In his essay, Is Google Making Us Stupid?, Nicholas Carr wants to make the argument
that by using the internet of a regular basis is changing the way people function cognitively in a
negative manor. Carr uses a variety of strategies related to kairos and stasis theory to help build
his argument, which are all able to strengthen his claim.

The first step Carr took in forming a strong argument is properly timing when he
presented this argument. This essay was published in 2008, a time when technology was rapidly
improving with the widespread introduction of smartphones, high end gaming consoles, and
breakthroughs in many other areas of consumer and industrial grade technologies. Since the
whole world was being sucked into these new advancements it was the perfect time for him to
launch his argument. At this time people were eager to know what these advancements would
lead to, and Carr took this opportunity to make people aware of the effects of becoming overly
involved with technologies like Google. If Carr had made this argument five years earlier it
would have been significantly weaker because in 2003 very few people relied on the internet for
everyday tasks compared to that number in 2008. By making an argument at the right time
strengthens the argument significantly because more people will listen to a relevant topic, and
Carr clearly was able to pick the right time for this argument.

Another way Carr helped solidify his argument is that the issue is presented is a way to
make it seem urgent. Through the use of personal stories and the stories of his close friends Carr
is able to demonstrate the negative effects of the excessive use of Google and other internet
resources. Since people are able to see the effects that their internet use can have they will see the
issue as urgent and as a result will be more likely to listen to Carr's argument. Another way he
makes this issue seem urgent is that he talks about how it does not take a long time for these
changes to start. By doing this his audience will want to listen to his argument because they
know that if they do not they will soon start to see the effects he was talking about. Making an
argument seem urgent is a key part of developing an argument because if what is being argument
does not matter than the audience will not care about the message. Carr was very successful in
making his argument seem important which definitely helped with his argument.

While building his argument Carr made sure that he knew who his audience likely would
be. The primary audience is likely internet users who do the behaviors that he is against. By
knowing this Carr had to be careful in the way he presented the argument. He made sure that he
did not bash Google or its users because if he did then he would automatically have lost a large
portion of his audience. This is because if you offend your audience they will likely
automatically go against you. Since Carr was aware of this he simply presented facts and also
gave personal testimony of his experience using the internet and the impact he saw on his life.
By doing so Carr was able to build a personal relationship with his audience, which in return
made it more likely for them to accept his message. Failing to recognize an audience can ruin an
argument, however, Carr is successfully able to identify who his audience will be and then is able
to structure his argument in way that it will be very effective to this group of people.

Carr also was looking for an effective way to present his argument and he ultimately
decided to deliver his message in the form of a long essay. This many seem ironic at first,
considering his very first example is the fact that because of the internet people are beginning to
have difficulties reading passages more than a few paragraphs in length. However, by doing it
this way ensures a quick and substantial impact on the reader. When the reader sees this they will
recognize that they use the internet frequently and will see this as a personal challenge to read
the entire argument. By doing this Carr has ensured that most, if not all, of the reader will read
the entire essay and see all of his arguments. This strengthens his argument because it allows him
to make sure that all of his ideas are being considered by the reader. In some cases the way an
argument is presented can have a greater impact than the argument itself, and this is one of those
cases because Carr is able to present his argument in a way where the reader will subconsciously
be more inclined to listen to his ideas and ultimately accept them.

Carr also wanted to show the opposing viewpoint in his argument. After discussing how
some people think that becoming completely relied on Google can be a good thing he is able to
come back and explain why they are wrong. In this scenario the opposing viewpoint is that it is
beneficial that Google is beginning to replace our way of thinking because it makes everything
faster and easier for us. Carr's counter argument is that by reducing the amount we think we are
actually hurting ourselves. By recognizing the other opinion Carr is able to point out the flaws in
these arguments with only strengthen his own.

The final tool Carr uses in this essay to strengthen his argument is that he brings up
questions to the readers. For instance, he brings up question of quality by asking whether or not
reading on the internet is better than traditional forms of reading and research. By asking these
questions he is able to get the reader thinking about the topic, and then is able to provide his own
opinions to persuade the audience to side with him. This questioning was able to force the reader
to consider both sides of the debate and Carr was aiming to have them side with him.

Throughout this essay Carr uses many approaches to help solidify his claim that the
internet is bad for use to use on a regular basis. These approaches came from the principles of
kairos and stasis theory. By combining the techniques Carr was successfully able to form his
ideas into a well-constructed and convincing argument. There is no doubt that without uses these
approaches Carr's argument would not have been nearly as convincing as it is by using them.

