Will we ever change?

I have found that the ideas of both Amusing Ourselves to Death and The Shallows very similar in both Carr's and Postman's agreements that technology has changed the way we process information and translate it to affect our lives directly, although AOTD deals more with television and how its entertainment is changing our public discourse (way of living). Both authors use the invention of writing to demonstrate how our brain's way to interpret information starts to change. In The Shallows, Carr discusses the process of reading and writing (Ch. 3) requires our brains to perform many functions at once, linking many areas of our brains together as shown when we analyze what we read, interpret the symbols that make up our reading, and memorizing the various letters and patterns that allow us to write down our ideas. Postman extends that point by saying the transformation of different medias affects the way we think and connect and is shown in chapters three to five, when he explains how a literate society is able to function and what the results are. Postman explains that along with writing, comes rational thought and perspective as people are able to challenge one another or a whole entire audience on the basis of the truth. Both arguments and their viability are challenged when it comes to discussing technology. Whether one is talking about the Internet or television, both forms of technology make the access of non-stop information or entertainment very easy which affects our ability to think and question. We are constantly going back and forth between several ideas that are mind has almost no time to process them deeply, much less get anything useful from them or discuss them in great detail at that moment. Later, we would probably just forget about the topic that we wanted to discuss because of all the extra "information" that we absorbed throughout the day would interfere.

My concern is whether this can be changed. I am definitely reeling from the effects of technology of what both Carr and Postman discuss. I do find myself often lacking focus on a particular activity in that Carr argues and I find myself watching T.V. and laughing it up while thinking about absolutely nothing. Reading is definitely a refreshing experience because it allows us to focus on ourselves and investigate different ideas in detail, as I have found out during this summer when I spend four hours a day reading. I hope to further try to change the way I look at television and internet, and I hope most of you guys are doing the same thing.