In this day and age, people are constantly bombarded with new technology.

Consequently, finding someone who does not utilize the Internet in his or her everyday routine is extremely rare. Technological advances have helped our nation become the world leader it is today and often children grow up not knowing or expecting anything less. The thought of going a day without the Internet makes my stomach churn.

After going off to college, I have incorporated the Internet more and more into both my academic and social life. Despite so many benefits, critics of technology as well as my generation, insist that the Internet will lead to an overall downfall. Is the Internet helping us as a society or is it causing us to lose critical intellectual and interpersonal skills?

Members of my generation, Generation Y, are not the only ones that face enormous criticism regarding the way in which we put the internet to use. Critics such as former executive editor of the Harvard Business Review and author of “Is Google Making Us Stupid,” Nicholas Carr, believe that the Internet negatively affects the reading levels of people of all ages, especially their ability to concentrate on long texts.

Today, people put their intellectual skills to rest by automatically going to the resource where results are instantly acquired: Google.

Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the men who created this exceptional search engine are determined to turn Google into an artificial intelligence. Page explains, “The ultimate search engine is something as smart as people—or smarter… certainly if you had all the world’s information directly attached to your brain, or an artificial brain that was smarter than your brain, you’d be better off.” I agree that search engines are beginning to supplement the human brain and causing people to diminish certain intellectual aptitudes.

I feel that when we read on the Internet we aren’t fully comprehending and understanding. We are merely skimming the surface of what we read. Intelligence and contemplation are taking a back seat to the Internet. I worry that the human brain may become an outdated computer that will eventually need a faster processor and a bigger hard drive.

Google is not a place to find insight. It merely provides raw facts and information quickly. Although we have improved the ability to scan information promptly, we have lost some of the essential skills related to learning and applying what we learn.

With all the benefits the Internet brings to society it seems almost impossible that the Internet could be causing our critical intellectual skills to decline. However, given my personal experience, as well as research from Internet critics, I believe the Internet is causing a decline in our intellectual capacity. Members of Generation Y, such as myself, need to be aware of the effect the Internet has on critical thinking abilities.

The Internet is a very powerful tool that expands our ability to understand any particular topic. At the same time the Internet can erode our intellectual skills if we allow it to take over our lives and supplement our knowledge. We must protect academic skills and not rely on to the Internet for all of our solutions.

Jessica Meier is a sophomore majoring in communication studies. She can be reached for comments or questions at [email protected].