is encouraging to ask ourselves "what works for me as a reader and how do I obtain information most accuratly?

Is Google Making Us Stoopid?

Nicholas Carr's 2008 cover story in TheAtlantic, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" strikes a chord, or should I say, a note of discord with me. Nicholas G. Carr, an American Writer who is currently working on his book, "The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing To Our Brains," suggests that technology is affecting the way mankind thinks. Carr begins his article with a quote from Hal 9000, the distressed computer from Stanley Kubrick's movie, "2001: A Space Odyssey, "Dave, my mind is going..."

"Over the past few years I've had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn't going --so far as I can tell --but it's changing," Carr wrote. "I'm not thinking the way I used to think."

The article goes on to discuss what the internet and in a larger view, what technology itself is doing to our brains. Carr covers several examples of how technology has affected us including the invention of the printing press, typewriters, and the clock as well as the internet. "Voracious book readers" are quoted to have complained, "What if I do all my reading on the web not so much because the way I read is changed, i.e. I'm just seeking convenience, but because the way I THINK has changed?" (Carr, 2)

Questions such as, "Is my mind going?" and "Am I a Luddite?" are asked. Carr closes his article with another reference to 2001, "I am haunted by that scene... What makes it so poignant, and so weird, is the computer's emotional response to the disassembly of its mind." (Carr, 8). What strikes me as even more weird is my numbed reaction to what Carr alleges is happening to my mind. I am left with a question of my own then, "With its many distractions has the internet induced a semi-mindless response in me where I am now content to be led and herded much like a contented cow (toward any unknown) as long as I can browse? In other words, will my appitites consume me?

Is Google making us STUPID?!?!

In the article "Is Google Making us stupid?" Nicholas Carr Speaks about how the media is taking over our minds, making things easier in a way, because of the media we dont put our minds to work. For almost everything we use the internet to find what we need "the internet, an immeasurably powerful, computing system, is subsuming most of our other intellectual technologies its becoming our map and our clock, our printing press and our radio and tv." we dont take the time to challenge ourselves and look for an easy, faster way out.

Google???

Is google making us stupid? Carr hit on a lot of interesting points in this article. The thing that I chose to focus on however was the statement, " We are how we read " . I can relate to this statement. When I'm in the process of reading thought provoking material, I tend to think more outside of the time that I'm reading it. The same thing happens when I'm reading incredibly easy stuff. You can notice it in conversation with people to, I have better, more intellectual conversations with those who read more intellectual stuff. In the entire 8 page article, that statement was one of the three things that stuck with me after the first read. I had to re-read it to understand it more.
-DeKriek

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

In the essay "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" Carr talks about how people turn to the internet and google too find their answers. And how Google is making up read differently. How we start to scam through the paragraphs and how people can't read a 7 page paper anymore, that they rather scam to find the answers. I think that Google does do that, and that it is a easier way to find our answers, but yeah makes us lazier. I know that I would rather go to Google and find my question with a click of my mouse, rather than having to read the text to find it myself. I also think that Google deprives us from what we learned in our earlier years. For example, in high school we learn about research papers and proper ways to write/read/research. But while using Google we don't have to much reading, like I said we just have to click our mouse and we find what we are looking for.

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Nicholas Carr has recently written an article in the Atlantic about the new age of how society retrieves its information. Carr’s main focus in the article is the internet, particularly the huge company and search engine Google. He describes how the web has become a medium between the people that use it and the info that it channels. One would think that getting info off the web is the same as getting it from books. Carr seems to be pointing to an eerie reality that the web is changing the way that we think. He backs up this idea with a wide array of sources to try and prove his point but ultimately lets the reader decide.

He explains that the web feeds us information in a fashion that makes us intellectually lazy. We are able to get the amount of information that could take days of searching through books in just minutes or even seconds. This ease of information access has given us a lack of brain exercise that has made it hard to concentrate and read long books hard for people that use the web often.

I personally agree with Carr’s idea that the internet is shaping our thought process because I can see the results that the internet has had on our culture and other people, although I haven’t noticed it with myself. I think that we will see even more evidence of this as time goes on because our society seems to only be getting more addicted to the internet.

“Is Google Making Us Stupid?”

I'm just going to try writing this like "Lazy Eyes: How We Read Online" by Michael Agger.

When people talk about how computers is evolving more and more, we find ourselves turning away from our ability to read long passages.

In "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" by Nicholas Carr, they say that we are not just walking away from literature but rather a full sprint away from it. However, I say that since we are not taking our time having to read a 10 page paper to get the main point, rather than nowadays we just read a couple paragraphs and we get the main point in a matter of minutes.

THEY SAY:

• Can't consume the depth of the knowledge that was once needed
• TV, Radio, and computers are consuming us all
• Skim long passages and skip boring details.
• We have shorten our attention span
• Starting to live and depend on technology
  

We are starting to have the ability to learn more and more knowledge. Everyone doesn’t truly want the whole details; they just want to know what happened, what caused it etc. And then they are satisfied. We aren’t shorting our knowledge but we are actually gaining knowledge, with the consequence of only to lose the boring details out of it. Even news anchors only spend, what, 30 seconds to maybe a minute tops, on a story that’s interesting.

I SAY:

• Its helping us gain more knowledge
• Just making life a little bit easier
• Expanding the human knowledge, in our heads and around us
• Brain is malleable, its always changing and learning new things

There is so much going on out there that we need to shorten stories and news articles. I feel at some point that everyone can know everything that is happening in the world right now, if every single story just had a few main details about it. Shortening the depth of knowledge will give us the opportunity to expand our length of knowledge that we can take in.

Conversant Notes: "Is Google making us stupid?"

Nicholas Carr’s article embraces the idea of skeptisism in our infinite information age involving the vast use of the internet and how modern technology effects our process of learning information. He mentions that the system of the internet’s information highway was designed to create “perfect efficiency” of information and communication. In his introduction Carr suggests that the internet age has created a change in thinking, especially in reading. He shares his own experience relating an increase of internet use and other technology to the decrease in the ability to “deep read”, to concentrate and internally comprehend reading materials. He also describes coming to this realization with a sense that there is “someone or something tinkering with my brain” and goes on to point out for many “the Net is becoming a universal medium” in encompassing the debatable question, “Is Google making us stupid?”

Many of us could agree that we are in the midst of many changes in the way we read and think about today’s media. Some of us can identify with how the internet produces a style of skimming text versus deeply understanding the content in which we are reading. In exploring both sides to this debate, Carr explains the advantages of having information at our fingertips as “the perfect recall of silicon memory” and how it can be a boost to thinking, but it comes with a price. “And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation”, Carr states . It is interesting how he compares his mind to being” a scuba diver in the sea of words” in deep reading and thinking as apposed to “jet skiing” on the surface.

In our society today we are valued for how we interpret the content of what we read and how quickly we are able to process that information to create productivity. Despite my own concerns of this being an era of too much information, I too find internet research to be both helpful and a hinderance in communication. Being aware of the changes in how we read and interpret information will help us to make necessary moves to counter-act the unsavory effects of reading on the internet. Ultimately it seems it is up to us as readers to expose ourselves to various forms of text including written print and to recognize when we are merely “jet skiing” the surface of information.

Is Google Really Making Us Stupid???

2. When it comes to the topic of the article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid” by Nicholas Carr, most of us will readily agree that today’s society is made easier with the technology available to us. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of is this technology really making us stupid? Or just lazy. Some are convinced that with this technology our brains are not being used nearly as much and in terms weakening our minds. I believe that that is true, because even though we read throughout the day does not mean the reading we find helpful such as Internet and texting is not at the level to let our brains have to find a deeper meaning that you would have to do if you were searching for such information yourself.

3. My own view is that we read daily through Internet and texting and even though we do read more than we did years ago it is at such a level that is not allowing our brains to work, and in such can weaken our minds. Though I concede that it’s a bit melodramatic to say that such a website as Google is making us stupid, I still maintain that yes we do use this website to gather information which makes it easier on our parts and could be causing our minds to become weak. For example, a quote from the article states, “Our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental corrections that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged,” (Carr 3). Although some might object that the Internet is helping us and there is no need find any objections because we know more now than we did years ago, I reply that what we do daily is important to us but it also important to let your mind work from time to time; let it find a deeper meaning. The issue is important because we all need to think once and awhile and by finding a deeper meaning and asking questions allows us to find out more out about that subject and ourselves.

Stupid or Just Plain Lazy?

Kevin Eaton

When it comes to the topic of Google making us stupid, most of us will readily agree that Google doesn't exactly make us stupid but more lazy than anything. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of is the information we are learning actually information or just data, and does any part of it actually help us or does it just fill our brains with useless data. Whereas some are convinced that Google helps us it allows us to work at a faster and more efficient pace, others maintain that the faster pace it allows us to work at, is just making data in our head nothing we can use as useful information because all we were searching for was the answer. I believe that Google doesn't make us stupid, lazy yes but not stupid, because it's just a more efficient way to find information instead of digging through books for days.

My own view is that Google is allowing people to work at a faster and more efficient pace, which is making us lazy. Though I concede that Google does give us the information we are looking for faster so that we are basically filling our heads with data and not always useful information, I still maintain the belief that it is making us more lazy than anything. For example if I were to need the definition of any work in the dictionary Google would allow me the quick and easy way of just typing it in and hitting enter, whereas with out that technology I would be forced to pick up a dictionary and skim though the pages until I find the desired word. Although some might object that Google can really help our intellectually state of mind, I reply that it helps me every day it makes homework and many other tasks easier to complete and a lot less stressful. This issue is important because I believe Google is a very helpful source of knowledge and it greatly helps the majority of people.

Meagan K: Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Carr discusses the powerful impact of technology in our lives and how we are shaped by the resources that we use. He explores the ideas of distraction, process of thinking, mental habits, and productivity of the times. In Carr's essay, he uses several resources from different opinion to strengthen his overall perspective. He shares one with us from Richard Foreman. Richard claims that as technology has developed, we are not longer a "personally constructed and unique version", we are walking information hoarders who choose not to make anything of it.

He shows that as a society, we are pressured and somewhat forced to succumb to the technology. For example, it is impossible to make it through a college course without using a computer to research. They are now a requirement in order to pass. And many of us choose to succumb because of the "intellectual laziness" that overcomes us and eliminates deep thinking and deep research.

My own view is that everyone is given the same data through Google. Yet, we have not developed this data into knowledge whatsoever. If we had deep reading and deep research, then knowledge would be formed and eventually wisdom. But having access to such information gives society no reason to think deeply. It's all right at the tip of our fingers!

Google=Stupid ??

In his recent work, Carr suggests that "the net is becomming a universal medium." Or as we would call it today, a societal norm; a must have. Without the internet, we would not know nearly as much data or information that we have right now. We might be learning it faster, but we are still getting the same information that we did without the internet. Carr is saying that the net is so commonly used, without it we would be like chickens with our heads cut off. Even though sociecty survived before the break of the net, you wouldn't be able to just get rid of it. Do you think google makes people stupid?

An article in the Atlantic by Nicholas Carr: Is Google making us stupid?

In recent work Carr suggests that in there economic interests to drive us to distraction Google may in fact be making us stupid. Creating an entire population of information bite masters none of which have true wisdom. Carr claims that over the past few years he has noticed an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something has been tinkering with his brain, remapping the neural circuitry, Carl feels his mind just isn’t thinking the way it used to he describes his inability to read for long periods of time without being fidgety and losing interest within a few pages and even says that he has friends that are scholars who have complained of the same.

      One controversial point made was Carr’s  implication that  with no one being forced to dove into a subject through deep reading and deep thinking the synapses in our brains will lose their ability to master anything, you will meet people thought to be very intelligent like a deep sea diver of information when in reality they have no deep knowledge of a subject rather they are more of a jet skier skipping across the top of the ocean of knowledge. According to modern neuroscience, thanks to our brains plasticity  the adaptation occurs at a biological level, so they will (as scientific studies show) adapt to the quick fix  of instant information literally re-wiring the brain and the way we take in and store information.

  On the other hand we do not know if this change will be a good thing or a bad thing and studies also show that our brains can make an adaptation rather quickly. In fact it can be argued that this whole thing is paranoia no different than the reaction of Plato to the Idea of written language, he would say it would destroy peoples memory or the introduction of the book, the printing press, the television, type writer, radio, and telephone, All thought by many to be the worst thing for people the world had ever seen even the invention of the clock was not without the skepticism by many thinking it would lead to the destruction of the inner clock. Turns out that with all the fear mongering the thing these people failed to consider was the pay off, while the thought of change scarred many so bad, they never stopped to think about the possibility that the change may be for the better.

       In my opinion, though I can see both sides of the argument, it remains to be seen whether or not the internet will reroute our wiring leaving us all shallow minded zombies that are great  poker players but I will say that to have the ability to spend a few minutes doing the same amount of research that 20 years ago may have taken countless hours in a library seems like a positive evolution to me and as a people we need to take on the challenges that will keep all of our little neurons working on our own.

Summary #1

Annie Goodale
English 100
1/14/2011
Summary

In Nicholas Carr’s article, “Is Google making us stupid?” he states that with technology changing, our ways of reading and thinking are changing. We don’t want to take the time to read a twelve page article online so we skim through it hoping to catch the context. If you look at it from a psychology stand point you can say that our brains are changing the way we process things. James old, in Carr’s article says, “The adult mind is very plastic. Nerve cells routinely break old connections and form new ones.” Later on in Carr’s article, he says “the process of adapting to new intellectual technologies is reflected in the changing metaphors we use to explain ourselves to ourselves.” For example the idea of the mechanical clock changing how we think about things like when is it time to eat, sleep, drink, study etc. We are now relying on the clock that represents time to tell us these things instead of allowing our body and our brain to tell us.

I think there is some value to what Carr is saying. He is just making an argument that basically says technology is changing and as a result we are changing. I believe that technology can be a beneficial tool but it can also be destructive and time consuming. We rely so much on technology that we almost forget how to do the basic things. We tend to “freak out” if the computer crashes or our phones quit working. But back in the early centuries the people didn’t worry about computers or cell phones because they weren’t even invented yet. Life seemed to be so much simpler before technology came to be a huge part of how we think and do things.

Group 3

Breanna Almanzo
Nicole Lee
Asalia Nolasco
Evelyn Alvarez

Group 3
Paragraph 22-28

In the article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?", by Nicholas Carr paragraph 22-28 we found that our technology is trying to make it where we learn stuff faster and mask it so that it seems more efficient, when at the end it makes it more destracting to us. Carr makes a point that Google had an economic interest to destract us by feeding us advertisments. The assumption was that if our brains were like computers everything would be okay.

Hello everyone!

Hi my name is Dakota and I am 17 in my second year at Whatcom doing the running start program. I race motocross and love to exercise. I am also a very non-conforming type of person and I have very strong beliefs and a very unique worldview. I enjoy staying up on current events and societal trends. I really don’t write very often unless it’s for a class but I love to read any non-fiction books that have important information. So that’s about all I have to say about me; have a good quarter.

Kristy Morrison's Bio

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

-Mark Twain

My name is Kristy. My friends and family often refer to me as Kris or Krik. And to two out-of-the-world adorable boys, I’m known as mommy.

I have my share of sob stories, but don’t we all? I’m living for today while learning from my past. If I hadn’t been who I was then, I wouldn’t be who I am now. It’s been an uphill battle but I really like the person that I am today.

I became pregnant with my oldest son (Kade) when I was a sophomore in high school. While he was learning how to walk, I was learning how to be a full time mother, full time high school student, and full time employee at the age of 17. Fast forward six years , while he’s now in kindergarten learning how to write and my youngest (Elijah age 2) is learning how to talk in sentences, I’m still learning how to balance being a single mother, college student, and employee. Between the insanity of it all, I still find time to do other things (ie: breath.) I’m an aspiring writer, lawyer, Jedi Master, and basically a million other things I’d love to be.

After 23+ years, I am still learning something new about myself every day. I am extremely passionate about law and politics which stemmed from when I was involved with teen court, mock trail, and a "We The People" competition in high school. I have been blessed with some of the most amazing people in my life that a girl could ask for. I’m a huge fan of the late 80s. I'm love a plethora of musical genres, but British indie and heavy metal have a special place in my heart. I'm completely addicted to caffeine and taurine, most often consumed in the form of a red bull, but sometimes I'll change it up and grab a monster. I tend to over think things that don't matter and don't think enough about things that do. I love to read. I'm pretty fluent in sarcasm.I crave change, yet despise it when it happens. I can be the epitome of dysfunction at times. ...the end? :)

Bloggitay Bloggitay Bloggitay

Hello, I'm Alex DeKriek. You can call me Alex... Or DeKriek. Either one is fine. I love music and acting. Going to school here to get my transfers degree to UW to major in acting. I'm occasionally incredibly egotistical but I try to keep it in check. Um, have ADHD, love redbull, love dominoes, and I love my hair. Taking 6 months off from school in Spring of 2012 to move to L.A. I'll talk more about myself later I suppose.
-DeKriek

Illya's Introduction

My name is Illya. It has been over 17 years since I have embarked upon my education as an adult. I am studying to earn a degree as an Administrative Assistant. I am a single mother with 2 amazing tween-agers that keep me busy and are my top priority. I love to preserve my youth in many ways, I am passionate about the world around us and love to be in nature. In the winter you will find me squeezing in time to pursue my recreation passion, which is snowboarding. In addition to my passion for nature and adrenaline I enjoy writing daily for my own enjoyment and it's a great coping skill when it comes to processing daily events. I look forward to getting to know my classmates and perfecting my writing skills in this class.

Sean

My name is Sean and I'm 25 years old. I am attending Whatcom Community College to get my Bachelor degree in Computer Science. I enjoy life and the experiences that life gives us.

I Love Bellingham

Hello,

My children and I relocated three years ago to Bellingham and we have really enjoyed the lovely people, scenery, and mild temperatures. I am planning on transferring to Western next Winter quarter. I have really enjoyed my academic experience at Whatcom. Returning to school has been for me both personal as well as necessary to gain well needed skills to establish a career in the field of International Aid Work.

My family and I have made the decision 62 days ago to further our environmental efforts to keep going green by walking and taking the bus. I have been wanting to do that since we moved here! I absolutely love the freedom it has provided my family. Can’t wait to purchase bikes and use the interurban trail to access Chuckanut without a car. There’s a trail up to fragrance lake that transports you to another world.

Look forward to visiting all quarter! Katherine

Bio

Hello,

My children and I relocated three years ago to Bellingham and we have really enjoyed the lovely people, scenery, and mild temperatures. I am planning on transferring to Western next Winter quarter. I have really enjoyed my academic experience at Whatcom. Returning to school has been for me both personal as well as necessary to gain well needed skills to establish a career in the field of International Aid Work.

My family and I have made the decision 62 days ago to further our environmental efforts to keep going green by walking and taking the bus. I have been wanting to do that since we moved here! I absolutely love the freedom it has provided my family. Can’t wait to purchase bikes and use the interurban trail to access Chuckanut without a car. There’s a trail up to fragrance lake that transports you to another world.

Look forward to visiting all quarter! Katherine

RE: "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" Section 2

Nicholas Carr is saying Google is making us stupid, however, we feel that is it helping us become smarter. It may be in a different way, but it is helping us learn the main key points. When technology came out we stopped listening to out mental clock and starting just living and obeying the clock, when its time to eat we eat, when we may not even be ready to eat yet. We are able to reprogram our brains on the fly. Our brain is like a computer. Always changing and learning new facts. We have lost our depth on the perspective, we'd rather just learn the main fact and topics on the ideas, rather than learn how everything happened. There is too much information for one person to learn at a time.

group #4: paragraphs 29-end

Meagan Kaufmann, Jamica Henderson, Catherine James

Carr’s main idea in the last few paragraphs of his article is that in the past, information was gained through reading books and doing research that required full effort, thinking, and much more time. Nowadays, we can easily type in the topic of something and have all the information right in front of us. When the ideas come easier to us, we analyze and focus much less than we would if we put in the work to combine ideas from different resources. One of the key phrases that we found that explains the larger cultural conversation is that we are no longer a “personally constructed and articulate personality” but rather we all think the same and have the same information at hand. Some of us choose to make that information knowledge, but many of us insert the information needed for an assignment and continue on to Facebook.

Group 1, Paragrpahs 1-9

In his recent work, Carr claims the net is becoming a universal medium or a societal norm. He states that people get lost after a few pages of reading a book. They have to be doing more than one thing at once. He quotes, “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a jet ski.’ (Carr, 4) When reading a book, your brain already knows what its thinking; then you use the internet and your brain is forced to think in a way that society says to. Reading a book is like fending for you, but then using the internet is like being spoon fed the information. How can you be a voracious reader on the internet?

Who Am I?

I use to think that in another life I was a frog.. Now I have come to understand that I am not nor have I ever been a frog. I think I was crazy! Well, my name is Heather. I am a 24 year old sophmore here at Whatcom who is on the path of lazyness. I love to sit at home, watch tv and do homework. I am also a very outdoor person so if you come to me with some idea of something to do outside, I'm down! Frisbee golf! Soccer! Volleyball! And really, I'm not much of a blogger, but you can find me on facebook or text me! :) By the way, my favorite color is green..

About Me: Meagan K.

Hey. My name is Meagan Kaufmann. I am originally from Los Angeles, CA but moved to Bellingham the summer before my freshman year of high school. I graduated last spring from Sehome High School and am studying to become a dental hygienist. I have been a cheerleader for four years. I traveled to Orlando, Florida twice for Competitive Cheerleading Nationals placing 9th in the nation! I also cheered on my high school team but competitive was my passion.

The last two years have been difficult. Last December, in the middle of my last competitive cheer season, I was airlifted to Seattle Children's Hospital with a diagnosis of Leukemia because my bone marrow had stopped working. After several tests, 5 blood transfusions, and talk about my life expectancy, I was re-diagnosed with a blood disorder called Hereditary Spherocytosis. Thank God for no cancer!! Since then, I had my gall bladder removed and have my blood counts tested every other week. This October, it all happened again...except this time my liver failed and I was hospitalized for 12 days. But...I made it through everything and am here today, as healthy as I can be. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that I will not have another episode.

On a good note, I have an amazing family and an amazing boyfriend who I have been seeing for 2 years. I am very excited for where my life is headed and am hopeful that my blood disorder will never hold me back.

Nichole Lee

Hello All!

My name is Nichole and this is my second quarter here at Whatcom. As of right now I am working on my pre-requisites with the hope of getting into the Nursing program. At this point in my life Nursing seems to be a great fit for me, although I keep an open mind to different possibilities.

Three years ago my family and I moved to Bellingham from the San Juan Islands where I worked as a Scuba diving guide. Although I really miss the beauty of the Islands, I love the diversity Bellingham has to offer. There are many different things I enjoy doing, but exploring new adventures is by far my favorite.

A student named Michael

Greetings.

My name is Michael.

I used to describe myself as a single Dad but both my sons are on their own and today I am “just a student”. This is my 2^nd Quarter at WCC. It may sound strange to just say it straight out like this but over the course of many years I’ve neglected myself. That has recently changed. Her name was Billy and we were in love. Our plans included her selling her home in the UK and moving to the fine state of Washington to begin our new life together. The plans ended tragically mid-way through last year when my Billy died in a head-on accident on her way to visit her grandchildren.

Billy’s impact on my life continues through today and came through something that I found absolutely amazing. She was concerned for my health and wanted me to get a checkup (reasonable enough, yes?). The part that I found so amazing in this woman of 53 years was her response to my very gruff reply, “I don’t need a mother, dear.” It seems I had been single too long and was out of practice. Somehow she was able to suspend her concern and objection, summon the resolve, and table the conversation. Not once did she nag or cajole but she let me know that she cared and really only wanted the best for me. My assurance that I would take care of it before she moved was activated by her trust. I promised myself that I would begin a course of self-improvement. One that includes addressing both health and educational concerns. Today, my feet have stayed the course; my resolve is strengthened, “I’ll do it for her.”

One month after Billy died I kept my promise to her and went for my first checkup in many years (I don't like doctors). Life changes, eating well and regular exercise were the prescription. In the past 6 months I’ve been to four different doctors but I won’t bore you with the stories. Suffice it to say that my time here at WCC continues to be a labor of love and stems from a commitment to a healthier me. Perhaps my proudest accomplishment is my two sons who are both grown now. Neither have been involved in drugs, they’ve not been to jail and are both involved in healthy, stable, loving relationships. (Whew!). I raised them as a single Dad since my youngest (now 24) was three years old. They are both very proud of their dad and I am happy to be counted among those who have made similar decisions to follow a course of health and self-improvement.

~Michael

Me :)

Hey! :) My name is Ann, friends and family call me Annie. I was born in Tyler, Texas, moved to Bartlesville, OK when I was almost a year old. Since then I've moved all over with my parents and younger brother. I've lived in Bellingham for the last seven years and I love it here.
This is my second quarter here at Whatcom. I am pursuing my A.A.S. Degree but not entirely sure what direction I'm going with. I'm kinda leaning towards Office administration or medical receptionist.
I'm not a girlie girl but I'm not a tomboy either, if that makes any sense. I love life and the little things in life. When I'm not sitting in classes or doing homework, I'm hanging out with my boyfriend, volunteering at church in the children's ministry department, hanging out with friends and family.
I am 11 weeks pregnant and due at the end of July 2011. I am excited, scared, nervous and overwhelmed all at the same time.
I'm looking forward to this quarter and what it holds for me. :)

Evelyn Alvarez

Hello!
My name is Evelyn Alvarez.
I was born in California, Raised in Texas, Louisiana and here in Washington.
I graduated last Year from Highschool and currently goin to community college to get my AAS. Im stuck between whether or not to be an Occupational Therapist and Child Psychologist. I plan on transfering to Western. I am very involved in my church I sing in the chior and I teach Sunday school. Well Thats pretty much the basics of moi, if you wanna know more just hit me up and ask :)

Kevin Eaton

My name is Kevin Eaton I was born in Coupeville, Washington. I lived there all of my life until college started this year. I grew up in Coupeville schools socoming to Whatcom was a big change for me. I was going from a school of about 300 to a couple thousand. I love playing baseball and played for 13 years, one of which my baseball team got second in state. If I had not gotten hurt I would probably be attending a different school trying to continue to play baseball. I have a great interest in older cars; I personally restored a 1972 Pontiac Ventura and hope that will be the first of many cars. I hope to open up my own car restoration shop sometime down the road. I have a wide variety of musical choice and wish I had musical talent but sadly don’t.

Introduction to English 100 (about me)

Hello, my name is Morgan England. This is my second quarter here at Whatcom. I graduated last year from high school and I am here at Whatcom to take my prerequisites to get into the Nursing Program. I moved here from Tacoma and still am getting use to the area; however, I’m completely in love with Bellingham. So far I am enjoying all the classes I’ve taken as well as my teachers and the students.

Morgan England

What Can I Say

Honestly I have no idea what I can say. I understand I haven't lived long enough to have my own view points or ideas on living, but I am learning, learning new things day after day to truly understand how to live life to its fullest potential. I moved to Bellingham in 2001. This is the longest I've ever lived in one place. I used to move around every two years, and never really had much of a stable childhood. My family is my rock. I know after every girlfriend or every friend. I can always come back to them for guidance and help. Seattle is my new hometown. However I'm falling in love with Vancouver, being able to drink there is a big benefit lol. I love cars. I slowly but surely learning how to work on them and fix them. I am a true Northwestern, for my love in vw's. OH SO EURO. Is a common term I hear all the time. I love playing hockey, my hobby and love. Grew up with it and never stopped loving it. Always trying to pursue my dream of playing in the pros. Truthfully I am a honest kid, and just want to get ahead in life.