The world has been in a constant state of transformation since the beginning of time, but it seems now it is changing more than ever in this technological era. It wasn’t until around the mid-90’s that the internet even came into existence, and now, in 2013, it is nearly impossible to go a day without the help of technology. We can’t get across town without navigation, communicate face-to-face or even deal with the slightest ounce of boredom anymore. Since 2000, the internet has experienced a growth of roughly 153 percent; so this begs the question: what is this increased usage doing to our brains?
Nicholas Carr, in his article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” argues that the internet is “chipping away [his] capacity for concentration and contemplation.” I don’t dispute this at all; nor his assertion that he expects to “take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles.” There is an infinite amount of data that is constantly at our disposal; so we skim the details and move on if our attention isn’t grasped. We’ve turned into small children wandering the aisles of a Toys R Us, going from toy to toy, engaging with it for a second, discovering its usage then moving onto the next one. Carr notes that research used to entail digging through library periodicals, but now is just a Google search and a quick click of a few hyperlinks. Chris Hedges wrote the article, “America the Illiterate,” in which he asserts the internet is the fountainhead for illiteracy in America, and his argument is supported by several staggering statistics. Just to list a few:
“Nearly a third of the nation’s population is illiterate or barely literate.
There are over 42 million American adults, 20 percent of whom hold high school diplomas, who cannot read, as well as the 50 million who read at a fourth- or fifth-grade level.
Eighty percent of the families in the United States last year did not buy a book.”
Upon reading those for the first time, I was dumbfounded, and quite frankly, sad for our society. There’s no way to look at those statistics and dispute their severity. But, I ask you to take a step back from the cold hard facts. Consider life during the Enlightenment: an era known specifically for intellectualism, and still only the wealthy people could read. Literacy rates were abysmal, but that was primarily due to the lack of accessibility. Nowadays, the internet makes all the information in the world wildly accessible. It doesn’t necessarily matter who you are or how much money you have: if you can find your way to a computer then you can learn anything you want.
The internet is changing the way we think and view the world, but that isn’t to say this change is ruinous to our society. In an editorial on our “semi-literate youth,” Andrea Lunsford gives us a valid warning on turning a blind eye to compelling alternate narratives. Maybe eighty percent of families didn’t buy a book last year because they’re using e-readers instead, or because most of their reading is done online. People are quick to invalidate internet reading because there is an unregulated flow of information, creating a potential for inaccuracy. This is true, but that’s why it’s important to take everything you read on the internet must be taken with a grain of salt. So when you read that Morgan Freeman has been announced dead (again) or that Obama is a Muslim terrorist, don’t forget to consider the source.
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