Problem
Read the following passage from Kenneth Goldsmith's 2016 Los Angeles Times op-ed, "Go Ahead: Waste Time on the Internet."
The notion that the Internet is bad for you seems premised on the idea that the Internet is one thing - a monolith. In reality it's a befuddling mix of the stupid and the sublime, a shattered, contradictory, and fragmented medium. Internet detractors seem to miss this simple fact, which is why so many of their criticisms disintegrate under observation.
The way Internet pundits tell it, you'd think we stare for three hours at clickbait - those articles with hypersensational headlines - the way we once sat down and watched three hours of cartoons on Saturday morning TV. But most of us don't do any one thing on the Internet. Instead, we do many things, some of it frivolous, some of it heavy. Our time spent in front of the computer is a mixed time, a time that reflects our desires - as opposed to the time spent sitting in front of the television where we were fed shows we didn't necessarily enjoy. TV gave us few choices. Many of us truly did feel like we wasted our time - as our parents so often chided us - "rotting away" in front of the TV.
I keep reading - on screens - that in the age of screens we've lost our ability to concentrate, that we've become distracted. But when I look around me and see people riveted to their devices, I notice a great wealth of concentration, focus, and engagement.
A. Where in this passage do you see Goldsmith introducing what others are saying about the internet and the amount of time we spend on screens? What do you notice about the different ways Goldsmith introduces "they say" arguments?
B. Summarize Goldsmith's argument by using the following templates for introducing an ongoing debate p26.