This is a response to author Nicholas Carr’s article in The Atlantic, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The main idea in Carr’s article is that due to the increasing speed at which information can be gathered and obtained online, our attention span as humans when reading lengthy articles decreases drastically…

“Is Google Making Us Stupid?”  by Nicholas Carr

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/

This is a response to author Nicholas Carr’s article in The Atlantic, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The main idea in Carr’s article is that due to the increasing speed at which information can be gathered and obtained online, our attention span as humans when reading lengthy articles decreases drastically. Carr further goes on to say that there is a skill in locating and discovering information by yourself, and with the current, simpler ways to locate this information, this skill becomes lost unless we actively practice it. Carr goes on to cite Marryanne Wolf by saying that reading “is not an instinctive skill for human beings” (pg. 2). This point illustrates that like above, reading is a skill that is improved through repetition and practice. Since many people turn to the internet for a source a information, they miss out on the opportunity to find the information for themselves, and in turn, gain invaluable experiences. Overall, I agree with Carr’s message in that it has become so easy to find information on the internet that we as humans are not reaching our full capacity to be efficient problem solvers when it comes to locating information because we naturally take the path of least resistance.

Here is a short video clip that describes the problems with just “Googling It.” Advanced warning, the dialogue is computer generated, making the audio a little challenging to hear.

“Introduction: Electracy” by Gregory Ulmer

http://ulmer.networkedbook.org/the-learning-screen-introduction-electracy/

This is a response to author Gregory Ulmer’s introduction to “Electracy.” While Ulmer does not specifically define electracy, one can infer the definition through his writing. Ulmer does this through analogies and figures of speech. For instance, Ulmer states that electracy is “to digital media what literacy is to alphabetic writing” (pg. 1). This reference infers that digital media is the backbone to electracy, in that you cannot experience electracy without the foundation of the media, just like in order to be literate, you must have a knowledge and understanding of the alphabet. From this analogy, I believe Ulmer is saying that to demonstrate electracy is to demonstrate the most knowledgable use of digital media, in the same way that demonstrating literacy is to demonstrate the highest use of the alphabet. Ulmer later goes on to describe that electracy “needs to do for digital imaging what literacy did for the written word” (pg. 1). I believe Ulmer is saying that electracy can bring digital media to life and reveal its full power. In my opinion, this article was a challenging read, but doable nonetheless. Ulmer obviously is a very intelligent author as indicated by his choice of words and sentence structure.