Essay Sample: Is Google Making Us Digital Slaves?

The difference between technology and slavery is that slaves are aware that they are not free. As digital technology is advancing, the more our brains are being confined into the slavery of using technology without our consent. During the old era, human beings did not have a lot of information to read, however, today, the tsunami of knowledge has evolved our brains to adopt digital technology. The author, Nicholas Carr has written the article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" expressing personal feelings towards Google technology. Over time, Carr has noted how his reading habit has changed compared to previous years where he could enjoy reading continually without being disrupted. According to Carr, technology has disrupted his mind from concentrating on reading and he is convinced that Google is making us look stupid. Carr has built credibility on his stand by utilizing ethos which is accompanied by reputable sources, personal facts, citing convincing facts from credible scientists, and successfully using pathos and logos to successfully integrate the audience's emotions towards Google.

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Throughout the article, Carr has used strong and credible sources that appeal to ethos and strengthen his arguments. The sources include the "Proust and the Squad: The story and science of the reading Brain" by Mary wolf, "Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation" by Joseph Weizenbaum. Citing such sources has increased Carr's credibility by showing that his arguments are supported by reliable sources. Additionally, the sources cited by Carr are peer-reviewed making the information cited valid and relevant to the topic of discussion. Consequently, Carr has used his personal and his friends experience on the influence of the internet in reading. Scott and Bruce, Carr friends', have concurred with Carr that the internet has disrupted their reading habits. Bruce agrees with Carr by saying, "I now have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print," Carr uses other people's opinion to strengthen his argument by showing the audience that he is not the only one experiencing the difficulty in reading. Additionally, Carr has strengthened his arguments by using ideas from theorists, scientists, and innovators. Carr has been able to strengthen his arguments by using brilliant ideas and thoughts from such elite people. For example, Carr refers to Sociologists Daniel Bell who once said that "intellectual technologies-the tools that extend our mental rather than our physical capacities." Carr uses Daniel's thoughts on technology to convince the audience on how the internet has reduced our physical capacity to read.

Adding to his ethos appeals, Carr has employed strong logos by supporting his arguments with strong statistics, logical facts, and ideas. Carr points out logical fact experienced by every internet user. Carr says, "Even when I'm not working, I'm as likely as not to be foraging in the Web's info-thickets 'reading and writing e-mails, scanning headlines and blog posts, watching videos and listening to podcasts, or just tripping from link to link to link. " Additionally, Carr points logical facts on how people get bored after reading a few pages by stating:

Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, and begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I'm always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.

Carr's logical facts on the problem strengthen his stand on Google's influence on people's reading habits. The audience can easily relate to Carr's concerns on Google's influence on their reading habit because they once, if not always, experience the same situation. The facts laid by Carr tend to convince the audience that Google's influence on our reading habits is a problem that requires immediate intervention.

Additionally, Carr has employed historical experiences to strengthen his arguments with convincing the audience that the problem got its roots from ancient times. In his arguments, Carr tells of a story of an ancient typewriter Friedrich Nietzsche. Before the invention of the typewriter machine, Nietzsche was struggling with his eyesight and almost gave up typewriting. However, with the invention of the typewriter machine, Nietzsche was able to master typing skills such that he could type with his eyes closed. However, his friend noted that the machine had influenced Nietzsche's writing habit. Nietzsche replied by saying that "You are right, our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." By using historical evidence, Carr convinces the audience that the same situation that happened to Nietzsche is happening today through interruption of our reading habits by the internet.

Consequently, Carr has effectively employed the pathos to emotionally influence the audience on his arguments on the negative impact of Google on reading habits. In his introduction, Carr has utilized an imagery phrase which creates an alert mood on the audiences about the internet. At the beginning of the article, Carr uses the phrase "Dave, stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dave. Will you stop, Dave?" Through the expression, Carr is able to call for audiences' attention by influencing their emotional behavior. Additionally, Carr creates an anxious mood by saying "Dave, my mind is going," HAL says, forlornly. "I can feel it. I can feel it." Carr uses the expression to describe how our brains have been so much connected to the internet to the extent that is impossible to separate them. Also, the expression motivates the audiences to read because they remain attentive throughout the article in order to understand Carr's arguments on the issue.

Additionally, Carr has employed pathos to illustrate how the internet has influenced our thoughts. Carr creates emotions of guiltiness when he says, "For me, as for others, the Net is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mind." Through the phrase, Carr is able to influence audience emotions by claiming that they are all guilty of how the internet has taken over the control of their minds. Additionally, Carr has influenced audience emotions by creating imagery of the Google headquarters by describing it as "the Internet's high church, and the religion practiced inside its walls is Taylorism." Carr creates a reality experience by relating the audience's interaction with the internet termed as the "church" and the religion "Taylorism". Taylor is the owner of Google and believes that artificial intelligence is the future of the world. Carr creates a clear picture of what the audience expects from the internet in the near future, thus stirring their consciousness on the consequences of allowing the internet disrupts their brains.

Carr has built credibility on his stand by utilizing ethos which is accompanied by reputable sources, personal facts, citing convincing facts from credible scientists, and successfully using pathos and logos to successfully integrate the audience's emotions towards Google. Throughout the article, Carr has used different styles of writing to engage the audience into reading the article. His ability to employ credible sources, historical experiences, and influencing audience emotions have played critical roles in persuading the audience.

Works Cited

Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" The Atlantic, 2008, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/. Accessed 7 June 2019.