Our Brains The Shallows Summary

The internet has changed the way we live our daily lives. It changed the way we socialize and has impacted the way we communicate. In the New York Times article, “Addicted to Distractions” by Tony Schwartz, it discusses how the author realized that his addiction to the internet prevented him from creating personal goals that will benefit him. For example, our author found himself one evening reading the same paragraph repetitively before concluding that he just can’t simply focus on the content of the book. This horrified the author because he once found pleasure in reading books, and now instead of reading them he finds himself spending countless hours on the internet. A large percentage of Americans are indeed addicted to the internet,

Nicholas Carr in “The Shallows” (2010) asserts that, “The Net may well be the single most powerful mind-altering technology that has ever come into general use. Carr supports this assertion by telling us that we’re often oblivious to everything else going on around us. The real world recedes as we process the flood of symbols and stimuli coming through our devices” (118). The writer concludes that the resulting self-consciousness, even at times, fear magnifies the intensity of our involvement with the medium. Carr makes a direct tone to explain how the exception of alphabets and number systems, are so powerful to our brains and can alter our minds.

Carr opens up his argument with his personal struggle to focus on reading the text. Unlike the past when he enjoyed reading lengthy articles easily, he acknowledges that his mind constantly drifts away from the text and that he looks for something else to do. “I’ve been spending a lot of time online, searching and surfing and sometimes adding to the great databases of the Internet....Research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes… Even when I’m not working, I’m as likely as not to be foraging in the Web’s info-thickets”(Carr 348). He realizes that the increasing amount of time spending on the Internet has caused his intellectual pain. By exposing his personal experience and analyzing it, he successfully points out the issue he faces.

Imagine living in a world without any internet. Imagine the amount of trouble a person would require to go through in order to find out the simplest things. The internet nowadays has become an essential part of almost every human being’s life. Cutting the internet off for just one day my actually leave the world in a state of commotion. Every type of technology may be used in either a way that benefit’s a person, or a way that may harm a person. The author, Nicholas Carr (2010), in “Does the Internet Make You Dumber?” argues that the internet, which is usually looked upon as the most abundant source of information, is actually what is leading people to become “superficial thinkers.” People who are always on the internet tend to not be very productive or creative. Even with the advantages using

In the present global world, we are living in the era of advanced technology like computes, smart phones, TV and so on; and I love that. As early day goes by technology is changed. Technology makes things happen so faster. In the article, “Meet your iBrain,” the authors Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan talk about the current explosion of digital technology and how is changing the way we lives, how we communicate, and it is also rapidly and profoundly altering our brains. “Our brain is evolving right now at a speed like never before” Gary and Gigi. In “Defense of Technology” Andrew O’Hagan talks about how technology is making life get better as time goes by, technology is improvement and improvement like never before. Every part of our daily life

actually affects our brains and the way we use them. Many people would argue that technology has more cons than pros, however it’s quite the opposite. We use technology in our everyday lives and it helps us to gain more knowledge than we’ve ever been able to before. The technology we have today is one of the greatest advantages we could have.

Imagine being in a room full of people, but no one talks or looks at each other. In fact, each person is plugged to a machine. This is how technology has affected society. Some people believe that technology has begun to manipulate our brains, while others claim it is taking intimacy from our relationships. The writers, Nicholas Carr and Sherry Tunkle, explain in their articles how internet use is affecting the way humans think and feel.

Nicolas Carr, an author and researcher, insinuates that people who use computers and the internet are becoming more shallow human beings and that this technological tool, despite its advantages that are applauded by many, is harming society as a whole. Carr has discussed these thoughts in his book The Shallows, on television in an interview with Stephen Colbert, and in an article in The Atlantic entitled “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” While Carr believes that the internet has its place and that it has been extremely helpful to him as a researcher and writer, he also believes that the internet encourages multitasking and boosts superficiality. I share these same thoughts with Carr. While the internet has been extremely helpful in producing a more efficient and fast-paced environment, it has at the same time produced challenges and weaknesses in our society, like multitasking and frivolity.

"The price we pay to assume technology 's power is alienation. The toll can be particularly with our intellectual technologies. The tools of the mind amplify, and, in turn, numb the most intimate, the most human, of our natural capacities -- those for reason, perception, memory, emotion." (Carr 221)

“With the exception of alphabets and number systems, the Net may well be the single most powerful mind-altering technology that has ever come into general use. At the very least, it’s the most powerful that has come along since the book.” From The Shallows : (Carr: 118). States that The internet is by far the best invention on all of human creation. The internet is a great source for multitasking, gain of knowledge, and saves a lot of time.

Carr explains to us that the internet is a tool used every single day in today’s society, but also makes most of us complacent with the ease of having the world at our fingertips. He starts his argument by telling us the effect the internet has had on him and others he has come across. The internet has changed his train of thought and his ability to focus and concentrate. He believes our brains have been reprogramed over time to adjust to the speed and convenience of the internet. Our ability to retain and digest traditional media has also been compromised since we are used to receiving information so rapidly. This is a strong opening argument for his essay.

In “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr uses some evidences in his argument in order to convince the idea of the other people . I believe Carr’s argument is effective because he starts explaining how he feels when he is reading a book and immersing himself in a book. However now, because he uses Internet a lot, he loses his focus of attention after reading some pages. He compares about the past reading ability with the present like “The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle” (Carr 57). Carr also tells that he is not the only one who is getting a trouble with reading. Instead, he believes

Technology could help people adapt in ways that could help them change the way they live and think. Although, it could negatively affect the way people process information through the internet such as having problems with literacy and distractions. In “Smarter than You Think”, Clive Thompson claims that technology can help humans be smarter. Technology such as computers to mentally challenge themselves, so they can improve. Thompson talks about how playing a computer in any sort of game like chess could be a game changer for humans to help them improve their performance and overcome their mistakes. Thompson also claims that digital tools can help people’s lives become easier and connect with other people through social media. Nicholas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Smarter?”, argues how technology doesn’t make people any smarter. Carr mentions how people’s literacy is being overthrown by technology. People tend to read whatever interest they want by using a search engine rather than reading books. Another

In The Shallows, Nicholas Carr discusses the internet’s effect on human thought. This is perfectly shown in Chapter Nine which is titled “Search, Memory.” Carr speaks on how the internet effects long term memory. The chapter quotes one of the smartest minds in the history of Western Civilization, Socrates. Socrates is quoted, “Writing down their thoughts and reading the thoughts of others had written down, they become less dependent on the contents of their own memory.” (The Shallows, Pg. 173) Socrates was onto something, just not in the right in the right part of history. With all of the knowledge available online and just a few key strokes away, there comes a loss of the long term memory. Why retain any knowledge if it just a hyperlink away?

Internet is developing day to day. Internet and networks are binding us in new ways. As Rheingold argues, “There is a huge social issue at work in digital literacy, one that goes beyond personal authority. Every intercourse creates new association in a child’s brain, every email, tweet, search, or post is contributing and nourishing connections in our global brain, changing the shape of the Internet that we billions of people are progressing together. Young child brain or an internet brain both are always trying to make connections. Internet is changing our lifestyle which includes work, producing and consuming. The creative potential release by digital technologies is also boosting questions about rules and ethics, as well as social benefits