Response on the Nicholas Car essay

Response on the Nicholas Car essay Frederique Swart July 27, 2010

The issue of the effect that the Internet has on us is very important and we should not underestimate the impact it has on our lives. In discussions of Nicholas Car’s essay, one controversial issue has been the fact that Internet is making it more difficult for people to concentrate on reading. On the one hand, he argues that Internet makes us ‘power browse” and so we just look at things fast without taking the time to read anything with deep thought. On the other hand, Car mentions that reading has become a struggle, due to the lack of concentration. My own view is that the Internet most definitely distracts you from reading, and I personally can often not concentrate on the book that I’m reading, just because I feel the urge to search on the Net.

It is often said that Internet has a bad impact on people and causes many troubles, however I believe that having access to the Net is very helpful and educating. Bruce Friedman states that he “almost totally lost” his ability to read and in my opinion I think that his example might be slightly exaggerated or in this case an extreme form of Internet addiction, because I don’t believe that many people lose their ability to read long pieces of writing by using the Internet.

Internet has a lot of positive and negative side to it, so in order to reduce the negative sides, I think the amount of time we spend on Internet should be carefully checked in order to prevent an addiction of some sort. So are we able to control our amount of time that we use the Internet? Some people might and others maybe not so much. A good and solid solution to avoid Internet changing your way of thinking, might be to take some time off and away from Internet every once in while. From my personal experience I can conclude that being without any Internet or TV access for over two weeks, was truly deliberating. It was during that time, that I regained my deeply concentrated reading again. If only we could all do this by ourselves we wouldn’t have a problem I believe, however people who can’t stay away for the Internet for longer than a week, might want to seek some help and guidance.