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Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Shallow thinking has become a reality
I have just finished reading The Shallows by Nicholas Carr and overall I enjoyed this book. I thought it was just going to be ten chapters on why the Internet is bad, but it turned out to be a very informative book. Initially had questioned what was Carr's point for writing this book, but as a kept reading I found out it Carr was just trying to prove , whether it was bad or not,that the Internet is changing us. Carr proves this though his extensive use of science and history throughout the book. Even the simplest of tools such as writing and even a hammer changed our mind to think differently. Towards the end of the book, Carr uses science and history to prove that the convenience factor of the Internet and search engines such as Google have changed our minds to think less critically and more shallow. Even if Carr makes great points, what is he trying to tell us? Can we even acknowledge the fact that the Internet is changing us? Is there anything that can be done to stop us from changing now that the Internet has become apart of us?
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Just because we are changing doesn't mean it is for the worse. We could be changing in a good way because of the internet but we may also be changing in some negative ways. We shouldn't try to not change because everything changes us but it doesn't always have to be either good or bad.
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ReplyDeleteWhy did I assign these books? So you would be appalled at the world and dig your feet into the ground and try to stop technology? Impossible! and crazy. An educated person is informed, and makes informed choices. David's right; we see that we are changing, and it is not a simple good or bad equation. Further, we connect with our ancestors who bemoaned the advent of the printing press, who scorned the automobile, who decried the television set. Human beings resist change. (Just watch what happens once you get comfortable in 508 and with your working partners and then I CHANGE your seat.) But the only constant is change -- entropy, you know. It's happening all around us.
We merely have to WAKE UP and notice, and make decisions based on what we've learned. Don't be a person who is carried along by the current and suddenly finds himself in San Diego. To extend the metaphor, you have to learn to surf, to float, to paddle against, to paddle with....the changes will continue to come at you. Don't get comfortable.
Carr isn't trying to demonize or alienate us from the internet. What I think he's trying to do is get the word out, so that we can be aware of the consequences, and perhaps change the way we use the internet for the better.
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