With the rapid development of technologies, it has become impossible to imagine life without them. The Internet has given individuals worldwide the possibility to communicate easily, plan and perform faster, study, and realize different tasks simultaneously. However, some humans argue that the global network seriously influences people’s concentration and short memory. The others state that reading online deteriorates the perception of the data and leads to worse knowledge. The most concern comes from parents of young individuals stating that the Internet stagnates the development of immature brains, and the usage of the network must be limited among them. The question is, does the Internet negatively impact people’s brains, or those with discipline, self-control, and motivation can only advantage from using a global network?
The bright pictures and advertisements online might influence the reader’s attention and concentration but, at the same time, they motivate to develop a better focus. Not always one can have a proper working or studying environment. Some children do not have room to study in silence. This makes them adapt to existing circumstances and make an effort to abstract from all the disturbances. Similarly, the Internet with all its distracting windows learns a human to concentrate on essential aspects, the information he is seeking. Psychologist Steven Pinker in the article “Mind over mass media” underlines that the global network provides people with extended access to information, and the distractions the reader meets were still an issue before the Internet’s existence (9). The psychologist reminds us of the importance of self-control strategies that need to be developed to fight any interference (Pinker 10). Indeed, a strong focus can be formed when reading online pages, and the concentration depends only on the motivation of the individual to read and learn.
Apart from focus development, the Internet makes people smarter and faster in identifying useful information, making it more structured, and clear. Before the existence of the global network, people used to go to the library where they could not analyze and comprehend various sources of literature in one evening (Carr 17). The current innovative technologies allow individuals to search for essential data rapidly using the method of seeking by keywords. One can argue that learning and reading various books and analyzing in-depth develops the human brain. Nevertheless, when a student has a certain task, spending a substantial amount of time on understanding supplementary literature will more likely deplete his energy reserves and make the information more complicated and poorly comprehended. The fast search on online pages allows one to structure information and analyze several sources identifying what is relevant to the major topic and what is not. Gaining concise and structured knowledge and being able to analyze various sources when searching is key to being a smart individual.
Moreover, the Internet cannot shape the knowledge of humans and the way they think as it takes root in their motivation and will. If it is to blame the level of one’s experience, it is not the Internet’s fault. A person can be distracted due to various factors: lack of sleep, poor health, stress, and lack of initiative to learn. All the mentioned above factors could have happened with a person in a library and whilst holding a book in his hands. Neural connections are created during the process of learning, and the latter can be successfully realized both online and offline. It is in a full capacity of a human to develop his knowledge and decide the sources and ways he uses.
Thus, the Internet cannot negatively influence people’s smartness and concentration unless they allow it to do so. With the motivation to gain knowledge, one can develop a better focus, a more structured understanding of the topic, and vaster awareness in general whilst using the global network. Online reading and learning cannot suit every individual, but it does not mean it deteriorates the brain functions and capacities of human beings.
Works Cited
Carr, G. Nicholas. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brain. W. W. Norton & Company, 2010.
Pinker, Steven. “Mind Over Mass Media.” The New York Times, 10 Jun. 2010, p. 31.