400-500 words
American journalist Nicholas Carr displays his worries about Google, or the internet as a whole, ruining people’s ability to learn and adapt in his article Is Google Making Us Stupid? Kevin Kelly, writer and founding executive editor of Wired magazine, illuminates his profound love for technology in his essay Technophilia. Develop claim.
Carr mentions a quote from Sergey Brin and Larry Page. They are the men who founded Google; “In a 2004 interview with Newsweek, Brin said, “Certainly if you had all the world’s information directly attached to your brain, or an artificial brain that was smarter than your brain, you’d be better off.” Last year, Page told a convention of scientists that Google is “really trying to build artificial intelligence and to do it on a large scale.”… [This] suggests a belief that intelligence is the output of a mechanical process, a series of descrete steps that can be isolated, measured, and optimized. In Google’s world, the world we enter when we go online, there’s little place for the fuzziness of contemplation. Ambiguity is not an opening for insight but a bug to be fixed. The human brain is just an outdated computer that needs a faster processor and a bigger hard drive” (Carr 6). Their mindsets of thinking that artificial intelligence would allow us to all “be better off” is really unsettling. Wouldn’t that basically make everyone all the same, or not have the ability to learn things on their own anymore, in their own way? It would definitely make everyone seem more robotic than human. Carr’s sentence about our brains becoming “an outdated computer” and needing a “faster processor and bigger hard drive” does not sit right with me. The brain is a part of our own being, and we do not need to make it more artificial to “be better off.” Carr and I agree; he, too, believes it to be unsettling to think about if our brains were to be essentially replaced with artificial intelligence. Transition. “According to psychologist Erich Fromm (and famed biologist E.O. Wilson) humans are endowed with biophilia, an innate attraction to living things. This hard-wired, genetic affinity for life and life processes ensured our survival in the past by nuturing our familiarity with nature. In joy we learned the secrets of the wild… This love still simmers in our cells. It is why we keep petsm and potted plants in the city, why we garden when supermarket food is cheaper, and why we are drawn to sit in silence under towering trees. But we are likewise embedded with Technophilia, the love of technology. Our transformation from smart hominid into Sapiena was midwifed by our tools, and at our human core we harbor an innate affinity for made things. We are embarrassed to admit it, but we love technology. At least sometimes” (Kelly 1).
800 ish words
The Impact of Technology and the Internet on Human Abilities and Behaviors
Nicholas Carr is an American journalist and has had his articles published in the Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, and The Atlantic. His article Is Google Making Us Stupid? displays his worries about Google, or the internet as a whole, ruining people’s ability to learn and adapt in the same way they used to. Kevin Kelly is a writer, founding executive editor of Wired magazine, publisher, and photographer. In his essay Technophilia, he illuminates his profound love for technology. Technology can be a good thing when used correctly. Overuse of it will cause humanity to slip away and become more robotic and artificial. We as a society need to start becoming more in touch with real thinking again, as it used to be.
Unlike some people’s thoughts (Kevin Kelly, to be exact), I feel the world needs less artificial intelligence and more natural thinking. People should take a break from their devices and connect with nature more often than not. Carr mentions a quote from Sergey Brin and Larry Page. They are the men who founded Google; “In a 2004 interview with Newsweek, Brin said, “Certainly if you had all the world’s information directly attached to your brain, or an artificial brain that was smarter than your brain, you’d be better off.” Last year, Page told a convention of scientists that Google is “really trying to build artificial intelligence and to do it on a large scale.”… [This] suggests a belief that intelligence is the output of a mechanical process, a series of discrete steps that can be isolated, measured, and optimized. In Google’s world, the world we enter when we go online, there’s little place for the fuzziness of contemplation. Ambiguity is not an opening for insight but a bug to be fixed. The human brain is just an outdated computer that needs a faster processor and a bigger hard drive” (Carr 6). Their mindsets of thinking that artificial intelligence would allow us to all “be better off” is really unsettling. Wouldn’t that basically make everyone all the same, or not have the ability to learn things on their own anymore, in their own way? It would definitely make everyone seem more robotic than human. Carr’s sentence about our brains becoming “an outdated computer” and needing a “faster processor and bigger hard drive” does not sit right with me. The brain is a part of our own being, and we do not need to make it more artificial to “be better off.” Carr and I agree; he, too, believes it to be unsettling to think about if our brains were to be essentially replaced with artificial intelligence. Instead of trying to create more AI to do our thinking for us, I believe humans should take breaks and be in nature. We can do this by going on walks or reading a physical book outside under a tree or against a rock, at the beach, etc. Kelly brings this up in his essay; he discusses the psychologist Erich Fromm and biologist E.O. Wilson and their belief that “humans are endowed with biophilia, an innate attraction to living things. This hard-wired, genetic affinity for life and life processes ensured our survival in the past by nuturing our familiarity with nature. In joy we learned the secrets of the wild… This love still simmers in our cells. It is why we keep pets, and potted plants in the city, why we garden when supermarket food is cheaper, and why we are drawn to sit in silence under towering trees. But we are likewise embedded with Technophilia, the love of technology. Our transformation from smart hominid into Sapiens was midwifed by our tools, and at our human core we harbor an innate affinity for made things. We are embarrassed to admit it, but we love technology. At least sometimes” (Kelly 1). Kelly is only mostly on to something here. Throughout his essay, he gushes over all kinds of technology; this is the only part I can agree with. I love having what me and my friends call “phone time.” It allows me to unwind from a long or stressful day and disconnect from my life. I can watch my comfort shows and listen to my favorite music to help me feel better or feel more at home when I’m homesick as a college student being away from her family for so long for the first time. However, recently, while being stuck on campus and without the ability to drive, it has become nice to go on walks and enjoy the beautiful scenery surrounding me. Sometimes, walking with my friends is nice because we hold meaningful conversations; other times, I walk alone because it is a good way to be with myself and my thoughts, and I enjoy my alone time. Being outside can serve as a great way to disconnect from technology and become more in touch with nature and yourself.
Transition to next claim…
1000+ word draft (format is off, I don’t know what happened with the other colored text)
Emerson Giella
Prof. Jesse Miller
English Comp 110
1 November 2024
The Impact of Technology and the Internet on Human Abilities and Behaviors
Technology can be a good thing when used correctly . However, overusing it will cause humanity to slip away and become more robotic and artificial. Nicholas Carr, an American journalist, has had his articles published in the Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, and The Atlantic. His article Is Google Making Us Stupid? displays his worries about Google, or the internet as a whole, ruining people’s ability to learn and adapt in the same way they used to. Writer Kevin Kelly is also a founding executive editor of Wired magazine, publisher, and photographer. In his essay Technophilia, he illuminates his profound love for technology. We as a society need to step away from the addiction that is technology and start becoming more in touch with real thinking again, like we used to be.
“Turkle says, “we think with the objects we love, and we love the objects we think with.” She suspects that most of us have some kind of technology that acts as our touchstone. I am one of them. I am no longer embarrassed to admit that I love the internet. Or maybe it’s the web. Whatever you want to call the place we go to while we are online, I think it is beautiful. People love places, and will die to defend a place they love, as our sad history of wars prove” (Kelly 5).
Unlike some people’s thoughts (Kevin Kelly, to be exact), I feel the world needs less artificial intelligence and more natural thinking. People should take a break from their devices and connect with nature more often than not. Carr mentions a quote from the men who founded Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Carr quotes, “Brin said, “Certainly if you had all the world’s information directly attached to your brain, or an artificial brain that was smarter than your brain, you’d be better off.” Last year, Page told a convention of scientists that Google is “really trying to build artificial intelligence and to do it on a large scale.”… [This] suggests a belief that intelligence is the output of a mechanical process, a series of discrete steps that can be isolated, measured, and optimized. In Google’s world, the world we enter when we go online, there’s little place for the fuzziness of contemplation. Ambiguity is not an opening for insight but a bug to be fixed. The human brain is just an outdated computer that needs a faster processor and a bigger hard drive” (Carr 6).
Their mindsets of thinking that artificial intelligence would allow us to all “be better off” is really unsettling. Wouldn’t that basically make everyone all the same, or not have the ability to learn things on their own anymore, in their own way? It would definitely make everyone seem more robotic than human. Carr’s sentence about our brains becoming “an outdated computer” and needing a “faster processor and bigger hard drive” does not sit right with me. The brain is a part of our own being, and we don’t need to make it more artificial to “be better off.” Carr also believes it to be unsettling to think about if our brains were to be essentially replaced with artificial intelligence. Instead of trying to create more AI to do our thinking for us, I believe humans should take breaks and be in nature. We can do this by going on walks or reading a physical book outside under a tree or against a rock, at the beach, etc. Kelly brings this up in his essay; he discusses the psychologist Erich Fromm and biologist E.O. Wilson and their beliefs that: “
Hhumans are endowed with biophilia, an innate attraction to living things. This hard-wired, genetic affinity for life and life processes ensured our survival in the past by nurturing our familiarity with nature. In joy we learned the secrets of the wild… This love still simmers in our cells. It is why we keep pets, and potted plants in the city, why we garden when supermarket food is cheaper, and why we are drawn to sit in silence under towering trees. But we are likewise embedded with Technophilia, the love of technology. Our transformation from smart hominid into Sapiens was midwifed by our tools, and at our human core we harbor an innate affinity for made things. We are embarrassed to admit it, but we love technology. At least sometimes.“ (Kelly 1).
Kelly is only mostly on to something here. Throughout his essay, he gushes over all kinds of technology; this, however, is the only part I can agree with. I love having what me and my friends call “phone time.” It allows me to unwind from a long or stressful day and disconnect from my life. I can watch my comfort shows and listen to my favorite music to help me feel better or feel more at home when I’m homesick as a college student being away from her family for so long for the first time. However, recently, while being stuck on campus, without the ability to drive, it has become nice to go on walks and enjoy the beautiful scenery surrounding me. Sometimes, walking with my friends is nice because we hold meaningful conversations; other times, I walk alone because it is a good way to be with myself and my thoughts, and I enjoy my alone time. Being outside can serve as a great way to disconnect from technology and become more in touch with nature and yourself.
Moreover, the internet is addictive; it sucks us in and most of us get stuck there for hours on end. Being online too often can change the way the brain processes and retains information. Carr and I agree when he says, “media are not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. 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 2). Technology is becoming our everything, and it almost feels impossible to escape. My assignments are almost always online; to contact friends and family, I have to go on my phone. With one click of a button, I’ll be sucked into a world that’s not real. That’s because we are fascinated by it in some capacity. And that’s only human. However, it’s an artificial love, and no one should be so trapped in it that they cannot function without technology there as their crutch. Kelly says that “almost anything manufactured will have adoring fans” and that they are “collecting all variants of the technology…” (Kelly 4). He’s not wrong. I am a hardcore Swiftie (fan of Taylor Swift), and I collect almost every variant of her vinyl records. That’s simply because of the way she decides to put them out and because I love her music.
