“Is Google Making Us Stupid”

“Is Google Making Us Stupid”

In choosing the topical issue for my final research paper, I considered the article

“Is Google Making Us Stupid” by Nicholas Carr. Through some research, I found many articles addressed the issue of parents cautioning their children on the use of the internet. After reading a couple of these articles, I developed the research question: How have children’s mental and physical development been impacted by the use of internet browsing in their everyday activities and how these will affect their social skills and their learning abilities? I reached a working hypothesis with the information gathered from peer-reviewed articles and also books that discuss this issue. My hypothesis is that children exposed to internet browsing develop a social and learning disability and also encounter physical and self-esteem challenges. In this term paper, therefore, I will discuss why I chose the aforementioned topical issue, a summary of the factors on the topical issue, and how I will persuade the reader to agree with my argument by appealing to ethos, logos, and pathos.

This article “Is Google Making Us Stupid” was the reason why I found an interest in this particular subject matter. At some level, I, as an adult, was impacted negatively by the web browsing era, and it is important to me to present this fact to my audience.

I then realized that the most affected by web browsing are young children, and I found many sources to back up my argument. It is effortless to see how a young mind might be formed around wrong information found on the internet and how social skills can be impaired when the form of socialization is not another human been but a machine.

I found no impediments in finding sources that back up my argument. Most sources are from scholarly articles that focus on child development and how technology is impairing child neurological development. One important source is the article “Technology is Destroying our Children” by Rowan Cris. The author is stating in her article that the attachments children have with technology impairs them from neurological development. This source is essential because it brings credibility through its author that is an outspoken critic about the impact that technology has on the human mind and has opened many educational programs on this issue. Another important source that I will use in my final paper is “Psychology and the Internet: Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Transpersonal Implications” by Gackenbach, Jayne, that discusses the risks the children are exposed to surfing the web and comparing it to other real-life dangers. My goal through this research is to be able to reveal as much information about the physical and mental risks associated with web browsing, as possible.

The argument that I will present to my audience will be appealed by Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. By using legitimate sources from scholarly articles and books, I will call to Logos. This will be achieved by presenting logical arguments and provide credible sources written by reliable people. I will appeal to ethos by presenting sources that shed light on the bad and also the good side of the use of the internet by children. I will be equally pro and against the use of this means for education and life in general, in a child’s mental and physical development. Pathos is the last appeal to be used in order to persuade my reader. This appeal will be done expressing my emotions throughout my paper, like rage, anger, and disappointment, to name a few.

In conclusion, my research started as a wakeup call to myself after reading the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid” by Nicholas Carr. After some research, I discovered that children exposed to internet browsing would develop a social and learning disability and also will encounter physical issues by internet browsing and wanted to explore this subject in more depth. There is still some research to be done to complete my paper and to make the correct appeals to Logos, Ethos, and Pathos. I hope that going forward, my research will give me more insight into this issue and that I will be presenting it in my final paper.