"Don't be evil" is Google's corporate slogan, but many of Google'c critics are skeptical that Google's motto translates into actual practice. In “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr, for example, argues that the quick browsing encouraged by internet search engines such as Google is turning us into superficial thinkers. Carr begins the piece by arguing that the very quality that makes Google so useful –providing an impressive amount of information in nanoseconds—is also what makes it problematic, since human intelligence is based on the kind of deep, focused thinking that happens when our minds are unperturbed. To make money through ads, however, internet search engines such as Google encourage us to browse and skim websites, causing our line of reasoning to be constantly interrupted. The downside of Google’s usefulness as a means of information, then, is that it promotes superficial thinking. Carr ends his piece by encouraging us to turn our technological interrupters off so we can concentrate on thinking deeply. I believe Carr's claims that internet programs such as Google are making us shallow is correct. Internet programs tend to present information superficially, as small bits, and at the same time overwhelm us with too much information, all of which affects our memory retention.
Paragraphing
NOTE: What we do not finish in class becomes lab and then homework
NOTE: What we do not finish in class becomes lab and then homework
- Read/Annotate/Discuss: parts of a paragraph and the sandwich method to paragraphing (pp. 10-14).
- Read/Discuss: The professor's development of a claim and of a thesis on pages 15-16 of the packet.
- Read "Closing Strategies" on page 18.
- In an MS Word document, type the following in response to "Hype":
- An Opening Paragraph with
- a hook
- a summary (you may use one of the summaries below, if you wish)
- a thesis statement
- One Body Paragraph that uses The Sandwich Method (p.11) and refers back to the reading
- A short Closing Paragraph
This typed document will be Print Portfolio Piece #5.
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Two Satisfactory Summaries of "Hype":
In "Hype," Kalle Lasn explains how advertisements are contaminating the minds of American citizens. He begins the article by estimating that the number of ads people see on a daily basis goes up to billions. Everywhere people look, there is an ad distracting people from the beauty of life with overflowing promotions and product messages. Lasn also talks about how kids are watching Pepsi and Snicker ads at school, obviously distracting them from learning. He finishes his piece with a personal example: the beautiful symphony he used to hear play in his head has now been replaced by a commercial theme song.
In "Hype," by Kalle Lasn, the author explains that people are being overwhelmed with too many advertisements. Lasn points out that from the moment we get up to the moment we go to bed ads all we see! According to Lasn, there is nothing we can really do to get away from this; everyone is exposed.
