The Negative Impacts of the Internet

The statistics show how the internet is becoming vital in almost every aspect of modern-day lifestyle (Brockman). However, the vast impact of the internet is undeniable precisely when it changes the human’s thought process and lifestyles so monumentally and quickly as demonstrated by Nicholas Carr in the article Is Google Making Us Stupid? Carr suggests that the internet is changing the way human brains work since it has detrimental effects on the mind (63). In such perceptive, this paper extends Carr’s argument by providing a deep-rooted analysis on the negative impacts of internet use in all aspects of human life. The internet limits the human mind from developing the capability to remember information. Many human minds have become dependent on the internet and computers.

The outcomes of these experiments provide evidence in the way the internet is altering the functionality of the human brain. Thus, the internet is influencing some habits that distort the growth of the mind in the segments that necessitate conceptual information as evidenced in the outcomes of the experiments highlighted in the section (779). The Internet also hinders natural creativity. Carr illustrates how the internet affects memorization by the claims that when people depend on the internet as a surrogate for the information they used to hold in their heads, the individuals will “cease to exercise their memory and become forgetful” (63). This suggestion implies that memorization is difficult in the internet era. Unlike these materials, most websites lack work cited with verifiable information.

Besides, the internet generation pays little to no attention on the credibility of the online sources they use in their academic tasks. To illustrate, any individual with access to the internet can write posts, any person with a video camera can develop to be a YouTube star, and they can post their contents without any middlemen or accredited professionals filtering them. Given the free and open nature of the web, the materials are equally accessible to everyone. For instance, the popular Alex Jones channels on YouTube have more than a million subscribers, yet they are associated with some controversies. 5%) not having met in person all of their online friends” (Buzzetto-More et al. These statistics indicate that majority of the social media users are likely to experience unfair or cruel treatment in their circles as supported by Madden, Lenhart, Smith, Purcell, Zickuhr, and Rainie in their 2011 study.

The study concluded that “Among social media users, 88% of teens have seen someone be mean or cruel to another person on a social network site” (Lenhart et al. Although bullying existed even in the pre-internet periods, the internet has made the globe more rural implying that bullying does not end when individuals withdraw from their environment (Lenhart et al. To illustrate, when individuals are bullied in their social media page, their entire social circles recognize the harassment, and if the individuals can access the web, a perpetual stream of notification leaves them susceptible to victimhood. Due to the explosion of the digital age, individuals are engaging in online activities in a manner that interferes with their daily life. Studies indicate that the brain make-up of the people suffering from the internet addiction is similar to the minds of the individuals who suffer chemical dependencies such as alcohol and drugs (Brockman 14).

Interestingly these studies associate internet addiction with the physical changing of the brain structure, hence affecting the ability to remember details, planning, paying attention and prioritizing tasks (Brockman 14). Also, this addiction results in emotional and physical manifestations such as dishonesty, anxiety, isolation, defensiveness, fear, insomnia, headaches and weight gain or loss. Furthermore, Brockman indicates that internet addicts overeat or fail to eat to avoid being away from the computers which result in poor nutrition (14) Moreover, there are instances where this internet addiction leads to loss of lives. Therefore, the negative influences of the internet presented by the paper indicate that the controversial harms of the internet are beyond brain damage. Besides, inventing, shaping and using the internet in a human-friendly way, especially reducing the level people depend on it, is vital in reducing the negative impacts of the internet.