Peter Norvig interviews Nicholas Carr, the author of Is Google Making Us Stupid?. I'd summarize the result of this inquiry as "No. It's people like you, Nicholas Carr, who are making us stupid."

Carr unfortunately didn't comment on Google's mix of advertising and content. Would Norvig bring out data from pre-advertisement Google?

Underpinning the debate lies the notion of self-control: Norvig believes in data revealing top people doing well with today's resources, Carr believes that the vast majority of our minds are raped by the distractions of the Internet. This seems like another Free Will vs Determinism with inconclusive data where people generally just pick the side/story that makes them the happiest. This inconclusiveness presents a good basis for an entertaining questions, though.