With the rise of technology and the staggering availability of information, the digital age has come into full force and will only continue to grow from there. Anyone with an Internet connection has a vast amount of knowledge at their fingertips. As long as one is online, one is only a few clicks away from Wikipedia or Google, allowing him to find what he needs to know. Despite this, Nicholas Carr questions whether Google is having a positive impact on the way people absorb information. In his article “Is Google making us stupid?” » Carr explores the impact of the Internet on the way people read. He argues that the availability of such an amount of information has diminished the ability to concentrate on reading, referring to stories of literary types who no longer have the ability to sit down and read a book, as well as his own personal experiences on this issue. The Internet presents tons of data at once, and Carr speculates that our brains will slowly tune in to better receive this information. The article begins with a depiction of a scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey in which astronaut Dave Bowman unplugs the HAL supercomputer. Carr uses this to express his feelings that, like HAL, someone or something is playing with the wiring of his brain. This is a strong emotional appeal. Carr intends to quickly grab the attention of his audience with the feeling of being "unplugged", and eventually gain the sympathy of readers who have experienced a similar feeling. Carr goes on to explain that he can no longer get absorbed in an article or book, saying that "my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages." Again, this works as a strong emotional appeal. English enthusiasts - Carr's likely primary audience - who read this article may agree... middle of article ...... the techniques used are convincing and subtle, allowing for Carr to take advantage of all the emotional arguments at his disposal. . In conjunction with relevant sources on the subject, Carr's emotional appeals seem to make his audience think, and from the article it is easy to agree with the arguments he made. Carr's use of logos and pathos, however, calls his philosophy into question. Fortunately, Carr's philosophy should not be questioned, as he has written several books and articles on the subject. This doesn't excuse his bias, but it does allow him to speak out on the subject at hand. Carr definitely presents himself as a strong literary figure, and his opinions on the Internet are both reasonable and relevant. This combination of ethos, pathos, and logos allows Carr to write successfully as an expert in this field, and his article and thoughts should not be taken lightly..