Blog # 9 Three Working Theses

Working Thesis # 1

            Andrew Sullivan in his article, “iPod World: The End of Society?” indicates how the portability of music in a modern city is causing its society to become “deaf to small social cues.” I would further this argument and suggest another, perhaps even larger, concern is how the advancements in technology are causing a modern cities to become blind to large social issues.

Working Thesis # 2

            Stephen King in his excerpt, “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” suggests we all have a sick demented inner quality which we suppress. King, however, overlooks the possibility that the quality which we often conceal is selflessness, because it is much easier to be selfish than selfless.

Working Thesis # 3

            Amy Goldwasser’s essay, “What’s The Matter with Kids Today?” applauds the internet for influencing teenagers to become writers. I, on the other hand, disagree that the internet stimulates teenage kids to write. Rather, the internet encourages them to become less of a writer and more of a critic.

Blog # 8 "Is Google Making Us Stupid?"

Nicholas Carr’s article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” is a collection of opinions from many great minds. He brings together these individuals statements in order to make a strong connection between human kind’s intelligence and how its been influenced by technology. As well, he suggests our intelligence will continue to be manipulated as technology advances. In contrast to some skeptics’ beliefs, Carr provides several examples of how our brain adapts to new technologies. However, he does state, that with the advancement of the computer and its overtaking of the literature world, we are now more easily distracted and consequently less focused. All in all, we are not any less intelligent; we are a different kind of intelligent than what we use to be.

            At first, I was not too fond of Carr’s exposition. I felt as though he was a lazy writer due to all the uses of citations. But that was only for the first two pages. Then, I began to really reflect/ponder about what he wrote. I started to make the connection to how our intelligence has been manipulated with the advancement of technology. Simultaneously as each new support was given, I was beginning to anticipate Carr’s next facts that were to provided. In addition, I was interpreting his words and making my own inferences. For instance, do the advancements in technology today, which our youth will become cultured to, mean that children now will ultimately be able to obtain a higher level of intelligence than that of their predecessors. What is even more profound, according to Michio Kaku a Japanese Theoritical Physicist and Futurist, is that the technology we have today is at an exponential growth rate and in ten years it may possibly be 1,000 thousand times greater. So within in our lifetime, who knows, we could be living in a “Wally World”.