Me as a Writer

In the essays “How Computers Change the Way We Think” and “Is Google Making Us Stupid” both authors address the issue that throughout the years technology has changed the way we think and process information. In Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid” he describes how the internet shapes the way we process material when reading.
Before people use to take their time and read and analyze text, but now we skim through it. While reading, people most of the time rush through it to get the gist of it. I occasionally find myself running through pages of a psychology book to get the answer to a question as fast as possible. In Sherry Turkle’s “How Computers Change the Way We Think” she lists different topics and how the computer effects each of them. For example, privacy was sheltered in the past where now it has become open. We now have twitter and facebook for the whole world to see.
Sherry Turkle writes about her experience at an institute of technology where a professor spoke about how calculators are make a negative impact on students. Students are using calculators and relying on a piece of technology to punch in numbers and calculate the equation for us without us even having to think about the problem. Instead of using a pen and paper and step by step problem solving in our heads and making our brains work we rely on technology to do the work for us. Aside from relying on calculators the main source that people rely most on is computers.

Computers have changed people in many different ways. For example a research paper. Books were the main source for gathering information to write a research paper, but now people just use computers are click on link after link to find all the information they need. This affects how people process information because instead of reading deep into the book and understanding the information, they briefly skim through the internet and find the information they need.
From reading both pieces, I can understand each of the points that were
brought up. I feel that in today’s world computers and digital technology are a main source of connection, productivity and distraction. Due to this and to a constant exposure to the basic functions of a computer, digital technology such as video games, for example ipads, and the internet itself, we are being influenced what we do and accomplish online.
This is affecting the way people act and interact with others socially. Being behind a computer changes the way you think. It is easy to respond to others due to the fact that you have time to think about what you want to say and how you are going to say it. People just type away and when done they have the ability to fix what they are about to say. It changes how they act with people face to face because they don’t know what to say and don’t have time to think about it.
Sherry Turkle also talks about privacy and how in the past our privacy was sheltered and now has no meaning because people are unaware that privacy is a right not a privilege. Students ‘blog’ and ‘tweet’ about personal information that on some social networks is available for the entire world to see within minutes of posting.
Both Carr and Turkle relate to one another in the sense that they agree that computers are influencing the way we understand and process information. They both say that we can take on the qualities of a computer and can influence the way we speak and write.