Introduction
Technological advances are one of the most significant benefits of the modern world. The fact that various machines perform tasks on behalf of people is considered a characteristic feature of a developed society. However, it is also necessary to comment on the drawbacks of technology when it comes to evaluating progress. Numerous researchers admit that technological advancements have a negative impact on individuals, and Nicholas Carr is among them. Thus, the paper will demonstrate that modern technologies and the Internet deteriorate people’s behavior, learning, work, and memory, while Carr’s book and my personal experience will support this claim.
Description
In his chapter “The Degeneration Effect,” Carr (2014) admits that bringing automation is a controversial phenomenon. On the one hand, technological achievements are supposed to improve the world by providing people with aid to perform routine tasks (Carr, 2014, p. 1). Consequently, individuals have sufficient time and resources to cope with other challenging and creative activities. On the other hand, one can say that the benefit above is not found in the modern world. In his lecture, Carr explains that the advancements under consideration imply a few unanticipated outcomes, including a substitution myth (Talks at Google, 2014). It refers to the fact that when people bring automation to an activity, the latter changes significantly, and it is impossible to predict the real outcomes (Talks at Google, 2014). For example, electronic medical records had been expected to reduce healthcare expenditures because of real-time patient information available, but the costs increased because that availability made doctors order more laboratory tests (Talks at Google, 2014).
In addition to that, Carr (2014, p. 2) stipulates that automation complacency and automation bias are significant drawbacks of relying on technology. It is so because these phenomena do not allow people to doubt the information that comes from computers. As a result, software narrows people’s focus and makes concentration and awareness weaker. Furthermore, Carr (2014, p. 4) admits that the use of computers turns people from actors to observers. It means that individuals do not take significant mental effort to find new information or deal with a task with technology’s help. In other words, technology limits practice, and people do not have a sufficient opportunity to engage in work or acquire a new skill. Thus, the information above shows that technological advances provide people with the benefits that, however, worsen people’s cognitive abilities, learning, and work.
Analysis
Even though it is impossible to imagine the modern world without the Internet and its numerous advantages, an unbiased review of this technology reveals its many drawbacks. That is why the given section will present my personal experience that supports the researcher’s ideas above. Firstly, I am sure that the Internet leads to deteriorated memory of individuals. It is so because people do not need to memorize some information because it can be easily found online. According to Heersmink (2016, p. 389), this phenomenon is called the Google effect, and it results in the fact that individuals become less knowledgeable. It means that people do not take much effort to store information in their brains when they understand that they can access it online. As for me, I have noticed that I forget, for example, the dates of some historical events because of the reason above.
Secondly, it is possible to mention that modern technologies deteriorate learning outcomes. Heersmink (2016, p. 398) explains that online information quality is responsible for this phenomenon. It refers to the fact that various websites offer credible information, while others can contain nonsense. Since most Internet users do not tend to doubt or check the data that is found online, it is a typical case when they learn and distribute false information. Furthermore, Google’s page ranking makes this problem even more challenging because individuals tend to believe that the websites that are mentioned at the top of a page are more credible and trustworthy (Heersmink, 2016, p. 399). Here, I should avow that I am a frequent victim of this bias. When time is an issue, I tend to visit the top websites and take the information in them for granted.
Thirdly, it is not a surprise that the Internet’s cognitive and learning disadvantages lead to problems with work. The information above has explained that technological advances make people lazy and less concentrated (Carr, 2014, p. 3). Individuals have accustomed to dealing with numerous flows of information at the same time, which makes them distracted from single assignments. I have a suitable example that describes how this phenomenon works. When I am trying to write an essay, it is almost impossible for me to stay focused on the task for a long time and restrain myself from surfing the Internet in parallel. Consequently, anytime access to the Internet has resulted in the fact that performing work requires more time and effort.
Finally, it is necessary to emphasize the case that the Internet leads to individual worsened behavior. It is mainly so because surfing the Internet takes sufficient time and results in numerous psychological issues. Thus, Rayan et al. (2016, p. 125) argue that when young people spend much time using computers, the typical side effects include stress, anxiety, insomnia, social phobia, and others. When I overdo with surfing the Internet, I can experience some of the disadvantages above. In addition to that, this state of affairs leads to worsened relationships with my family and friends because I spend more time surfing the Internet than with them. The information above has described that computers result in essential disadvantages that impact people’s memory, learning, work, and behavior, while my personal experience has demonstrated that this claim is valid.
Interpretation
Based on the details presented above, it is still impossible to mention that the Internet-only offers adverse outcomes. For example, Croteau and Hoynes (2003, p. 5) mention that the Internet and other kinds of media occupy a significant role in modern society because they imply some benefits. These resources provide individuals with relevant information about the world and its development. That is why the researchers claim that the whole world would be completely different without the Internet and other technological advances (Croteau and Hoynes, 2003, p. 5). It would be impossible to achieve that development level that can be found today. Furthermore, the ways of how people communicate, entertain, research, and learn would also be different and perhaps worse. This information denotes that the disadvantages of not having the Interment and technological advances are more significant than those of overusing modern technology. It means that the Internet does not imply adverse effects in its design since they are caused by individual behavior. That is why it is possible to speculate that the further development of technologies will confirm Carr’s ideas.
Evaluation
There is no evidence that future technologies will manage to overcome the existing challenges that arise when people are using the Internet. It is so because innovations will provide people with more automation that leads to various disadvantages described above. Future technologies will have numerous diversified types of machinery, including “environmental monitoring, energy management, media, infrastructure management, medical and healthcare systems, and transportation” (Samad et al., 2018, p. 13). As a result, individuals will be relieved from the necessity to perform a few tasks, which will not be a homogenous phenomenon. For example, people in the future will not need to develop driving skills because all vehicles will be self-driving. On the one hand, this fact will allow individuals to use their time profitably while in a car. It refers to reading, communicating with other passengers, and even sleeping in the driver’s seat. On the other hand, it will be another step that will make people lazy and less concentrated.
In addition to that, one should emphasize that the current trends make it impossible to expect positive changes in the future. It relates to the software applications that are supposed to make everyday life easier and more convenient, and spell checkers are suitable examples here. These applications have resulted in the fact that their users do not need to memorize grammar rules or spelling peculiarities because the program will correct a majority of mistakes. When it comes to writing by hand, however, numerous individuals cannot create even a short paper without significant errors. As for the future, one can suppose that technological advancements will become more sophisticated, and grammar checking programs will manage to identify all the possible mistakes. In this case, individuals will avoid learning native languages at all, which will deteriorate their learning and cognitive abilities. It will be impossible to eliminate the technological drawbacks until people understand that it is necessary to limit the use of technology in everyday life.
Conclusion
One can hardly imagine the modern world without technological advances because they are present in every sphere of human life. For example, the Internet alone offers significant benefits when it comes to communication, information sharing, entertainment, scientific research, and others. However, Nicholas Carr explains that these advantages do not mean that technology is free from any defects. The author emphasizes that reliance on the advancements under consideration results in worsened outcomes concerning individual behavior, ideas, work, and cognition. It is so because technologies lead to automation that, in turn, makes people lazy and less concentrated on the task that they need to perform.
That is why it is possible to suppose that future technological development will only deteriorate the situation. It refers to the fact that more sophisticated innovations allow people to take less effort to complete a task. For example, a modern reliance on grammar check applications demonstrates that individuals have started taking less effort to learn the rules of their native languages, which has decreased the quality of written speech. Consequently, society’s technological development creates people who need assistance to cope with everyday tasks, and it is not wise to solve this problem with the help of additional innovations. If one wants to overcome the drawbacks that are caused by the use of the Internet and other technologies, it is rational to make people less dependent on these phenomena.
Reference List
Carr, N. G. (2014) The glass cage: automation and us. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Croteau, D. and Hoynes, W. (2003) Media/society: industries, images, and audiences. Newbury Park: Pine Forge Press.
Heersmink, R. (2016) ‘The Internet, cognitive enhancement, and the values of cognition’, Minds and Machines, 26(4), pp. 389–407.
Rayan, A. et al. (2016) ‘Internet use among university students in South West Bank: prevalence, advantages and disadvantages, and association with psychological health’, International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 15(1), pp. 118–129.
Samad, F. et al. (2018) ‘The future of Internet: IPv6 fulfilling the routing needs in Internet of Things’, International Journal of Future Generation Communication and Networking, 11(1), pp. 13–22.
Talks at Google (2014) Nicholas Carr: “the glass cage: automation and us”. Web.