Bhattarai 1

Madan Bhattarai
Professor Allison Fernley
English 1010
December 9, 2015
Internet: Making us better or stupid?
What is the height of Mount Everest? Who is the president of China? What is your
Significant others phone number? Can you answer any of this question without looking at your
phone? If you can great, but most of you probably cant. Information at our palm of our hand has
allowed us that we dont need to know this information from our memory, we can always look it
up. I cant only find who the current President of China is but also I can find whole history of
China, books about Chinese history, and many more. Internet has allowed us to find this
information without even leaving our room. You dont need to go to the library, find the
encyclopedia or books about Chinese history, because typing of couple of keywords and right in
front of you lays the information you are looking for.
Reports in 2015 by World Bank group shows that 87.4% of Americans are Internet users
with 3.2 billion Internet users across globe (International Telecommunication Union, and World
Telecommunication). We see little kids with iPad with access to internet, they can access
educational games or endless hours of entertainment. Even elementary schools are teaching
children to do research thru internet. Internet exists all around us. Internet is being used by little
children who are just learning alphabets to graduate student who is writing his doctorate thesis.
Internet is so new that we dont know what the effects of growing up with this technology is and
there are little to non-research done about it. We are the last generation to know the world
without the internet and still being digital natives. Since it is so new we didnt have any parental

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supervision or someone who can answer the effects of the obsessive use of this technology. For
future generation it begs the question Is using Internet making us stupid or smarter? Is this
change for better or worse? No wonder that we are changing how we learn, how we research but
there still lays the question is this change good or bad?
Internet doesnt just consist of information but it also has unlimited amount of cat videos,
funny pictures, and many ways for you to entertain yourself. Many people believe that Internet is
making us stupid. They believe that with the massive amount of information, we are just
skimming headlines instead of diving deep into the topics and analyzing it. They believe that not
only Internet is harming our memory and cognitive abilities but also oversaturation of
information and constant distraction is making us superficial thinkers.
On the other hand, another group of people believe that Internet can make us smarter.
Access to information at our fingertips is changing how we think and work. Kids in developing
countries can browse internet to learn about best fertilizer for crops to even lifesaving
knowledge. Internet has the potential to diminish education achievement gap based on our social
and financial status. They believe that we are using internet as our extended memory for our
benefit, by demonstrating that we sometime ask friends or families to remind us something.
Instead of cramming everything, we can use internet as the hub to find the useful information
when we need it. They claim that we already use Internet to research, for writing paper or
extending our knowledge on specific subject. There are already many websites and colleges
bringing their courses online, like edX where anybody with Internet can access Ivy League level
education for free, narrowing our societys gap with education. Salman Khan, founder of Khan
Academy believes that free virtual education can decrease this achievement gap. Internet can
truly fulfill no child left behind policy.

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Groups that claim Internet is making us stupid arent just whining but they have a series
of research and data to back up their claims. Ives agrees with Dr. Siegel, who claims that by
being on the phone and the internet we are overstimulating our left part of the brain which is
responsible for linguistic information but our right side becomes passive. We are losing
Imagination, creativity, and insight which our right brain is responsible for. This is
Neuroplasticity. Research done on overuse of technology by Rosen showed bodily complaints
like, insomnia, social dysfunction, anxiety and depression (Rosen, 2012, p.64). Nicholas Carr,
big advocate for Internet is making us stupid and journalist, writes that he too can feel that
something is tinkering with his brain, remapping and reprogramming his memory.
So, is this technology really making us stupid? I am of two mind on this issue. I believe
that it really depends on how we use it. Most of the research done on overuse of technology does
show that it is rewiring our brain, making us think that we are smart. If we are agree with Rosen,
Internet is causing all kinds of psychological issues. But there is also bright side to this story,
Internet is making us better. Internet could be the bridge socioeconomic gap in our society. We
have already seen this in some smaller scale. edX, online school funded largely by MIT and
Harvard are taking this to another level. They are providing free Ivy League courses online. This
kind of free education and access to information to all despite their socio-economic status is
major change from old ways. Khan Academy providing free education virtually for free.
Globalization and internet could radically change how we think and create a better understanding
between different cultures.
Since Internet is still in its infancy and growing rapidly, it is really hard to do research on
the effects of the internet. There are not a lot of research done on the effects of the internet and
how it effects our neurons but most of the research done does show that it is changing how we

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think. Is this good or bad? We dont know this yet, but what is for sure is it is changing the way
we learn, and think. Research done by Ives and DeWees does show that this really depends on
the time spend on-screen and addiction. It is very easy to open up your smartphone and computer
to do some quick research but hyperlinks, videos, animated ads becomes very distracting and can
drag us away from our intention. Many of us have done this in one time or another, when trying
to do some research we jump from page to page by clicking hyperlink but five minutes later we
are watching funny YouTube clips or completely of topics. They are easy distraction, and they
are everywhere.
You may agree with me to certain point on how the internet could be good and bad and
that is okay. There is not a lot of research done on this area and rapidly changing technology
makes it even challenging. I did made a point earlier that Internet might be changing our socioeconomic barrier but one might ask it doesnt one need money to use the Internet? People in
developing countries hardly have the same kind of access to the internet as we do? They are
certainly valid question and concerns. There is research done Standard University on digital gap,
gap between underprivileged members of society and wealthy, middle class and young
Americans living in suburban areas. Their research shows that Income, education and age are the
big factors for this digital divide. This gap is decreasing every day in the US because of the
library but it is still big problem in the developing country. So, does that mean my utopian dram
of little kids in poor country getting same as Ivy League education and globalization and
bringing us together shattered? We also do have to take in account cost of computer and access
to Internet is getting cheaper every day. Facebook and google are spending millions to get
everybody connected through free Internet to basic, health, education and jobs thru Internet.org
and google balloon that could allow free internet to billions.

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Internet could make us better or make us stupid. It really depends on how we use this
amazing technology. We can rely on this technology too much or only when we need it. One
thing is for sure, Internet isnt going anywhere. If it is changing how we think for good or bad, it
is here to stay. We can adapt to this technology and use to our advantage. If we rely on calculator
for every calculation we are not going to be good at calculations. Similarly, if we rely on this
technology for everything we are sure to be labeled as stupid. We can use this technology to
better ourselves, by using it as our extended memory, learning to ask question and reason with
your beliefs. We humans have always been good at cognitive thinking, and if this ability is
replaced or destroyed because of the internet, we are in for doom. Thus, just the internet doesnt
make any of us smarter or stupider, but way we use this technology does.

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Works Cited
"Can Online Education Tackle Achievement Gap?" Interview by Micheal Martin. NPR. NPR, 10
Oct. 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <http://www.npr.org/2012/10/10/162643520/can-onlineeducation-tackle-achievement-gap>.
Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 01 July
2008. Web. 10 Dec. 2015. <http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/isgoogle-making-us-stupid/306868/>.
DeWeese, Katherine Lynn. "Dominican Scholar." Thesis. Dominican University of California,
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<http://scholar.dominican.edu/masters-theses/32/>.
"Digital Divide." Stanford Students, n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.
<http%3A%2F%2Fcs.stanford.edu%2Fpeople%2Feroberts%2Fcs201%2Fprojects%2Fdi
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Harvey, Sarah. Sunday Star-Times. N.p.: Sunday Star-Times, 2010. A7. Newspaper Source Plus.
Web. 9 Dec. 2015.
International Telecommunication Union, and World Telecommunication/ICT Development
Report. "Internet Users (per 100 People)." Internet Users (per 100 People). WorldBank,
2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2015. <http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.P2>.
Ives, Eugenia A. "IGeneration the Social Cognitive Effects of Digital Technology on Teenagers."
Thesis. Thesis (M.S. -- Education) -- Dominican University of California, 2012.

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Rainie, Lee. "Digital Divides 2015." Pew Research Center Internet Science Tech. Pew Research
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<http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/09/22/digital-divides-2015/>.
Rosen, Larry D., Nancy A. Cheever, and L. Mark. Carrier. IDisorder: Understanding Our
Obsession with Technology and Overcoming Its Hold on Us. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2012. Print.