The reason Nicholas Carr wrote this article is to inform people of the danger of Internet overuse through his use of ethos, logos, and pathos, along with other rhetorical devices. He starts with a scene from a classic movie that dealt with the prevalence of technology, 2001: A Space Odyssey. He shows that with the technological advances of today, the line between human and computer has starts to grey. The author then noted the positive ways the Internet has influenced his life. yet, when he states, “But that boon comes at a price,” his tone immediately changes from appreciative to concerned. This change in tone shows that Carr is beginning to dive deeper into his topic. Additionally, his positive section acts as a counterargument. …show more content…
For example, Carr writes about how the clock causes us to stop “listening to our senses” and start “obeying the clock.” Even though the clock is not the Internet, such an example still strengthens Carr’s argument. Carr focuses on the notion that new technological innovations can drastically change a person’s way of thought. Focusing on this does not restrict Carr to speak only of the Internet. The clock was once a technological innovation. Therefore, by using it as an example, Carr shows that new technology really does change the mind. Since the Internet is a new technology in present time, it would be logical that it would change the way people think as …show more content…
The printing press and development of writing were another example where people’s way of thought changed. However, Carr makes the statement that writing would go on to “expand human knowledge” and the printing press brought a “myriad of blessings.” Such statements could undermine Carr’s entire essay. He continues to say that the Internet could be such a success as well. However, he then states that the Internet is different from such inventions. Carr notes that what people would lose because of the Internet is much more valuable than what was lost from writing and the printing press. Such a refutation is a major appeal to logos. Additionally, in the beginning of this section, Carr calls himself a possible worrywart. By accepting the possibility that he may be wrong and then going to show how he cannot be wrong greatly appeals to ethos. Finally, he turns back to the use of fear as an appeal of pathos by stating that the Internet could transform humanity into “pancake people.” In effect, this section holds Carr’s entire thesis: to not rely too much on computers and the Internet. Carr relies heavily on the use of ethos, pathos, and logos throughout his essay. His ethos is mainly focused on connecting with the reader as a fellow human being. His logos is mainly comprised of quoting experiments and referencing historical
What if our life becomes fully dependent on the electronic devices in the future? “In Into the Electronic Millennium”, Birkerts discusses his concerns with the oncoming electronic world. Birkerts provides lots of cons about the electronic devices that can affect people's lives. The author’s intention for writing this essay is to make the audience aware of the significant changes that have started to occur as electronic technologies have developed. He uses various rhetorical devices to convey his arguments to the readers. Through this essay, he is trying to inform the academic community that the culture of printed words has ended in the society, while electronic technologies are starting to dominate. Birkerts uses anecdotes, juxtaposition,
A huge beneficial effect of the Internet is time-efficiency because it no longer takes days to find research. Fortunately, it only takes a couple of minutes to do a few Google searches. Another benefit to the Internet, in comparison to the last example, is that it is a channel for most of the world’s information. For Carr, as for others, the Internet is becoming a universal medium. Lastly, it is probable that we may be doing more reading today than we did in the 1970s or 1980s, when television was a choice of interest. It is assumed that we may do more reading today because not only do we have access to a variety of texts, but also a numerous amount of ways of communicating. For example, social media accounts and text-messaging. A negative effect of the Internet is that it is chipping away capacity for contemplation. The Internet is
Carr has a more negative opinion about new technology than Cascio. Carr believes the internet and previous technological advancements have caused many changes in society, including reducing people’s ability to focus. Carr says, “What the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation.” This is just one of the many times that he blames the internet for the changes that have occurred in the past decade.
Exerting personal anecdotes on the way the internet has changed him; Carr begins his book in a subtle manner. He begins describing one of his first dilemma’s, “I had become trapped, not unhappily, in the “upgrade cycle” I retired the aging Plus in 1994,
As Carr continues, he speaks of his extended use of the internet over the last decade, explaining that all information that he once painstakingly searched for is done in minutes with the use of search engines. In doing this, Carr places blame on the internet for breaking his ability to concentrate. Carr presents his arguments in a way that his readers could easily agree. He gradually works up to the idea that the internet has weakened his ability to focus, and as he does this he makes several general statements about the internet’s nature. These points on the net’s nature are so basic that any reader of his article would be inclined to agree with them, and this lends itself to help readers believe the argument Carr wishes to propose. Because it would be hard to provide factual evidence to support his claims, Carr effectively uses logical reasoning to convince the reader.
Carr mentions his personal experience with technology and how it has affected him. He points out his “concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages” (961). Carr isn’t the only one who has been affected by technology; he tells us that even his “acquaintances” have had similar experiences. His acquaintances say, “The more they use the Web, the more they have to fight to stay focused on long pieces of writing” (962). What once used to come natural to us has become difficult. People used to rely on books for multiple reasons when it came to research but now that technology has been used more frequently books are not that common. Carr says “Research that once required days . . . can be done in minutes” (962). Carr is mentioning the benefits of the Internet, for his argument he is using both sides so that the reader can relate to his article and understand where he is coming from. Carr quotes Marshall McLuhan when he points out that “the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation” (962). Although fast research is great and easy to access it has its flaws. Carr mentions that
The use of ethos, logos, and pathos are included throughout the documentary. The use of ethos was shown when the they interviewed grown adults and taped LEGO seminars to show that people of all ages
In his essay “The Net Is a Waste of Time,” novelist William Gibson analyzes the hidden potentials of the Internet in both its vastness and affect on society. He writes this piece at the dawn of the Internet, and during this undeveloped phase, he discusses its multitude of facts as is and will be. As hinted in the title of his essay, Gibson takes the stance that the Internet at its early stages is a waste of time -- an impressively large and complex waste of time -- but a waste of time nonetheless. He is ultimately concerned with how we are choosing to procrastinate through the Internet, and that our growing attachment and dependence on the Internet reveals a “fatal naïveté” (697) about us. Gibson also brings up the true enormity of the Web even at its premature standing, detailing how “the content of the Web aspires the absolute variety. One might find anything there. It is like rummaging in the forefront of the collective global mind” (697). Despite his concerns on what the Web might become, Gibson realizes that at the time of his writing, the Web was at a stage much like the larval stage of a butterfly’s life -- seems unassuming, but as he himself puts it, “The Web is new, and our response to it has not yet hardened” (697), and that there are “big changes afoot” (696).
The author 's tone changes in paragraph 4 when Carr talks about how the Internet has altered his mind by crumbling away at how much he can concrete. When Carr states “For me, as for others, the Net is becoming a universal medium” in paragraph four the author provides his counter argument which is to warn the incoming generations the dangers of the Internet before his main argument. Which is that the Internet is making us stupid and is altering how we think, by doing this it allows Carr to spend the rest of the article refuting his main argument.
Carr makes his case by using his own personal experience at the beginning of the argument. Using his own personal experience with internet has helped to reinforce a solid argument. This anecdotal evidence is also used to make a convincing argument. He uses names of individuals and experts’ opinions to illustrate that other persons had the same experience and also feel the same way about the internet. These testimonial evidence makes the argument more credible. The use of historical evidence strengthens his argument based on the fact that some of examples are actually occurring today. This allows the readers to stand on the author’s side of reasoning. Carr also uses factual information about the company of google to convince the readers that
Carr begins by opening the idea of the Internet's cultural and intellectual impact on us. Technology today is changing us, and so is the way we're thinking. Everyone's brain is subject to change when introduced to technology, even Carr. Carr began his journey and experience with technology while studying in college. The computer, what started out as a simple word processor, became the powerhouse of multiple tasks.
In Carr’s description of the Internet, he explains why it is affecting humans. He leaves the technology as a virus that absorbs our commands, injects information into us, and then scatters and spreads our concentration. However, before labeling the Internet as a human made pest that has gone wild, Carr makes one last appeal to ethos by stating possible benefits of this rapidly capable means of statement as well as his own faults of being a worrywart.
Carr also brings to attention the importance of language and how technologies that rebuild dialect have a tendency to apply the most grounded impact over our scholarly lives. He quotes Walter J. Ong, “Technologies are not mere exterior aids but also interior transformations of consciousness” (51). He argues that the Internet and its consequences for human consciousness can't completely be considered without noticing the Internet as the latest development in a class of advancements known as " intellectual technologies," which have depicted the way of human awareness through history: He explains the arousing and deep thinking involved when one reads an actual book in contrast with the internet reading which is quick and full of distractions.
“The Web has been a godsend to me as a writer” (Carr). Liu says, “electronic media tend to be more useful for searching, while paper-based media are preferred for actual consumption of information”. The fact that you can find basically anything on the Internet is amazing. It has made so much stuff easier for us. Communication, learning, and entertainment are just some of the benefits. We use the Internet everyday, for almost everything we do. We have become dependent on it. The question both of them have is whether or not all this information at our fingertips is a good thing. Communication, learning, and entertainment are just some of the benefits of the Internet. You could say we have become dependent on the Internet. The question both of them have is whether or not all this information at our fingertips is a good
Facebook is the devil, social media is evil, and all forms of technology will be the epitome for which mankind will soon face its demise. This assumption perceived by many individuals stretches back as far as the making of the first robot or the creation for the prototype of the first computer. However, technology goes back father than the evolution of the Internet, or the instillation of space satellites. In fact, the beginning of technology extends as far back as the Stone Age, twenty-five million years ago, with man’s discovery of using the sharp sides of a stone as a cutting tool. Had it not been for the technology of Alexander Graham Bell’s first telephone, the world of communication, as we regard it today, could be less developed. Could you imagine a world whereas the only means of travel was the horse and buggy? If it were not for Henry Ford’s vision for the first moving assembly line, the technology for the mass production of cars would be unimaginable. Many of the amenities that we enjoy in our lives today are direct results of the technology that emerged from the past. Yet, it is only within the last decade or two that the malicious and uncertainty roles associated with technology has begun to emerge. Although the everyday lives of many individuals have advanced with the vast developments and various modes of technology, Charlie Brooker’s TV show