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The Silent Killer

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The Silent Killer
Patrick Henderson
Ms. Gabaldon
English 4H
March 6 2013
The Silent Killer
Nicholas Carr, in the article “How the Internet is making us stupid” cites that the internet and social medias such as facebook, twitter etc. is making out brains more exposed to distractions. Carr supports his cities by explaining how his research shows signs that people who use the internet more tend to get more distracted than people who use the internet less. Carr purpose is to inform everyone of the effects of going on the internet too much in order to let people know what they’re getting themselves into. The author writes in an objective tone for everyone who uses the internet and their cell phones daily.
Carr’s cites is accurate due to his concrete information and research and how relatable it is. Researcher’s opinion that is valid because the more advanced technology becomes, the more often we’ll use it and let it kill us slowly.
Studies show an average of 4,000 texts by females, and 3,000 texts by males are sent every month. That’s an average of 7,000 texts sent by teenagers. While texting, our own little bubble begins to form around us which makes it hard for others speaking, to get a quick reply. This affects our manners, the more technology we use the less manners we have. Particularly cell phones distract us the most, when communicating with others face to face. Technology is also making people lose their creativity and insight when it comes to projects or thinking for a long period time. For example, when asked to do a project or a report on a president and and give our opinions, our first reaction is to resort to the internet. Studies show google is used an estimated 91 million times per day, the more people use google, the more their brains will get use to receiving answers in 0.0067 seconds. Our brain wants quick information, thanks to technology it’s possible to find anything in a click of a button. Taking time to actually think and spend time on trying to find our solution is getting more difficult everyday since technology is also making it easier to get distracted by the simplest things. Carr has made a solution to this technology problem and gave his idea to the public. He made what is called a “media holiday.” A media holiday is when no technology is being used for the whole day. From the morning to the night there’s no cell phones, and no internet being used at all. This adjusts our brains from relying on the internet 24/7. Media holidays make people realize the many other activities there is other than the internet.

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