You wanna know the real test? Getting through that article. I feel like the author tried to make his point but he tried too hard or...something, because I didn't have fun reading it.
The way I see it is that while this guy and whoever the other guys he talked to say that they could no longer make it through laborious texts, essays, and blogs like they used to, I have no problem reading things all the way through, and I grew up with this so called Google generation. That is, reading things that I want to read and who knows, maybe this is all that I know so I don't know what it was like to read these kinds of essays and books they are talking about but I can assure you that the kind of person I am, I would never have wanted to read War of the Worlds anyways. Again, I don't know if that's my generation or my personal interests.
A friend of mine used to play a trivia game with me over msn messenger and basically, he said, it was "battle of who can Google the fastest" to find the answer because the trivia was obviously beyond our skill level or interest level. So with things like that, you know, I don't think Google is making us stupid, I think searching around for trivia or random bits of news or whatever interests you makes you a little more knowledgeable than you were before.
All in all, if Google is doing anything, it might be messing with our attention spans. I think that people will always be willing to read complete texts of things that interest them, I know I do. I will admit though, that coming across something I thought I wanted to read but having it turn out to be something I find boring, I will not endure it, I will search for a more interesting or easier version or point of view of the same text.
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Amber, I agree the article was tough to get through. I think you are right, if you are the type of person who enjoys a good book you will continue to read the entire text. I know for me, I cannot blame Google for my desire to obtain information quickly or to just "get the just" of an article. Unfortunately I make the choice to either surf the Net for my information or obtain it through reading a newspaper or television. It's not Google making us Stupid, for me, it's probably my lack of desire to read an entire article when I can watch a one minute clip on the front cover of MSN.
ReplyDeleteOoh, you're very right! I didn't think about it! It's so much easier to watch a video clip about something that takes a whole page to explain in text. Maybe if the author of this article made an abridged video version, it would have been more interesting. However, it would not have made his point very valid lol.
ReplyDeleteYou are right reading this article really was the true test. I noticed myself power skimming through the part about power skimming, that was funny. I agree that people who really enjoy reading will continue to read. I have not had internet long, but after spending so much time reading through the B.S. and garbage i get sucked into in online searches it makes me want to read a real book MORE. However, i can see how this might be a problem for future generations that grow up and rely on internet even more so than we did.
ReplyDeleteThat is too funny! Its seems we all had a hard time reading through the article and maybe the author did this on purpose to prove his point. I could have been a little more fun to read. I think it could from reading what you say that it truly could be that people are not going to continue to read something they do not enjoy. So maybe they do not have ADD.
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