Article 1 Response: Is Google Making Us Stupid?

For this week’s blog, I am reading the article titled, “Is Google Making Us Stupid.” While reading this article, I’ve found myself distracted by my surroundings, bored out of mind, as well as the undesired to keep on reading. At times, I would ponder at my past reading habits and think to myself, “Has my reading habits changed?” Reading this article has made me realized my reading habits have changed. I tend to get sidetracked with long articles, or uninterested subjects. I would find myself rereading previous passages because it is uninteresting. This article is clearly right because my brain did want to skim through the reading.

The main point of this article is that our brains are being influenced by the easy access of the Web. The Web has made it easier to search information as well as simplifying it to the point where we don’t have to think. When we have a question or a research in mind, web search can answer it with just a simple click. However, the web is making us stupid because the information it gives us is not out of our own knowledge but the Web’s. Although this is very sad, I think what the article is saying is true.

Here is a short passage from the article:

“The company has declared that its mission is ‘to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.’ It seeks to develop ‘the perfect search engine,’ which it defines as something that ‘understands exactly what you mean and gives you back exactly what you want.’ In Google’s view, information is a kind of commodity, a utilitarian resource that can be mined and processed with industrial efficiency. The more pieces of information we can ‘access’ the faster we can extract their gist, the more productive we become as thinkers.”

I think this passage is important because it demonstrates what Google is trying to create out of its search engine; while on the other hand, it is actually making us stupid. Google is trying to improve its search engine to where all of the results are exactly what the people’s want. Its job is to simplify the search from complexity to the main basics. However, by doing so, it is implying that we are not intelligent to gasp the main points without something or someone simplifying it.

My first reaction is amazement. I never thought that Google would make us stupid. I always thought that searching for answers would increase my knowledge. Whenever I have a question, my first immediate response is “Google Search.” However, I think it is also second nature for us to have things simplify. It makes life a little easier without thinking.