Are computers making us dumb?

Listen to the BBC program

　We don't leave home without our mobile phones - and are always consulting apps like spellcheckers and maps. Rob and Neil talk about how dependent we are on computers - and wonder if this is a good thing. Listen to their conversation and learn some new vocabulary.

Vocabulary

　　smartphone

　　phone which allows you to connect to the internet

　　app (application)

　　a computer programme for a specific purpose

　　to connect

　　to link or join one thing to another thing

　　crash

　　stop operating (computers and systems)

　　skill

　　the ability to do something well because you have practised it

　　talent

　　a natural ability to do something well

　　empathy

　　the ability to imagine and understand what another person might be feeling

　　GPS

　　Global Positioning System which gives us information about location and directions with the help of satellites orbiting Earth

　　spellchecker

　　software which prevents us from making spelling mistakes when we type text on a computer

Think and talk

1. Do you carry your smartphone all the time? Is it a big help or huge distraction? 

2. Do you think people rely too much on smartphones or computers?

3. According to Nicholas Carr, using computers means that we are losing skills - he talks about 'de- skilling'. Can you think of any examples of 'de-skilling'?

4. Carr goes even further and says we're losing some of the things that make us human, like empathy, the ability to imagine and understand what other people might be feeling. Do you agree with him?

Let us remember that computers are here to stay and they'll become more and more sophisticated, but we have to remember they are just tools.