Get Smarter

Summary:

The article "Get Smarter" written by Jamais Cascio has a different opinion in contrast to Carr's article about Google. Cascio seems to be in favor of accepting technology into our lives, and believes it is not reducing people's cognitive capacity, but allowing us to think differently. He states that we are getting "smarter" in terms of becoming quicker and more efficient in terms of thinking with today's high levels of technology use. He describes people in terms of adapting to changes. For example, he uses the printing press, telegraph, and radio to describe the effect it had on people, claiming that it "increased our functional memory and our ability to share insights and knowledge across time and space." The rise of current technology and media access is analogous to the aforementioned inventions that revolutionized communication and media.

Cascio continues to elaborate on the potential technology has to offer. By embracing newer tech, solving a vast array of problems is possible. He also talks about the economic applications of embracing technology as it develops.

Reaction:

For the most part I agree with the Cascio's article. A similar article showed collected data of different generations starting back from the Baby Boomers and showed an increasing trend of media usage per day. Soon enough everyone will be using technology and that simply is the way our future is heading. Granted, there are several drawbacks and negative impacts technology reliance, but increased tech use is somewhat recent due to the fact that there is a great difference in opinions and traditional views between generations before the millennium.

Tie-in with Carr:

Cascio's article is supportive of what Carr is trying to discourage: the increased use of technology and the effect it has on people. Both articles are great material and have relevant opinions. Carr seems to be in favor of more traditional approaches and sees heavy technology use as a hindrance, slowly draining our mental abilities. While Carr does make a good point that it seems more and more people find it more difficult to sit down and just read a long article/book, Cascio points out that doing so would either be impractical, or is not needed. Cascio's article helps see both sides of the argument that involve Carr and Cascio. Knowing the benefits and risks of using technology so widely within our lives becomes clearly.