Andrea Miranda

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Dr. Serviss
CTW 5:25-7:10
11 November 2015
Take Caution: Technology is on the Loose
In 2009, Nicholas Carr wrote Is Google Making US Stupid? arguing that the internet is
changing the way people think and live in society during this century. He acquires many personal
opinions and information through interviewing several bloggers and writers and recounting on
personal experiences to explain why and how the Internet has influenced society. Carr admits
that for him, the Net is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information
that flows through [his] eyes and ears and into [his] mind (Carr, 85). He lets the readers know
that there are problems with technology and they are influencing the way we think. By admitting
that the internet has become a central place for information, Carr wants us to understand that
because the internet is becoming a universal medium, it is changing the way we process
information. He claims that his brain now takes information in the way that the Net distributes it,
in a swiftly moving stream of particles (Carr, 85). Carr introduces Alan Turing, the man behind
the ingenious idea to create a machine that could be programmed to perform the function of any
other information processing device. What we didnt know is just how powerful this machine
was going to be 80 years later. As we now know, Turing was right, the internet is an
immeasurably powerful computing system, [and] is subsuming most of our other intellectual
technologies. Its becoming our map and our clock, our printing press and our typewriter, our
calculator and our telephone, and our radio and TV (Carr, 90). This means that the way our
brains think are slowly morphing, and this is important because it wasnt always this way. Carr
wants to point out, and almost warn, the reader that the internet is consuming people.

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Carr tells us about the influences of the internet because the idea that a piece of
technology overtaking us is a dangerous phenomena. People should become aware of just how
much influence the internet and other technologies are affecting us. His argument promotes the
idea that the way our brains function, the way we read, and even the way we interact with people
are all changing because of the Internet. He is worried about the future because he thinks that the
Internet is consuming us. But why should it matter that technology has a strong influence on
society? Well as Clive Thompson mentions in his article, Brave New World of Digital Intimacy,
technology can help us, but it can also hurt us. We ought to be more conscious and reflective
about how we use new technological tools.
In Clive Thompsons article, Brave New World of Digital Intimacy, he argues that social
media has changed the lives of present-day society by taking away privacy. This is no surprise
because Thompson, a Canadian journalist and blogger, specializes in writing about digital
technology and its impact on society. He presents to us this idea of lacking privacy by
interviewing many journalists and everyday people to understand how the influence of social
media has impacted our lives. Thompson argues that the lack of privacy that began with the
introduction of the News Feed was essential to society by personalizing the concept that we can
all be connected with our friends and family through this new feature. However, he also agues
that while privacy may be beneficial in some cases, the use of social media can be abused. Many
people began to feel closer to others through social media. The more friends you have, the more
people one can essentially keep in contact with. However, in Thompsons article, he introduces
Robin Dunbars theory of the Dunbar number. As Dunbar puts it himself, it is a hard-wired
upper limit on the number of people he or she can personally know at one time (Thompson,
129). Thompson introduces this theory to help us understand that even if we are Facebook

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friends with so many people, we are incapable of truly knowing more than about 150 people.
That number is significantly lower than the amount many friends have on Facebook. So how
much closer can Facebook bring us to others? Well, Facebook is all about this idea of weak
ties, as Thompson mentions. These weak ties mean we dont really get to know someone, we
can only observe them. Therefore, we cant really be capable of strong personal connections with
a lot of people, and eventually become disconnected, as Carr similarly states. Carr and
Thompson bring up an excellent point by introducing the idea that the internet causes
connections and disconnections amongst society. I think this is important because as people, we
are naturally social beings, yet we are failing to realize that the way we socialize has changed
since the introduction of the internet and social medias. Similarly, Pflugfelder, a professor at
Oregon State University, argues that even the use of smartphones affects the connections
between people.
In Pflugfelders article, Cell Phones, Networks, and Power: Documenting Cell Phone
Literacies, he argues the effects that smartphones have in society. He conducted a study with his
students in a Language, Technology, and Culture class in 2013 to better understand the influence
of smartphones on society. The students interviewed other students and faculty members, asking
them how their smartphone impacts their lives. While there were a variety of answers coming
from the interviewees, there was a stronger pull towards the idea that smartphones cause more
distractions. Pflugfelder shows that smartphones can cause a strong dissociation between people
because of the Internet and text messages that we constantly use on our phones. This is where
Carr and Pflugfelders thoughts diverge. However, in Pflugfelders study there were also many
students who claimed that phones helped them interact better with others, to keep in touch and to
show their love for others. Pflugfelder wants the reader to realize that phones, when overused,

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can be distracting and dangerous to those around us. We miss interaction with others, which
causes a digital divide. Through these three writers, it is evident that technologies are causing us
to miss interaction with others. If we miss interaction with others, we are not functioning as
human beings, we are simply acting as Carr put it, a machine.
Thompsons article relates to Carrs argument about the use of technological tools in his
focus on Facebook and privacy because both the Internet and Facebook are considered
technological advancements/social medias. Thompson argues that Facebook and social media
can become disengaging because we dont feel the need to personally go see someone since we
see pictures of them on social media all the time. Similarly, Carr argues that the Internet has
become distracting and has begun to consume our time, our energy, and the way we think. Carr
interviews James Olds, a professor of neuroscience at George Mason University, who claims that
the brain has the ability to reprogram itself on the fly, altering the way it functions (Carr, 89).
Carr is pointing out that our brain is capable of making many new neurological connections, and
the Internet is causing our brain to do this to us now. This is detrimental because we are, as a
society, letting technology manipulate the way we think and the way we connect to others. This
is important because as human beings, we do not want to think of ourselves as being controlled
by a machine. We want to think that we are in control of ourselves and that we control all of our
connections and interactions with people. This idea parallels to Thompsons message of weak
ties and his introduction of the Dunbar number. As mentioned above, the Dunbar number states
that we can only truly know 150 people. However, there is debate as to whether this number is
increasing due to the use of social media and the internet. People are becoming so consumed in
the internet and social media that they have become unaware of the lack of interaction they are
having with other people because our brains are slowly able to adjust to this. Both Carr and

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Thompson present an argument where we must learn to be careful with how much we let the
internet and social media influence us because we can begin to form weak ties and start to
separate from people. However, there is a moment when Thompson breaks away from this way
of thinking and introduces the idea that social media can be used to create strong connections.
Through Thompsons argument of ambient awareness, he argues that many people begin to feel
closer to one another through the use of social media. Thompson argues that meaningless, short
updates are useless, but together they are significant. Thompson presents Ben Haleys idea that
little posts benefitted him and his friends because whenever he saw that they were out doing
something, he could meet up with them. He became virtually and physically closer to is friends
and family members. Because of this presentation of ambient awareness as part of Haleys life,
readers begin to recognize how ambient awareness works. Users begin to feel closer to those
digitally around them, almost as if they are physically together. Thompsons arguments begin to
make readers feel the impact of ambient awareness; we are beginning to feel closer to others
without having to physically be in front of them.
Carr would strongly disagree with Thompson in this idea of ambient awareness because
to him, humans are all becoming computer-like. Carrs contrasting thoughts are shared through
Frederick Winslow Taylor, a young mechanical engineer. Taylor assured the people that
mechanics would bring about a restructuring not only of industry but of society, creating a
utopia of perfect efficiency. In the past man has been first, in the future the system must be
first (Carr, 92). This is where Carr and Thompson disagree in their arguments. To Carr, the
internet and technology will always be something that controls people. On the other hand,
Thompson believes that technology can create divides among people, but if used carefully, we
can control how much of an influence technology has on society. Both Carr and Thompson bring

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about interesting ideas on how to view technology in the 21st century because they teach us that
we need to value how much we use technology so that it does not consume us, and to control our
usage so that we can allow for physical social interaction with others. Both Carr and Thompson
agree that we need to become more conscious of how we value and use the tools we have. We
need to determine how much we are going to use social media and the internet so that it does not
consume us or negatively influence our connections with others.
In Pflugfelders article, he argues about the use of technological tools in his focus on
smartphones and how they are disengaging us from society and influencing our writing. As seen
earlier, Carr mentions that the internet can cause us to change our way of thinking and reading.
He argues that reading has changed over the years since the internet came into society because he
wants us to understand that the internet is beginning to control aspects in our lives that were once
strong. To explain his argument, he interviews blogger Bruce Friedman who explains: I have
almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in printI cant
read War and Peace anymore, Ive lost the ability to do that. Even a blog post of more than three
or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it (Carr, 86). His argument is very strong
because he mentions that because the internet contains all other technologies, it is becoming
incredibly powerful. Pflugfelder agrees with Carr in his thoughts of technology influencing the
way we read and write because he mentions that the use of cellphones has impacted the way we
read and write as well. Pflugfelder shows us that while the use of cell phones can help students to
write because of text-messaging, it also causes a divide. There could be a couple of problems
with the idea that cellphones help students write in the classroom. First of all, some students may
not have access to smartphones. Studies from the PEW and Michigan State Universitys Center
for Writing in Digital Environments show that students do not currently recognize the writing

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they do in their own time and the writing they do in academic contexts as being connected
Pflugfelder mentions (Pflugfelder). Pflugfelder points out that students do not see a strong
correlation between writing and texting, but they should. Many students did not even think of
texting as writing, as he mentions in his article. This idea reflects that of Carrs because, as he
mentions, the ubiquity of text on the Internet, not to mention the popularity of text-messaging
on cell phones, we may well be reading more today than we did in the 1970s or 1980s (Carr,
87). However, as Carr mentions, it is a different kind of reading-we are creating a new sense of
self. Carr interviews Maryanne Wolf, a developmental psychologist at Tufts University who
claims that we are how we read (Carr, 87). Carr points out this argument because there is a
concern that the style of reading used on the internet and over text messaging is a style that
promotes efficiency rather than a deep capacity for meaningful reading and writing. He argues
through Wolfs message that media or other technologies we use in learning and practicing the
craft of reading play an important part in shaping the neural circuits inside our brains (Carr, 88).
Together, both Carr and Pflugfelder argue that technologies and the internet are influencing our
literacy abilities. Due to this large influence, we should be more conscious of how much we text
because texting is not necessarily helping us write better and it is causing us to become distant
from others. After all, texting is a tool and we need to learn to control it.
Both Carr and Pflugfelder give us a message that we should become more conscious of
how much we use technology and our smartphones. Carr and Pflugfelder both agree that we must
become cautious of how much we use the internet and smartphones. However, they diverge in
their idea of literacy skills. Carr has decided that the internet and technology is bad for literacy
skills, while Pflugfelder can see benefit and a danger of technologies influence on literacy.

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Within these three texts, there is a representation of three different technologies: online
reading, social media, and smartphones. It is important to recognize the three different types of
media because from all three we can draw the same conclusion. They all have the ability to
influence society in a bad way, yet it is our job to overcome their strong influence. I believe that
for us to be able to use the internet and technology as tools for betterment in our everyday lives,
we must use Carr, Thompson, and Pflugfelders way of thinking as a warning that if we are going
to use these tools to enhance our lives, we should adopt their shared caution.

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Works Cited
Carr,Nicholas."IsGoogleMakingUsStupid?"YearbookoftheNationalSocietyfortheStudy
of

Education107.2(2008):8994.Web.8Nov.2015.

Pflugfelder,EhrenHelmut.CellPhones,Networks,andPower:DocumentingCellPhone
Literacies.Kairos19.2.Web.2November.2015.
Thompson,Clive."BraveNewWorldofDigitalIntimacy."TheNewYorkTimes.TheNewYork
Times,06Sept.2008.Web.20Oct.2015.