A Rhetorical Analysis of “Is Google Making Us Stupid”

A Rhetorical Analysis of “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr Each day there is new and exciting technology making its way into the world. In the 2008 editorial, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, author Nicholas Carr argues his viewpoint on how the internet is creating the risk of making individuals full of artificial knowledge. In his attempt to interest his readers, the author uses a large amount of rhetorical appeals. Carr compares the difference of the past and present, and how he feels it has changed many individuals’ ability to comprehend and focus. While comparing, he uses credible sources that express similar feelings about the internet. Throughout the piece, Nicholas Carr is able to use vivid imagery, personal experience, and rhetorical devices to persuade the reader of the problems the internet is creating today. The author’s use of imagery is able to employ detailed wording and situations that engage the reader’s imagination. His biggest use of imagery occurs in the introduction. He quotes 2001, a space themed movie about a technology takeover. “Dave, stop, will you? Stop Dave. Will you stop, Dave (1)?” This quote occurs when the supercomputer malfunctions and causes harm to the astronauts on the rocketship. Carr’s decision to use this quote was a great way to connect with readers, while also introducing his topic in an imaginative way. Following the introduction, Carr immediately begins stating his personal experience on the topic. He begins by declaring, “ I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory (2). ” The author establishes himself as someone who is not immune to the negative effects of the Internet, and becomes a credible source to the reader. However, if the reader still remains skeptical of Carr’s changes in thinking, he provides others’ outlook on their own change of thinking. Scott Karp, an online blogger, says that he “used to be a voracious book reader (5)” but now “has stopped reading books altogether (5).” Bruce Friedman, another blogger on computers in medicine, said that he has “lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print (6).” Within Carr’s personal experience and others, he continues to utilize imagery. This can be seen when Carr states his feelings while trying to focus on a text. He says that he must “drag his wayward brain back (2)” to whatever piece he is trying to focus on. The author’s use of a metaphor allows the reader to get a better sense of the difficulty he experiences while reading. Another example of imagery would be when Carr writes, “I was once a scuba diver in a sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski (4).” This is able to explain his troubles since the creation of Google and the Internet. After the author addresses personal experiences on the negative effects of the internet, he moves on to provide more factual data to persuade his argument. The first piece of factual evidence is a study done by the University College London. The five year study consisted of scholars examining random individuals’ computer logs, and analyzing their usage over an extended period of time (7). The study found that, “Users are not reading online in the traditional sense; indeed there are signs that new forms of reading are emerging as users ‘power browse’ horizontally through titles, contents pages and abstracts going for quick wins (7).” Carr then transitions to another credible source for factual data, “ ‘We are not only what we read,’ says Maryanne Wolf, a developmental psychologist at Tufts University. ’We are how we read (7).’ ” Furthermore, “Reading, explains Wolf, is not an instinctive skill for human beings. It’s not etched into our genes the way speech is. We have to teach our minds how to translate the symbolic characters we see into the language we understand (7).” Therefore, “technology we use is playing an important role in shaping the neural circuits inside our brains (7).” The author is able to use these strong sources with scientific evidence to prove his argument. In Carr’s editorial, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, he is able to employ a great deal of rhetorical elements, to persuade his readers into agreeing that the internet is causing more harm than good. Carr uses information, personal experiences, and vivid imagery to get his point across. Although some readers may disagree with his viewpoint, Carr’s strategy was persuasive enough to keep the reader engaged, and some to even agree that the internet is causing harm to the mind.