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Essay / Influence of the Internet and the Benefits of Reading and Writing Online
From ordering a pizza to reading the news, there is no denying that the Internet has irrevocably changed everyday life. Shaped by information architecture, the Internet has changed the way we read, write and think. Researchers have expressed varying opinions on how the Internet is changing reading and writing conventions. In “Is Google making us stupid?” » Nicholas Carr argues that the Internet undermines our capacity for deep thinking and problem solving. In contrast, in “Reading and Writing Online, Rather than In Decline,” Kathleen Fitzpatrick argues that the Internet is an ideal platform that promotes new, creative ways of reading, writing, and interacting that can facilitate scientific discourse. Although Carr's warning about the risk of diminishing our capacity for critical and in-depth thinking is valid, it is clear that the Internet is an extremely valuable platform for scientific discourse and the broad sharing of information that we as 'users, must take advantage. no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay in “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” » Carr explains how reading on the Internet changes the way we think by inhibiting our ability to think deeply. Carr references his own experience, suggesting that he is no longer able to immerse himself in long books or articles because his concentration wanes after reading a few pages (Carr, 2008). Carr uses striking metaphors to illustrate this lack of deep thinking skills, stating: “Once I was a diver in the sea of words. Now I glide across the surface like a guy on a jet ski” (Carr, 2008). While it is clear that reading in the digital age carries risks, Carr fails to take into account the many benefits of reading online. When written language appeared, it reduced our memory capacity, but despite this, written language proved to be of great value. Similarly, although the proliferation of online reading risks reducing the contributions of written language, it will inevitably bring its own range of benefits as well as risks. Fitzpatrick addresses this fear in “Reading and Writing Online, Rather Than in Decline.” Fitzpatrick suggests that “new technologies are constantly imagined as not only the enemy of established systems, but in fact a direct threat to the essence of what it is to be human” (Fitzpatrick, 2012). This succinctly highlights the flaw in Carr's argument in "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" » because it is limited by its bias in favor of traditional Western culture which idealizes written language as superior. For researchers like Carr, good reading is limited to reading books. Fitzpatrick convincingly critiques this narrow view of what constitutes reading and argues that online reading is still good reading because it involves engagement with the text. Fitzpatrick argues that “click and navigate” processes emphasize reading as “an active process of meaning-making” (Fitzpatrick, 2012). Furthermore, Fitzpatrick argues that online reading meets a definition of reading in which reading is not simply "a simple means of downloading author-constructed meaning into a reader's brain, but it always has been a form of negotiation of meaning through a complex and often complex process. selective, process of interpretation” (Fitzpatrick, 2012). Furthermore, Fitzpatrick proposes that the advantage of reading in the digital age is that digital platforms allow reading to be a.