Technology and Intelligence

            Over the past several years there have been major advances in technology, and   the use of technology in everyday life has become widespread. These leaps have left society split on deciding if new technology has had a positive or negative impact. Critics and adorers of the infiltration of technology focus on key areas that have been affected by this transformation. Reading and writing has been forced to attempt to rapidly adapt to this new technological age, or threatens to lose its place in society. Many argue that the way people think has also been affected by this new digital world, whether this is a positive or negative change depends on whose opinion is being taken. The swiftly evolving digital world brings many new changes to every aspect of society. These changes have shown to be extremely beneficial for individuals, although many point out the downfalls such advanced technology has and will continue to bring, the positives outweigh the negative drastically.

As technology has become more advanced, books, magazines and other forms of writing

have found ways to adapt. The Kindle and the Nook were developed, making books seem obsolete. Traditional bookstores are going out of business, Borders shut its doors this past month after not being able to sustain sales after the development of these electronic readers. This forced shut down was also seen in another area, movies. Netflix pushed Blockbuster out of business and now only a few scattered stores remain, a dismal reminder of what was once so popular. But Blockbuster going into bankruptcy does not mean that people are no longer watching movies. But the way that movies were being watched had shifted, they are now downloaded and uploaded, streamed from computer to a television or a television to an ipod. Books in the same way have not stopped being read, but instead the way they are being read has changed. Kindles and Nooks make acquiring books easier and more convenient. Readers do not have to wait for a convenient time to run to the book store, or wait for a new shipment if a popular new book has just sold out. With a few clicks almost any book can be in front of them, before they have even made their morning coffee. Opposers of the electronic book argue the importance of holding a book or feeling the pages. Developers of the Kindle and Nook have found ways to make the screen look the same as an actual printed book would appear. So staring at a Kindle for three hours while reading will not have the same affect on the eyes as surfing the web for three hours. Excluding the texture of the paper, the experience of reading on a Kindle is the same as reading a printed book. But not only is the texture of paper, (and the comforting feeling that one is doing their part in the breakdown of ecosystems and forests) important to many Better-Nevers, a phrase utilized by Adam Gopink in his article "The Information: How the Internet gets Inside Us" to describe individuals who feel that society was better off without new technology. Many Better- Nevers feel as books move to electronic versions, it does not allow for deep reading or concentration. "When we read online...we tend to become 'mere decoders of information.' Our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply...remains largely disengaged" (Carr, page 3). When a book is transferred over to a digital copy, the contents of the book are kept. The same information is received when reading a paperback edition of a book or its electronic counterpart. Kindles and Nooks present readers with convenience, the lightweight slim design makes traveling with one easy. A reader can take his or her entire library anywhere. Carr condemns society for being so transfixed and obsessed with convenience, but in a world where speed and efficiency are key convenience becomes the most important aspect.

 The digital world allows information to be accessed rapidly, books can be downloaded in minutes, newspapers and magazines in seconds. Having information so readily available provides people with the ability to acquire and learn new information constantly. However critics still find flaws with having information so easily accessible. Nicholas Carr puts blame on the internet for "chipping away [his] capacity for concentration and contemplation" (Carr, page 2). In his article,  "Is Google Making Us Stupid," he lays the blame on the internet for not allowing him to read long books or articles without getting bored or losing concentration. Nicholas Carr doesn't stand alone in using the internet as a scapegoat, and the claimed evils of the internet are not limited to a decrease in the ability to concentrate. Everytime a web page is opened, hundreds of hyperlinks are displayed, and can take a viewer from web page to web page in seconds. No single page on the internet is ever the same, hyperlinks shuffle. Websites show advertisement for sponsors, movies, products and hundreds of other items. Many, including Nicholas Carr point out that this ability to jump from page to page, from topic to topic doesn't leave much room for concentration because it forces web users to scatter their attention between multiple links, topics and thought. "Hyperlinks don't merely point to related works; they propel you towards them" (Carr, page 2). But Carr's ideas that the internet is causing his lost concentration is directly contradicted in Gary Small ad Gigi Vorgan's article, "iBrain." "Initially, the daily blitz of data that bombards us can create a form of attention deficit, but our brains are able to adapt in a way that promotes rapid information processing" (Small and Vorgen). In this light, the internet does not pose a threat to concentration ability, but rather enhances it. As well as pointing out the increased ability to concentrate and process information "iBrain" also concludes "average IQ scores are steadily rising with the advancing digital culture" (Small and Vorgen).

 A highly controversial aspect of the technological revolution is the claimed affects technology has on people's brains. Carr claims he can no longer concentrate, others say that technology has forced individuals to adopt a skimming method. Better- Nevers anxiously await results of studies concluding the internet is killing our ability to think. But Adam Gopnik points out that claims about the evils of the internet have all been said before, about the television. "Everything that is said about the internet's destruction of 'interiorly' was said for decades about television...television produced the absence of context [and] the disintegration of the frame" (Gopnik, page 9). With every new development or change brought to society, skeptics examine the proposed benefits, the actual benefits and the negative affect brought on by the new development. But many claim the internet breaks through all previous developments, the negative affects the internet has will not diminish in magnitude as society adjusts to its presence, like the printing press and television. The negative effects will continue to be felt years after because these affects are happening to peoples brains on a neurological level. Older generations complain that digital natives have lost the ability to communicate through traditional means, "the pathway for human interaction and communication [has] weakened" ( Small and Vorgen). But new technology has opened the doors for multiple networking sites, Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. These sites allow people to find each other easier, and to communicate easier. Although the communications may begin online, the ability to communicate is increased, and eventually moves to one on one interactions. A conversation started on Facebook asking the details of a homework assignment leads to a comfortably to converse with that individual in person. "The brain has the ability to reprogram itself on the fly, altering the way it functions" (Carr, page 4). This claim brings to light questions that contradict some of Carr's other claims. He should be able to easily transition from internet skimming to novel reading, and according to Small and Vorgen, he should be able to do it better. "Brains learn to swiftly focus attention and analyze information...[brains] are developing neural circuitry that is customized for rapid...directed concentration" (Small and Vorgen). So the internet has been affecting the neurology of our brains, altering the way they function, but these alterations are only positive. The internet has increased the capacity of information that brains can process, while at the same time decreasing the amount of time it takes to process information.

 The evolving digital world has brought many positive affects to society, increased IQ scores and knowledge, the ability to easily educate one's self, and the ability to read almost anything at any given time of a day. The internet does not hinder the ability to concentrate, but rather enhances it.