Friday, June 25, 2010

Is the internet making us stupid?

From education to recreation, from shopping to reading, no aspect of our lives is untouched by the virtual world. Yet, perhaps we don't yet fully understand the social and personal implications of this change. Certainly each new transformative medium has altered our perception and has been criticized. Radio, television, even sound movies, all had their critics and Cassandras. Is the internet the same? Or, does it have more far reaching consequences? This is the focus of Nicholas Carr's new book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains.

He argues that the internet is rerouting our neural pathways, replacing our literary brain with one that is over distracted in ways that sacrifice both knowledge, wisdom and creativity.

My conversation with Nicholas Carr:
Bookmark and Share