I have to say that I'm kind of in a different boat here. I just began The Shallows and I don't seem to be having as much trouble as a few of the other students. It's quite enjoyable so far. If anything, I was intrigued. But that doesn't mean I disagree with the authors point. I understand how difficult it is while doing homework sometimes to stay focused and off my phone. (I'm sorry! I can't help it!)
I found his sources very amusing. I think philosophy major Joe O'Shea's statement caught my attention the most. I just can't put my head around the idea of reading books being a complete waste of time and "not making sense." What about it doesn't MAKE SENSE? It kind of bothered me knowing that READING is thought of as completely useless now. It's pretty disturbing actually. Something so highly universal is now a waste of time and is seen as not needed since we have the internet to do the work for us... VERY DISTURBING.
Destiny: While we may have had different reading experiences so far, I definitely agree with you on the second paragraph. I think Carr uses quotes like that to show us how much the internet can affect our mindset! And while I would never really stop reading or think of it as useless, there have been times when I (and many of the other students using this blog) choose to allow the internet to do our work for us instead of actually reading. I mean, isn't that what we use Sparknotes for? When we have a test on a book the next day, but we don't have time to read it, or we're too distracted to finish reading, we look up chapter summaries and notes to substitute for our reading. Like I said earlier, the internet changes the way we learn. We don't completely stop learning (or in this case, reading), we just use different methods to learn, ones that are usually shorter and faster.
ReplyDeleteI am working from room 508 right now and I keep having terrible technology issues that require me to re-write perfectly good comments and posts! Urg! This is the second time I've had to write this comment.
ReplyDeleteIn the last several years, I have noticed that I feel very unproductive when I am sitting in a chair reading a book. A paper-and-glue style book. Every so often, Iook up and think, "shouldn't I be DOING something?" and then I remember, Oh, yeah, I am engaging in a time-honored activity that I find richly rewarding and intellectually satisfying. But it's weird. I feel like I'm not getting anything done, or burning enough calories, or engaging with other people, or something....the same goes for writing. When I sit alone to work on writing, and it's quiet, and I'm not talking to anyone, and I'm all up in my own head, I have to WORK at staying with it. I feel like the world is passing me by.
And there have always been Cliff Notes and Spark Notes or encyclopedias, or whatever. These aren't new. These summaries and short cuts are just more readily available than before, and I don't know...kids seem quick to make that jump.
It comes down to this, "what kind of smart do you want to be? Real smart? Or SparkNotes smart?" This is a battle we fight every year. I see kids who are more interested in their grade and their percentage and their GPA and their SAT score so they can hurry up and get to the university of their choice and then -- what? Read more Spark Notes? It's hard to respect that kind of student. For them, it's not about getting deeper and stronger, smarter and wiser. It's about looking good on paper. Empty suits. The world is full of them.
I'm kind of on a rant today.
When I first started reading this book I thought it was very interesting, but the further I got into it the more annoyed and disturbed I became. Like you, I did not like how O'Shea believed reading was a waste of time. Moreover I do not like how Carr made it seem as if modern generations do not appreciate reading and find it to be a waste of time. I know that there are many people who think reading is boring and a waste of time, but Carr cannot round us up as a whole and say we are all now consumed by the Internet. Maybe it's because I do not like when people assume that our generation doesn't appreciate books and spend all day on the Internet, but either way it bothered me.
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