Computers Are Making Us Smarter: Comparing Two Arguments Technology has changed society enormously in recent years. Many people around the world have let technology become a part of life rather than just a luxury. In his July/August 2008 Atlantic essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr, author of books on technology and culture, argues that the Internet has influenced and changed the human capacity for concentration and contemplation. Clive Thompson, award-winning freelancer, journalist, blogger and writer on culture and technology, in his 2013 essay “How Technology Is Changing Our Minds for the Better” adapted from his book Smarter than You Think, argues that as technology becomes more intelligent, so are human beings. collaborating together. Carr cites historical events and authorities to support his thesis, but Thompson does not go into detail on the topic, instead providing chess as an example of how collaboration between humans and computers can expand the intellect of the human brain, demonstrating how “first of computers, It was extremely rare for teenagers to become great masters” but now there are “more and more young musicians becoming great masters” (359). He frames his essay with anecdotes and important facts about human and mechanical intelligence; Carr, on the other hand, structures his essay with anecdotes and research, stating that the use of "artificial" intelligence diminishes the mind's own capabilities. While Carr uses personal experience to demonstrate that technology has negative effects on perception, Thompson uses the chess case study as an example of how digital objects have a positive impact on mental development. Both authors effectively acknowledge their positions, but Carr weakens his rebuttal by largely praising the Internet while attempting to rebuke it. Thompson for now acknowledges that people can get distracted while browsing the Web, but quickly counters by establishing that Internet tools do not degrade human beings.