The brain is the fastest developing part of the human body. As we grow from our infant selves to adulthood, we collect and analyze information through observing the world around us. Nowadays, people gather information by searching on the Internet. Due to this relationship present between society and the Internet, the human brain is trained to utilize it at any given moment. Nicholas Carr introduces this idea in his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid” and he believes that the brain is a machine that has come to form a negative relationship with the web. Even though people are unable to fully make use of their minds, there are people out there that enjoy the mere presence of the search bar on their fingertips. The constant want of the Internet is expressed by Kevin Kelley in his paper “Technophilia” where he believes that the web is an extension of the body that makes up who we are. The world at large emphasizes the use of the web, and I too agree that we cannot go about our days without it, but the negatives outweigh the benefits that it has on who we are. Even though the Internet has allowed humanity to gather information by a mere search and is an extension of who we are, the constant want over need has resulted in negative impacts on the human brain that includes the inability to focus and a lack of true wisdom.

The Internet provides unlimited information that has resulted in negative impacts on many people today that includes a lack of energy, critical thinking, and how we communicate. Many people admit to skimming longer papers due to their inability to focus on something that may takes hours reading, when they rather read it within ten minutes. Carr starts his paper by saying that “I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading” and then goes on to say that “Immersing myself in a book or lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore” (1). In his narrative, Carr provides direct evidence of how his brain has changed as a result of relying on the Internet for his information. This direct example allows readers to reflect how they too have been directly impacted by the Internet and has shaped changes in their lifestyles that include the way we read. The Internet grants us unlimited information, but even it can become too big within itself. Kelley, an Internet fanatic, states that “Despite the purposeful design of its human creators, the web is a wilderness. Its boundaries are unknown, unknowable, its mysteries uncountable. The bramble of intertwined ideas, links, documents, and images create an otherness as thick as a jungle” (5). Even though Kelley has a very positive view towards the way technology and the Internet has helped us evolve, he too has reflected on how the immense information present has caused humans to become so involved that it can push us to the extreme. As we continue to get lost further down the path of no return in what the Internet can offer to us, our brains start to lose the ability to function efficiently. Carr and Kelley both struggle with figuring out the way that the evolving technology has affected them, and this is present in both of their writings. The Internet is something that grows larger every day and with that, people continue to get lost in its vastness. Getting lost in the constant clicking and open tabs is what pushes our brains to maximum capacity and leaves us drained, even if we may view this as a way of escaping reality. We use scrolling through social media as a way to fall asleep, rather than reading a book like most people used to do. When we are trained to rely on the Internet for our everyday information and use it to break free from the real world, it causes us to avoid human interaction, distraction from the task on hand, and a lack of critical thinking.

                  The transition from older technology to the evolving Internet and technology of today continues to change with each passing day. Even the oldest technology is kept around for show and not because we want it, but because we need it. The idea of want over need is stated by Kelley when he says “We don’t ‘need’ a lot of what we maintain. We keep specific technology around not only because it may be useful, but because we like to have it around” (7). Kelley is arguing here that even though old technology may not even work, we keep it around for the sake of having it and fear of losing a glimpse into the past.