Extended Essay Draft One

Today’s society is geared toward “Going Green.” Slogans like “reduce, reuse, recycle” are plastered throughout society like wallpaper. We are inundated with ways to help the environment and as if to prove Chris Hedges’ point of the way in which we believe catchy slogans more often than scholarly points, we blindly follow them. The slogans we see daily have a more profound effect on our lives than they were ever intended. I propose that the slogans and catch phrases of the Green Revolution, though not completely to credit, play an important role in the kind of readers and writers we are.

Reduce: The internet allows us to reduce the amount of work it takes to find the information we seek. It also allows us to reduce the sheer volume of material with which we are presented by simply making our search more specific. It even allows us to reduce our impact on the environment by not driving to a library or having to make copies, even though often times we choose to do the latter anyway.

Reuse: While it is thought of as possible to go back to a library and recheck a book at any time, in reality there is a risk of the book being checked out by someone else. From the internet, we can save articles directly to our computer and know that, unless our computer crashes, the information will remain until we delete it.

Recycle: The internet has given us a place to share our ideas with others. We can instantaneously learn of breaking news from across the world, or comment on an article written by our favorite hometown columnist. It allows us to quote the work of others in our own writing and reuse the ideas of others.

A vast portion of reading done in college is assigned through internet resources. Articles are sometimes converted directly from physical sources to digital sources and put at our fingertips. We then have the choice to print these sources out, or read them directly from the screen. This begs the question: are those who prefer to print articles someone smarter than those who don’t?

As for the claim that Google is making us stupid, this can be attributed to a difference in generations and let’s face it: generation gaps are always going to exist. These gaps inadvertently instill a sense of superiority in each generation between which the gap exists. Perhaps the most classic example of a generation gap is laziness. Each age group is referred to as lazy by the one preceding it and almost like a rite of passage, that generation grows up to call the one after it lazy. The current generation uses the internet far more than any one past.

Writers like Chris Hedges have a rather jaded opinion on the effect of the internet. He refers to those of us who use the internet as our main way of learning parasites. He states that most internet writers do not write first hand, but use the works of others to further their agendas. His opinion is partially well rooted because many bloggers do not contribute anything valuable to the literary world except their opinions. However, I believe there are a vast number of internet writers who do contribute important works. His misconception can simply come from seeing the sheer number of people who write in any shape or form on the internet. Anyone can write online, and a lot of people do because of its ease. Not many are actually talented at it.

Clive Thompson’s attitude on the internet is like day to Chris Hedges’ night. Thompson believes that society has been affected by technology in a very positive way. He states “Before the internet came along, most Americans never wrote anything, ever, that wasn’t a school assignment.[ Thompson, p1]” This shows his positive focus on the fact that we write more today than we ever have in precious generations. Although it sounds great that we are writing a lot, I question the real value of the writing which we do. Facebook chats and Twitter updates rarely if ever teach us anything of value. They just give us insight to what our friends are feeling or doing or even the latest rumors.

Nicholas Carr’s article Is Google Making Us Stupid? seems to leave his question unanswered. Carr makes very valid points that would seem to prove both views of the matter. What I truly understand after reading his article is that the way we learn has changed. This change can be viewed from many vantage points and seen as good or bad. I believe that, in the case of effects of the internet, no conclusion can be drawn. I simply believe that as much good has come from the internet as bad and that the ways in which we seek information have changed. We may prefer a more straight forward answer to our questions but that does not by any stretch of the imagination mean that we are less patient or intelligent. It simply illustrates that we are more eager to draw from what we read. Because of the internet, the abundance of information available is made blatantly apparent. This has unintentionally rewired our thought processes to require constant discovery of new information.

When looking to become versed in a specific topic, even those who choose to use books usually will not choose to read the whole book. They seek the chapter or page that pertains to the subject they are researching and disregard the rest. The internet is a much more efficient way to find an answer without being forced to wade through the topics that aren’t pertinent. On the other hand, if the internet reader is looking to research a more general topic, he is likely to read just as much information if not more than the book reader. This can be attributed to the abundance of sources available through the internet.

Writers like Sylvia Scribner seem to go along with the opinion that though our ways are changing; the literary world is not coming to an end. Her views make writing seem like is a gas: it adapts to the form of whatever contains it. There is not a single, solid way to write and we have yet to discover the boundaries of literacy and probably never will. Scribner’s second way of viewing literacy is from the power perspective. What do we seek to attain from our writing? Our goals may differ from the goals of others. Just as what we have written may seem powerless to some, it may be the most powerful piece another person has ever read. In her third metaphor, Scribner states “literateness has come to be considered synonymous with being ‘cultured’… [in the] sciences, arts, and humanities. [p13]” This quote illustrates that writing is for everyone, not just those who can change lives or paint pictures with what they write.

I have always thought of myself as a fairly talented writer as well as a capable reader. This includes both research based topics, such as works that require me to go online or even go to the library, as well as original creative writing. My reading and writing skills are vastly based upon the internet. I, like many, have become very adept at finding any information I desire on Google. This allows me to quickly sort through the millions of articles to find information on the specific topic I am writing about. While reading the various sources throughout this unit, I was constantly reminded of the phrase “Work smart, not hard.” I previously viewed this phrase as another way to imply laziness; however, it truly means being efficient, which is far from laziness. In a library, the process of finding pertinent information is much more archaic. If I decide to look up a book on topic, I have to find it in the library and then search through the book to find my information. It is a substantial waste of time if I discover a book in the library is not pertinent to my topic, whereas on the internet, I have wasted only mere seconds. Often times when I write, I listen to music. I also like to take breaks to gather my thoughts. In a library, silence is required and it is encouraged to stay on task.

Reading and writing are just like anything else. You receive as much good from it as you put into it. If we seek to be closed minded and read only things that agree with our opinions, the internet creates the perfect place for that. However, it also creates an atmosphere of super-learning. It presents information on any topic in many forms so that it may be accessed by all. It eliminated barriers of time and allows us to instantaneously access a whole new world of information. If we seek to be truly educated, we will seek knowledge no matter what the cost. It matters not how this information is ascertained, as long as the care has been taken to properly analyze and validate its contents. Those who desire understanding will read from magazines, books in the library, articles online, and blogs until their thirst for knowledge has been quenched.

Prior to the cyber-generation in which we are living, writing was often personal and remained between the parties involved. With the availability of Facebook and blog sites, people have begun taking their opinions public.