Compare/Contrast

“Is Google Making Us Stupid” and “Is Stupid Making Us Google” both have witty and valid points to defend their arguments. However, they do share some similarities. Both recognize the significant changes in our minds and actions as the internet develops. There is an agreement that as readers we can no longer focus on a lengthy article or passage, and that even experts have reported that they no longer can keep their attention. Nicholas Carr remarks that his concentration drifts after two or three pages and I commented back on the page asking why then he decided to write a ten page article. However, the articles differ in the implications of this change of the human mind that they discuss. “Is Google Making us Stupid” fears that we are becoming more like machines, overly efficient and too smart for our own good. On the other hand, Brown in “Is Stupid Making Us Google” decides to criticize the acceptance that certain “Mentors” and guardians of subjects have of the dying of old style of education and literature. He believes that the youth for the first time is not out-smarting its previous generation as the Flynn Effect has demonstrated for years. Even though it may seem like we have increasing scores, the tests have changed to focus on broad spatial and pattern recognizing, rather then hard facts and numerical testing. Both articles offer interesting points that have made me think about my own educational transitions from traditional style classrooms to even now blogging about what I just read instead of handing in a rigid piece of paper. And how hard it was just to focus on reading these collective 15 or so pages.