Countering in Action...Touche!

So I've decided I'm going to be that girl and use this post to do a little revision on my paper. I thought it was appropriate because I could do a little countering, I was told that having a little bit of the other sides argument within my paper would enhance my point so here we go. 

Those who fear the Internet believe that the social networking-obsessed, blog-crazed, entertainment-based, and gossip-centric ways of the Internet have given us short attention spans and has made us shallow and narcissistic. They are certain that we are more concerned with posting a picture of the latte we just drank than we are with learning about what is happening in the world around us. Chris Hedge who wrote, "America the Illiterate", is concerned that as a result of the Internet's focus on entertainment depth of meaning and analysis will be tossed aside. He writes, "In an age of images and entertainment, in an age of instant emotional gratification, we do not seek or want honesty. We ask to be indulged and entertained by clichés, stereotypes and mythic narratives."  Nicolas Carr, an author for the Atlantic Monthly, expresses his concerns about the effect of the internet in his article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid". Carr writes, "[Media] supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation." Carr believe that the Internet is fundamentally changing the way we think, and beyond that, making us incapable of deep thought. He goes on to say, "Our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged."

Those that fear the Internet would say that those who use the Internet are desperately crying for attention, that their actions are evidence of the narcissism we have succumbed to by opening the “Pandora’s box” that is the Internet. They see the generation of the Internet as thoughtless and easily entertained and distracted. They believe the Internet is a place where people desperately vie for the approval of their peers, to fit in, to feel somehow important in an age where entertainment value is the only value. To them, the Internet is a place to fulfill shameful vices or act out behind the convenient mask of anonymity and, in many ways, they are correct. People are using the Internet for these purposes, but, once again, those who fear the Internet have failed to look beyond these failings to see the redemptive value that lies underneath the mess.

 I'm not really sure if this is more of an example of forwarding or countering...since in essence the quotes I include are going against the general point of my paper (countering) but the way that I use them more or less promotes my point (forwarding). Interesting dilemma....