Is the Internet Making People Lazy?

"Like me, you've probably sensed the same thing, in yourself and in others - the way the constant collection of information becomes an easy substitute for trying to achieve any kind of true understanding. It seems a form of laziness as much as anything else, a laziness that the internet both encourages and justifies." Nicholas Carr makes an excellent point in this quote. He states that the internet promotes and rationalizes laziness for those who use the internet. In many ways, Carr is correct. The internet provides a motive for people, particularly young people, to become lazy. The motive, or cause, for people to be lazy is found in the many services and opportunities that the internet provides.

The internet offers many opportunities for laziness. One common opportunity that often comes to my mind is online shopping. Shopping via the internet gives consumers with the opportunity to shop for whatever they want, without any distractions such as other customers or annoying salespeople. I know many people that shop online on a regular basis, including friends, teachers, and classmates.

My neighbor, Sheila Young, shops online on a daily basis. She uses the internet to shop for anything she needs, including underwear, birthday presents, and even certain food items. Online shopping has caused her to become lazy, and it is evident in her everyday life. When asked to go to the grocery store, Sheila grumbles and complains about having to go.

Sheila has become accustomed to sitting in front of her computer to shop. Sheila is not the only person I know that has an online shopping "addiction;" my cousin Sarah McBeth has a habit of shopping online. Sarah began shopping online when her daughter, Anna, was born. Sarah realized that she never had the time to go to Babies-R-Us or Wal-Mart to buy items for Anna. One day when Sarah was checking her e-mail, she saw an ad for walmart.com and decided to look around. After seeing a discount on shipping, Sarah decided to buy an outfit or two for Anna and a DVD for herself. When the shipment arrived a few days later, Sarah decided that she would continue to shop online. From then on, she decided that she would not set foot into a store unless it was necessary. This decision started her on a road to laziness.

Another way in which the internet contributes to laziness is in its opportunities for communication. Through such inventions as electronic mail, also known as email, and instant messaging, people have learned how to communicate lazily. Internet users have learned how to use the internet to avoid conflict, create conflict, and talk to people lazily. One internet forum user expresses this point well when he says, "Granted the internet means we can communicate more often, but how many times have you sent a text message or emailed someone to avoid talking to someone?"

One of the internet's worst communication techniques is instant messaging. Instant messaging is a mode of electronic communication that involves immediate contact between multiple people who are online at the same time. This form of communication causes people to become lazy very quickly because they can use it at any time, while wearing anything, and with anyone. Those who use this type of communication only have to sit in front of a computer screen and type. He is lazy because he does not need to develop a friendship, get dressed, or even get out of bed (if he is using a laptop). I know many people who struggle with talking face-to-face with others or developing friendships, but can talk for hours on instant messenger to someone he has never met.

My cousin, Emily Gordon, does not have many friends at her school or in her neighborhood, but she often talks to people on instant messenger for an hour or more each day. Emily has become lazy because she refuses to develop and maintain a relationship with a real person. Emily is not the only young person who uses instant messaging regularly. According to a study by COM Score Media Metrix, more than 250 million people use instant messaging regularly. As stated by AOL senior director of corporate communications Krista Thomas, AOL instant messenger users are known to spend six hours a day on average with their IM client open.

Many internet users wonder why others are concerned about the internet causing youth to become lazy. The main reason is that the laziness may cause the teenagers to become overweight. Most people know that laziness, or inactivity, causes humans to gain weight. In two separate studies, scientists have discovered some surprising information regarding internet use and overweight adults. In an International Telecommunications Union study, scientists found that 1,022,863,307 people use the internet worldwide. In a study at the University of California, Marion Nestle found that around 1.1 billion people worldwide were overweight. It seems that there is a relationship, because there are about 1.1 billion people in each group. Although the results may not be entirely related, the coincidence is surprising.

Because of the internet and its many services, today's generation of young people has been becoming lazier. The technology and opportunities that Americans now have from the internet have caused many people, mostly young people, to become lazy. Through the examples of communication and online shopping, one can see that the internet is the cause of some, if not most, of the laziness Americans experience. Nicholas Carr said it best in his quote when he said that the internet encourages and justifies laziness.