When a person sits down to write, what are the influences bestowed upon the writer? Nicholas Carr's cover article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?", suggests that the internet, perhaps, has a vast and powerful effect on one's mind. It's, of course, our minds that define a great portion of who we are. People can't get enough of the internet nowadays, and Carr's article addresses why that might not be a good thing. Carr feels that an overwhelming dependence on the internet has reduced the cognitive brain function of its users. The author surmises that users reading, thinking, and writing is changing for the worse. Carr believes the "net", has become so prevalent that it's taking over in many aspects of our lives. "As people’s minds become attuned to the crazy quilt of Internet media, traditional media have to adapt to the audience’s new expectations. (Carr 738)." The thought here is that everything else around us takes on the flighty personality of the internet. An all assimilating internet is vital to Carr's stance. People are subjected to fickle and distracting mediums wherever they turn. Nobody, in Carr's view, can concentrate and really think about a particular subject anymore. "If we lose those quiet spaces, or fill them up with “content,” we will sacrifice something important not only in our selves but in our culture. (743)." The internet has changed everything around us, and there is no place left to turn for solemn introspection. Carr's experiences suggest to him that overuse of the internet is degrading our capacity for thoughtful writing. Carr writes, "And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation." (735). Carr is describing a sort of fragmented way of thinking that penetrates his writing process. He feels the internet cultivates swift action, rather than deep thought. Carr reflects upon Friedrich Nietzsche who's internet equivalent, a typewriter, changed the Ger