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Is Google Making Us Stupid? (The Atlantic, 2008; republished on New Cartographies)

Nicholas Carr · 31 Aug 2025

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5 korrents from this piece ↓

Nicholas Carr did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

  1. Our reading

    A widely adopted technology's ultimate effects never match the early expectations

    Their wordsIt’s always good to be reminded that the ultimate effects of a broadly adopted new technology never match the early expectations.

  2. Our reading

    Google applies to the work of the mind what Taylorism did to the work of the hand

    Their wordsWhat Taylor did for the work of the hand, Google is doing for the work of the mind.

  3. Our reading

    Online companies have an economic interest in distraction and do not want leisurely reading or concentrated thought

    Their wordsThe last thing these companies want is to encourage leisurely reading or slow, concentrated thought. It’s in their economic interest to drive us to distraction.

  4. Our reading

    Deep reading is valuable for the thoughts it sets off in the reader, not only for the knowledge it gives

    Their wordsThe kind of deep reading that a sequence of printed pages promotes is valuable not just for the knowledge we acquire from the author’s words but for the intellectual vibrations those words set off within our own minds.

  5. Our reading

    Losing the quiet spaces of contemplation would sacrifice something important in ourselves and our culture

    Their wordsIf we lose those quiet spaces, or fill them up with “content,” we will sacrifice something important not only in our selves but in our culture.

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The other pieces are the ones whose claims are worded most like this one's. That measures language, not agreement: they may argue the opposite.