Rewiring Our Brains

“Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.” This metaphor is at the heart of Nicholas Carr’s recent Atlantic Monthly article: Is Google Making Us Stupid?

So is it? No, I don’t think so. The Internet, however, is changing not just how we read, but the way we process information. You’ve heard it before…that our attention spans are decreasing as we’re hit with shorter bits of text, disruptive flashing headlines, etc.

But this article is of particular interest for a couple of reasons:
1. It looks at the Internet in perspective, by referencing past technological advances (e.g. the printing press) and how they’ve changed our way of thinking.
2. It discusses how the Internet is subsuming other intellectual technologies and altering traditional media in the process.

If you don’t have time to read it in full (sigh), here are a few points worth pondering:
- As Marshall McLuhan would say, media channels shape how we process information. Are our minds mimicking the “staccato” quality of the Net?
- Deep reading cannot be separated from deep thinking. How is the Internet’s focus on bite-sized info helping us draw our own inferences or cultivate our own ideas?
- The human brain can reprogram itself on the fly, taking on the qualities of the technologies it uses. How is the Internet diffusing our concentration levels?

What price are we paying for efficiency? I’m anxious to hear your thoughts. For now though, I’m running to the bookstore.