I have just read an article in The Daily Telegraph which confirms some suspicions I have sensed in an abstract way without having the data to support these suspicions. A new book, “The Shallows: How the Internet Is Changing the Way We Think and Remember” is being published by Nicholas Carr, who also wrote this article in the newspaper entitled “How the internet is making us stupid”.
His premise is that the fathomless depth of information available today on the internet is confusing and changing the way we think. To quote Mr. Carr: “A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that the net, with its constant distractions and interruptions, is turning us into scattered and superficial thinkers.”
Carr believes that scientific evidence demonstrates that we are losing our ability for deep and long-term thinking because of the short-term emphasis on brief hits of information and stimulation which cause us to lose the ability to focus for longer periods of time.
He cites various scientific tests in support of this premise. For example, at Stanford they gave cognitive tests to a group who used the internet for media multitaskings and to another group who don’t multitask so frequently. They found that the group who do not mulltitask on the net so much did much better on the tests while the multitask performed poorly. At another American University, unnamed, they had half the students at a lecture allowed to browse on their laptops while the other half could not; a subsequent test showed that those without the computers understood the lecture’s content much better than those with the laptops. Another study at U.C.L.A.’s Children’s Digital Media Center showed that studies indicated that the computer tasks like video games increased the speed at which the children could shift their attention to icons and other screen images but also resulted in less rigorous and more “automatic” thinking. Some scientists make the case that this constant barrage of bits of information is changing the neural patterns of our brains and slowing the long-term cognitive functioning of brains.
I find that I really have to force myself to concentrate when , for example, I am reading a book, much more so that in my earlier life. Some of that may be attributed to age, but I suspect that becoming exposed to the barrage of information on the net could also have an effect on my concentration.
So, just be aware. internet user; I know I’m dumber---maybe you are, too!
I have been reading. an occasional article, in the papers to this effect, although I can not now put my hands on any of them. I think I agree with the premise of the Telegraph author and with the notion that the internet has adjusted to the idea that only short articles will be read on the internet.
ReplyDeleteWe get used to short articles, will not or can not consecrate on the longer narrative which makes it harder to read a book. I am having trouble reading books, yet I have none or little trouble reading articles on the internet.
Here's an interesting article if you haven't already seen it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/technology/25brain.html?_r=1&hp
Wouldn't surprise me, although I see no evidence in myself, other than as Bill mentioned, I think the brevity of internet news stories has made me less patient when it comes to long articles.
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