Brett Stinson
RWS 100
Professor Werry
The past century has provided society with a massive technological landslide in the form of cell phones, radios and what many describe as the leading advancement of our civilization, the Internet. After the initial public release of the Internet, everyday citizens have been provided access to the largest library in the world known as the World Wide Web. Although the Internet started out as a source that rarely provided success with slow and glitchy servers, and very few had a viable source of access, it awed the public audience as it was something that no one could have ever imagined coming into existence. Today the Internet is bustling with unbelievably high speeds and more websites than you could visit in a lifetime. Sites range from how to bake a cake to how to solve quantum mechanics. The possibilities of the Internet are endless. Although the internet has created a gold brick road leading to endless answers, it has stirred up great controversy. In 2008 the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” was written by Nicholas Carr, he discusses the worldwide debate on whether the internet is doing more good for the public or is it dimming us down. Carrs main argument is that the internet has created a negative effect on the human brain as it has caused it to be always wanting more information more rapidly and it causes the mind to always become distracted and thinking about other things. He states how as a writer where most of his information that he writes about comes from sources that he reads, using the internet has both had a positive and negative effects but he believes that the negatives far outweigh the positives. In this paper I will explore the rhetorical strategies implemented in Carr's argument and discuss whether he has created a persuasive argument.
One of the most efficient tools implemented by Carr is the usage of Analogies, the main one being the references often made to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey mainly during the scene where David Bowman is disassembling the artificial intelligence known as HAL. He uses this scene as a comparison to how the internet is "tinkering with [his] brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory"(Carr 1). In this analogy, Carr is describing how he is similarly suffering the same cognitive effects as he attempts to immerse himself in longer texts but cannot succeed. This comparison provides a good base for his argument, especially for those who have viewed the film, as it provides pathos as some find themselves in the same predicament that HAL and Carr are in. He uses this strategy in a persuasive manner as he wants his audience to gain a visualization of what the internet is physically doing to our brains and imagining our own brain as some super computer did this precisely. The specific comparison not only provided a stable emotional connection between the reader and the subject Carr is addressing, but it also provided a connection between the movie as a whole. It provides a larger connection as HAL in the film is controlling the passengers on the spacecraft the same way that the internet is controlling and manipulating the users. For those that have seen the film this connection is much stronger but for those who haven’t it is still able to imprint the idea of the internet picking apart at your brain so you will remember. By utilizing the techniques of Analogies that many can compare to allows the reader to immerse themselves in a deeper level of the argument as it provides them with a sense of pathos.
One of the strongest tools used by Carr that gives his argument a chance against those who oppose is the use of prolepsis. Prolepsis is a very strong tool when writing a persuasive piece as it takes the counterarguments and addresses them in his favor before anyone can retaliate against his own work. This is a very important tool also because Carr is arguing against the internet which most people find to be beneficial, such as a professor from Stanford, who conducted a study to see the differences betweens students writing from the 1980’s to her current students in the early 2000’s, who says “They’re writing so much more than students before them ever did. It’s stunning”(Thompson 67). So Carr is holding onto the short end of the stick in his argument and will need to find as many ways to prevent himself from being argued against. One key points in Carr’s article is when he states:
“Most of the arguments made against the printing press were correct, even prescient.” But, again, the doomsayers were unable to imagine the myriad blessings that the printed word would deliver.(Carr 6)
He argues that past intellectuals have criticized the new inventions such as the printing press and the introduction of writing but in the end, these inventions proved to have a positive impact on society. This section of his argument is key as it addresses his audience directly and states that he is a man such as Plato and Squarciafico who criticize these new glorious inventions. And while they were right about what they had stated, the wonders overcame the worries. This was a very persuasive section as it had turned away his criticizers, he is saying that he doesn’t believe that in the end the internet won't come out to be this glorious innovation, but instead he is just saying that he has many worries about what the internet will do to our civilization in the short run.
Not only does Carr just disassemble all counterarguments to help show that he is aware of what others might counter argue, but he also presents that he is a credible source himself as he uses ethos. Many writers seem to lack any credibility at all in the topic they are writing about and it gives the reader disbelief in what the writer is saying, but Carr shows that he himself has been affected by this inability to read and write the same way. He begins this article with ethos to immediately give himself credibility by stating, “For more than a decade now,I’ve been spending a lot of time online surfing and searching” and he also states the results of this, “Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy” (Carr 1). By stating this he displays that he has a sense for what he is talking about and the way he states it makes it prevalent that this shorter reading span has only been occurring since his prolonged usage of the internet and that it hasn’t always been a part of his life. In doing this he has also extended his claim by discerning the view that this lack of focus due to technology has only affected the youth and that it is not something that one can be diagnosed with but instead they are born into this new era where technology surrounds them and it is all that is familiar. but it proves that even the elder generations can adopt this symptom and it is harmful. So in this statement he provides the audience with credibility also while extending his claim even farther.
Throughout Carr’s paper he is able to construct the argument that questions whether the Internet is dulling our minds down and in a sense making us “stupid”. He argues this by presenting a claim and then backing it with concrete evidence making it very persuasive in its own sense but he also fills his paper with more persuasive strategies that make it nearly impossible for someone to present him with a counter argument or to challenge his claims. The strategies he uses to do this are prolepsis, pathos and ethos. One strategy that really stood out what prolepsis as it is such a basic tool for persuasive arguments but many writers still neglect it although it is one of the strongest strategies in developing an argument. By using a mixture of these strategies along with presenting a claim backed with solid evidence, Carr has constructed a very persuasive paper
RWS 100
Professor Werry
Is Google Making Us Stupid
The past century has provided society with a massive technological landslide in the form of cell phones, radios and what many describe as the leading advancement of our civilization, the Internet. After the initial public release of the Internet, everyday citizens have been provided access to the largest library in the world known as the World Wide Web. Although the Internet started out as a source that rarely provided success with slow and glitchy servers, and very few had a viable source of access, it awed the public audience as it was something that no one could have ever imagined coming into existence. Today the Internet is bustling with unbelievably high speeds and more websites than you could visit in a lifetime. Sites range from how to bake a cake to how to solve quantum mechanics. The possibilities of the Internet are endless. Although the internet has created a gold brick road leading to endless answers, it has stirred up great controversy. In 2008 the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” was written by Nicholas Carr, he discusses the worldwide debate on whether the internet is doing more good for the public or is it dimming us down. Carrs main argument is that the internet has created a negative effect on the human brain as it has caused it to be always wanting more information more rapidly and it causes the mind to always become distracted and thinking about other things. He states how as a writer where most of his information that he writes about comes from sources that he reads, using the internet has both had a positive and negative effects but he believes that the negatives far outweigh the positives. In this paper I will explore the rhetorical strategies implemented in Carr's argument and discuss whether he has created a persuasive argument.
One of the most efficient tools implemented by Carr is the usage of Analogies, the main one being the references often made to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey mainly during the scene where David Bowman is disassembling the artificial intelligence known as HAL. He uses this scene as a comparison to how the internet is "tinkering with [his] brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory"(Carr 1). In this analogy, Carr is describing how he is similarly suffering the same cognitive effects as he attempts to immerse himself in longer texts but cannot succeed. This comparison provides a good base for his argument, especially for those who have viewed the film, as it provides pathos as some find themselves in the same predicament that HAL and Carr are in. He uses this strategy in a persuasive manner as he wants his audience to gain a visualization of what the internet is physically doing to our brains and imagining our own brain as some super computer did this precisely. The specific comparison not only provided a stable emotional connection between the reader and the subject Carr is addressing, but it also provided a connection between the movie as a whole. It provides a larger connection as HAL in the film is controlling the passengers on the spacecraft the same way that the internet is controlling and manipulating the users. For those that have seen the film this connection is much stronger but for those who haven’t it is still able to imprint the idea of the internet picking apart at your brain so you will remember. By utilizing the techniques of Analogies that many can compare to allows the reader to immerse themselves in a deeper level of the argument as it provides them with a sense of pathos.
One of the strongest tools used by Carr that gives his argument a chance against those who oppose is the use of prolepsis. Prolepsis is a very strong tool when writing a persuasive piece as it takes the counterarguments and addresses them in his favor before anyone can retaliate against his own work. This is a very important tool also because Carr is arguing against the internet which most people find to be beneficial, such as a professor from Stanford, who conducted a study to see the differences betweens students writing from the 1980’s to her current students in the early 2000’s, who says “They’re writing so much more than students before them ever did. It’s stunning”(Thompson 67). So Carr is holding onto the short end of the stick in his argument and will need to find as many ways to prevent himself from being argued against. One key points in Carr’s article is when he states:
“Most of the arguments made against the printing press were correct, even prescient.” But, again, the doomsayers were unable to imagine the myriad blessings that the printed word would deliver.(Carr 6)
He argues that past intellectuals have criticized the new inventions such as the printing press and the introduction of writing but in the end, these inventions proved to have a positive impact on society. This section of his argument is key as it addresses his audience directly and states that he is a man such as Plato and Squarciafico who criticize these new glorious inventions. And while they were right about what they had stated, the wonders overcame the worries. This was a very persuasive section as it had turned away his criticizers, he is saying that he doesn’t believe that in the end the internet won't come out to be this glorious innovation, but instead he is just saying that he has many worries about what the internet will do to our civilization in the short run.
Not only does Carr just disassemble all counterarguments to help show that he is aware of what others might counter argue, but he also presents that he is a credible source himself as he uses ethos. Many writers seem to lack any credibility at all in the topic they are writing about and it gives the reader disbelief in what the writer is saying, but Carr shows that he himself has been affected by this inability to read and write the same way. He begins this article with ethos to immediately give himself credibility by stating, “For more than a decade now,I’ve been spending a lot of time online surfing and searching” and he also states the results of this, “Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy” (Carr 1). By stating this he displays that he has a sense for what he is talking about and the way he states it makes it prevalent that this shorter reading span has only been occurring since his prolonged usage of the internet and that it hasn’t always been a part of his life. In doing this he has also extended his claim by discerning the view that this lack of focus due to technology has only affected the youth and that it is not something that one can be diagnosed with but instead they are born into this new era where technology surrounds them and it is all that is familiar. but it proves that even the elder generations can adopt this symptom and it is harmful. So in this statement he provides the audience with credibility also while extending his claim even farther.
Throughout Carr’s paper he is able to construct the argument that questions whether the Internet is dulling our minds down and in a sense making us “stupid”. He argues this by presenting a claim and then backing it with concrete evidence making it very persuasive in its own sense but he also fills his paper with more persuasive strategies that make it nearly impossible for someone to present him with a counter argument or to challenge his claims. The strategies he uses to do this are prolepsis, pathos and ethos. One strategy that really stood out what prolepsis as it is such a basic tool for persuasive arguments but many writers still neglect it although it is one of the strongest strategies in developing an argument. By using a mixture of these strategies along with presenting a claim backed with solid evidence, Carr has constructed a very persuasive paper
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