Google is “making us stupid” by contributing to a growing trend toward shallow thinking. In this case, the definition of stupidity is based on Nicholas Carr's belief that Google reduces our intellectual power by limiting our concentration and processing capacity, which can change the structure of our cognitive processes as we adapt to technology. This narrowing of thinking impacts our critical thinking skills, which contributes to our increasing reliance on technology. The combination of information overload, declining patience, and slower thinking could create a situation in which we passively watch “our own intelligence flatten into artificial intelligence” (Carr). We seem to be moving toward a pattern in which we lazily substitute Google's ideas for our own, consuming instead of creating. Society is moving from a multi-dimensional approach to information gathering to a reliance on the Internet as its primary information channel. The benefits (ease of use, instant availability) seem enticing, leading to widespread adoption, but the interface itself can limit our intellectual capacity. As Carr observes from the work of media theorist Marshall McLuhan, “media are not mere passive channels of information. They provide the substance of thought, but they also shape the process of thought” (Carr). Because reading is not an automatic skill for humans, but a learned behavior, our flexible brains may well construct a different cognitive framework to process the new format. The short formats we prefer to read online may therefore influence our thought patterns to be equally abrupt. When we develop the habit of consuming large volumes of web content, we therefore diminish our "capacity for concentration and contemplation"....... middle of paper ...... Google profits skyrocket . By failing to ask Google: “What’s in it for you?” we demonstrate poor reasoning ability. If we identify reduced critical thinking skills, reduced attention span, lack of concentration, and general intellectual laziness as symptoms of stupidity, the claim that Google makes us “stupid” becomes credible. When we limit ourselves to superficial thought patterns by narrowing our attention span, we then find ourselves dependent on Google to fill in the gaps. Unfortunately, when we rely on Google to fill these gaps in our intelligence, we diminish our own mental abilities by blindly accepting the "artificial intelligence" offered by technology instead of relying on our own capacity for reasoning and creativity. Works Cited Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google making us stupid.” TheAtlantic.com. The Atlantic Magazine, July/August 2008. Web. February 18 2012.