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How Super Smash Bros Has Changed Our Mind
Super Smash Bros is a Nintendo 64 game released in 1999. It was created by HAL laboratories and highlights a group of characters from other Nintendo games such as, Kirby, Mario, and Zelda, as they fight to knock each other off the stage (Wikipedia). Furthermore, it metaphorically demonstrates our dependence on digital technology and how it has come to rule our world. The game steals your mind, your attention, and reduces your ability to concentrate on other activities. The internet does the same thing but in a more profound way; we are only around a Nintendo 64 or other gaming console a few hours a day at most, but the Internet is ingrained into everything electronic, from the mobile device in your pocket, to the computer on your desk, to the TV in your living room.
Digital technology rules our world; the human race has become dependent on it to work, live, and simply function. In the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr defends the position that the Internet is affecting humans negatively by making us less analytical and unable to focus our attention. The article “Get Smarter” by Jamais Cascio was written in response to “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” It defends the position that current technology is causing us to adapt, become more intelligent, and learn from new technologies.
In his article Nicholas Carr says, “The net is becoming a universal medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mind.” and “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.” (Carr)
The Internet is definitely a universal medium and a domain of free speech where information flows constantly. Almost all of our information now flows through the Internet. 20 years ago one had to go to the library or do independent research to find information, nowadays, by simply typing a few words into google, Bing, or another search engine, innumerable amounts of info can be acquired about a subject. This is a both a boon and a disadvantage as demonstrated by Carr’s analogy to having once been a scuba diver, and now being a guy on a Jet Ski. (Carr). He was once a scuba diver that dove into articles and other writings as he immersed himself in the intricacies of the prose and flowing words; nowadays, he is a guy on a jet ski that skims over passages, quickly reading works of writing. In his article, Carr goes on to describe effects of past technologies and how they have affected us negatively. He uses the example of Friedrich Nietzsche and his typewriter. Friedrich Nietzsche was a writer that had failing vision, and who was afraid he would soon be unable to write. He bought a typewriter and after mastering the keys, could write again. Interestingly, a friend of his found that his writing had changed, it had become terser and more telegraphic like (Carr). If a simple typewriter changed a prolific writer’s tone and writing style, the Internet and the advent of computational and tablet technologies could easily alter our fundamental thinking processes, as described by Carr.
“Get Smarter” by Jamais Cascio explains that to avoid natural disasters and develop as a nation, we must get smarter. Furthermore, he expands on that idea by hinting at evolution and how we are always getting smart; the evolution of our intelligence is an ongoing process. The internet, powerful simulations that model the world, and drugs that allow one to study harder and focus better, have all contributed to the evolution of the human race and our rise in intelligence (Cascio). Additionally, our current media technology rewards the ability to make connections to broader subjects through subtle references to larger ideas. Scientists refer to this type of intelligence as “fluid intelligence” and this aspect of society promotes increased intelligence. Finally, Cascio says that our short-attention span may be solely a short-term problem and could dissipate in future years as we become more accustomed to using the technology (Cascio).
Nicholas Carr is right in stating that technology has reduced our attention span and our ability to concentrate. But even he states that we “should be skeptical of [his] skepticism” (Carr). When the written word was developed, Plato worried that people would “cease to exercise their memory and become forgetful.” Then, later, when the printing press was developed, the Italian humanist Hieronimo Squarciafico believed that the availability of books would lead to “intellectual laziness” (Carr). Carr’s skepticism should be taken with a grain of salt. Although it is undeniable that the Net has affected our ability to think, it may provide us with numerous benefits that outweigh the negatives.
The Internet has numerous benefits, such as social media, access to information, freedom of speech, and more. The ease of connection between people created by social media led to the revolts in Egypt and Syria against their oppressive governments. These revolts could never have been possible without the Net. The ease of access to information leads to an overall more knowledgeable world and helps our society compile accurate data on numerous subjects. Additionally, the Net is a place of free speech where people can share their experiences and find community support on forums. Furthermore, we are able to design better experiments, and, through the increase in technology, an idea (any idea) can be transmitted to thousands of people through the click of a button. Do these positives outweigh the negatives of losing our attention span and our innate ability to concentrate and contemplate on works of writing, painting, and other works of art?
I believe they do. Although I tend to agree with Nicolas Carr on how the Internet has affected us, it has provided us with benefits that outweigh the negatives. This is similar to how the development of the written word affected us when Plato was alive. He was right in saying that we would lose some of our ability to remember and become forgetful; but the written word expanded the ideas and knowledge of the average person leading to a spur in development as new ideas could be communicated more efficiently and effectively. The printing press was the same way, and now, so is the Internet (Carr). It has created an environment of great knowledge, and will spur development in our world.
The Net can be compared to Kirby from Super Smash Bros. It is an overpowered monster that will fruit cake (Kirby’s powerful attack) everything and trump all in its quest to progress. The Internet will make many of past technologies useless as it takes over; examples include, cds, dvds, books, and much more. But the Net doesn’t solely make them useless, it enhances them in an electronic format that is better accessible to the masses. These are positives as our society progresses and the beast that is Kirby, takes over.
There are improvements and new technologies everyday due to the Internet. Even though it has led to a decrease in our intelligence in some ways, it has also increased our access to information and our intelligence in other ways. In the past, communities were more local-minded and didn’t think about the world as a whole. Nowadays, everything is about our global connections, Bill Gates once said “The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow,” and he is entirely correct. The benefits of the Internet outweigh its negatives; those who refuse to believe that will be left behind as those who embrace the Internet access more information and further the worlds thinking.
Works Cited
Cascio, Jamais. "Get Smarter." The Atlantic. The Atlantic, Aug. 2009. Web. 06 Mar. 2012.
Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" The Atlantic. The Atlantic, Aug. 2008. Web. 06 Mar. 2012.
Wikipedia contributors. "Super Smash Bros.." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 6 Mar. 2012. Web. 7 Mar. 2012.
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