The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains/by Nicholas Carr

[Kim Allen Scott]

I can still remember my father’s reactions to the personal computer.  He had never owned one, and when I was in graduate school I bought my first to use as a typewriter with a television screen.  That was a long time ago, 1990, BEFORE the internet had entered our lives, but my father clearly saw what was coming.  Pointing at the machine, after I had demonstrated how one could use a “floppy” disk to read extensive bibliographies, Dad simply said “Those things are evil.”  It turns out he was only half right.  The world of information that the internet would bring has been a boon to humanity, and the way in which the internet has brought us that boon is downright scary.

Nicholas Carr has written a wonderful book about how people are losing the ability to write, and read, books.  By taking a detailed look at brain physiology and psychological testing data, Carr has come to the conclusion that the personal computer, and the internet, is slowly robbing its addicted users of the capacity for serious, focused thinking.  That is exactly the type of thinking that is necessary for reading large blocks of text with no hyperlinks or do-dads.  Instead of being grazers, the human herd is rapidly evolving into nibblers, taking small snippets of information flashed on a screen before the distraction of even more snippets wisks them away.

Although the conclusions of this book are somewhat depressing, I strongly recommend it for anyone who is concerned about the future of reading, and the future of mankind.

[Jane B]

I've put this on my must read list...from your review, Kim, it promises to be a very interesting read, as long as I can keep focussed on the blocks of text!

I have long held the view that the internet, spell checkers on word processing programs and other contraptions of the modern age are slowly turning our minds to mush. Take the personal navigating systems that are seen in just about every car on the road these days that people use to "find" their way around unfamiliar territory. These devices are replacing the old hard copy street directories (which are no longer being published) and along with them the art of street directory and map reading. Its scary to think that people are putting their faith in a little box attached to the windscreen of their cars and blindly following the directions given (in whatever accent you want) . Just the other day I was out with my sister going into unfamiliar territory when out of the blue her GPS told her to do a U turn immediately (we were at the time on a 6 lane highway and what he was suggesting was not only illegal but down right dangerous.) Luckily we are 2 old baby boomers whose minds haven't completely gone, so we turned him off and went the way we thought we should. That was us...but what of the new generations who are growing up in the internet age? What will become of them and the art of critical thought?

[Bern]

Another view - Streams of Content, Limited Attention: The Flow of Information thro...

Or, maybe you're just getting old : )