Is Google Making People Worse at Titles?

                Is Google Making Us Stupid by Nicholas Carr is an article critical of the possible effects of the internet. Contrary to the titles implications, rather than seeing a person’s opinion on the impacts of search engines like Google on our memory the article actual focuses on the author sense of deterioration in their reading ability that they believe is due to web browsing.

                While what all contributed to his loss of dedicated reading habits is hard to pin down (doing something as part of a job has been shown to reduce your joy from the activity itself) and his independent survey on the matter hardly reliable from a statistical standpoint, the study of online research habits provides significant credence to his assessment that his skim reading has been caused at least in part by online browsing. Unfortunately the link didn't lead directly to info on the study and the article itself only included a couple statements on reading habits with little context or comparisons to draw in depth conclusions from.

                Overall the article seemed less about bringing interesting, important or overlooked facts to the surface and more like he was just trying to rally support to his personal dilemma. Many of the statements he made to support his negative outlook on the webs influence are general psychological truths that don’t paint a compelling picture of the internet having a negative influence. Citing changes in writing with different mediums or the fact that how we view/describe the world around us influences how we think are hardly cases specific to the internet and little actual depth on these topics is offered past how he feels about the internet in relation to them.

                Ultimately I would have preferred if more of the article was based on the exploration of studies or facts on the matter, rather than the opinions of several individuals he found that agreed with his sentimentality on the loss of the good old ways the face of change.

On the other hand, the response by Trent Batson shares some of my doubt in the degree to which Nicholas Carr believes the internet has negatively impacted his reading. Although I disagree with Batson's treatment of Carr’s concerns as completely illegitimate.

Batson’s article focuses on how skim reading numerous sources is closer to “real” life group discussion and while his logic is sound on that front, his response seems to frequently ignore Carr’s concerns or deny that concern is reasonable rather than provide advice on getting back/maintaining old reading habits (because many people who read aren't looking for a forum of back and forth exchanges.)