The Shallows touches upon a theory I was taught early on in my educational training: your brain adapts to the exercises and uses to which you apply it. I usually begin the school year by students to read this article "You Can Grow Your Brain" and reminding students that their progress is up to them. Carr recognizes the same theory but reacts with sorrow. He begins Chapter One with a personal history of his relationship with technology and how that has affected his brain. He uses the metaphor that I assume the title alludes to: "Once I was a scuba diver in a sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski" (7). Breath has replaced depth, for Carr and for three other academics he names.
Carr's peers, Karp, Friedman, and Dave, are aware that their thought process has been altered by the time they spend on the internet. Even literature majors at Duke University will not read books. Like Nietzche, who changed his poetry when he began using the typewriter, these groups have recognized that "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts" (19). However, Carr draws a line between himself and the groups he describes in his reaction to this change in thought process. His peers are aware of the change but see value in the evolution of their thought process. Student body president Joe O'Shea proudly declares that he skims books online rather than read them. Carr alone seems to lament "I missed my old brain."
The interesting tense choice (the past "I missed" rather than a present "I miss") seems to suggest that Carr changed his opinion and no longer misses his old brain. I want to keep reading because Chapters 2 (a history of the theory that your brain shapes itself to meet your needs) and Chapter 3 (an exploration of the determinist view of technology) seem to prepare for an argument to be presented later. I am glad that I bought this book, because I want to keep reading to see the positive spin on the obsolescence of traditional reading. Will I have to replace Shakespeare with blogs in order to keep my audience? Please, Carr, present the argument that explains why the brains of the internet generation are being formed in positive ways.
Chapters 2 stresses that everyone's brain adapts to their needs. If a cabdrive needs a larger spacial intelligence, the brain will build that area. If a person loses a limb or a sense, their sensory perception in the other parts of their brain will increase. Finally, Chapter 3 represents an idea shaped early on: that technology shapes our lives and our thoughts. Carr refers to himself as a cyborg because he knows that the internet is helping to shape the way he reads, writes, and thinks. Most people (except for communities that shun most technology) do not have a choice in their direction of technology. He uses the invention of time and writing as technological advances that were in place before we were born. No one makes the choice to use a clock or a digital clock: it is assumed that all people do so. I agree: I joined Facebook early on but I rarely use it for communication. I use it, instead, to follow friends through their pictures and interesting articles that they post. However, I often find myself "missing out" on conversations on facebook wall or photo comments. It is a strange phenomenon because I made the choice not to post statuses or respond to the comments of others, yet I feel like that choice has limited me out of some conversations.
Overall, I think Carr's initial argument is compelling and problematic. As I said before, I am waiting for the follow up argument that explains why the internet brain will be useful. Otherwise, we may end up like the narrator in the cartoon below.
I found Carr's arguments on point and accurate. I feel that technolgy is shaping in a way that allows us to continue on in society. When the brain is introduced to something new it does change, but could that process could be from the result of learning? For example, people learn a new skill like sewing or playing a new sport. That new knowledge is incorporated with what they already knew. I wrote about this myself and do think that with everything new the brain absorbs, something is taken away and lost. The use of technology has been promoted in schools and looked upon as a good source of information and growth. Overall, I think technology is going to depend on people and how they decide to use it or not use it.
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