Published 2011 by Atlantic Books.
The book starts with 110 pages of history rambling, which is completely unnecessary for the main point. Then, it continues with more rambling about digital services from the point of view of a stereotypical apple user, sometimes "backup up" by misinterpreting research articles.
Pop history of technology and neuroscience, the mental processes of books vs media embedded in distraction, the ongoing plasticity of our minds to optimize towards what we attend to, failures of hypermedia in education and adtech-driven fragmentation of thought.
Extremely interesting, very well readable book on how the digital media and tools we consume and use, affect our brains. I was shocked to find out how radically memory, attention span and even empathy are influenced by these tools. I already was sceptical of these technologies and the prominent role they have in our everyday lives, but this book truly convinced me of the importance of de-digitalizing some parts of life.
Highly recommend!
Overall, it's okay and I find it making some compelling arguments for the shift in thinking that's been enforced by more technology but it spends more time centering on the medium rather than the way that it's been used. If the issue is truly overstimulation, we can find ways to reel back the stimulation while still maintaining the benefits of tech. Along with missing that significant distinction, it feels a bit out of date. That's solely the result of tech being a moving target that's easy to miss and the book being over a decade old at this point. Perhaps it's a testament to its presience but I'd probably say you should spend more time reading "Irresistible" by Adam Alter. If you find yourself still wanting more on the ethics and impact of tech, this is certainly worth the while but not something I'd recommend as a top-level view.
Maybe it's just because I've been doing a lot of reading and thinking in these areas already, or maybe it's because 11 years have elapsed since the book was written, but I honestly found less meat on these bones than I'd hoped for.
There's a good case to be made for the idea that consuming much of our information through the internet rewires our brains and shortens our attention spans. And honestly, I know few people who would argue against that idea these days -- we all feel some of that "I used to be able to read a whole book/article/paragraph!" malaise.
The interesting, "yes, and…" discussion is what we do about it, how we fight that shortening of capacity for sustained attention, and the author touches only very lightly on that, the portion of the conversation that feels most vital to me right now.
It did, however, make me …
Maybe it's just because I've been doing a lot of reading and thinking in these areas already, or maybe it's because 11 years have elapsed since the book was written, but I honestly found less meat on these bones than I'd hoped for.
There's a good case to be made for the idea that consuming much of our information through the internet rewires our brains and shortens our attention spans. And honestly, I know few people who would argue against that idea these days -- we all feel some of that "I used to be able to read a whole book/article/paragraph!" malaise.
The interesting, "yes, and…" discussion is what we do about it, how we fight that shortening of capacity for sustained attention, and the author touches only very lightly on that, the portion of the conversation that feels most vital to me right now.
It did, however, make me want a Hansen Writing Ball. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hansen_Writing_Ball
The Shallows works to elaborate the specific example of the internet in Marshall McLuhan's old "the medium is the message" argument. It starts off by elaborating a bit of the history of communication regarding oral and literary traditions and contrasts them with the format and culture of reading on the internet. Something I didn't realize when I first picked up this book was that it was published in 2010, and while many of the examples feel a bit dated it's also telling that many of the issues pointed out have become more pronounced over time.
Carr also spends quite a while talking about neuroplasticity and the way our brain changes when we spend a lot of time online instead of reading a book. I found this section to be the most compelling of the book, since it cites a plenitude of studies to link behaviours to physical parts of the …
The Shallows works to elaborate the specific example of the internet in Marshall McLuhan's old "the medium is the message" argument. It starts off by elaborating a bit of the history of communication regarding oral and literary traditions and contrasts them with the format and culture of reading on the internet. Something I didn't realize when I first picked up this book was that it was published in 2010, and while many of the examples feel a bit dated it's also telling that many of the issues pointed out have become more pronounced over time.
Carr also spends quite a while talking about neuroplasticity and the way our brain changes when we spend a lot of time online instead of reading a book. I found this section to be the most compelling of the book, since it cites a plenitude of studies to link behaviours to physical parts of the brain and how the internet changes the physical makeup of the brain over time. Horrifying, for the most part, but compelling.
A good chunk of the book feels a bit more anecdotal, talking about people's experiences and opinions on how their thinking has changed in the advent of the internet, and while I can sympathize with most of the arguments (god knows we all deal with the same issues) they nonetheless mostly read as opinions and anecdotes backing up an argument that easily could have been more solid. There are plenty of studies backing up the behavioural effects he talks about - he cites a lot - so why throw in what are effectively random blog posts? Bit of a weird choice.
I think this book highlights some concerns that people should be more aware of, but when compared with something like Amusing Ourselves to Death - thirty years this book's senior - it reads as trying to be as apologetic and non-confrontational as it can manage. Carr talks about how he could barely start on this book until he secluded himself away from the internet's distractions, but then talks about how maybe this new way of thinking will turn out to be great in some way we haven't figured out yet. It hammers out a series of what should be damning arguments on how learning and discourse are struggling, but quietly ignores them as he goes back to checking his email every few minutes in the epilogue.
Really, if Carr could take a stronger stance in face of the evidence he presents, this would be a great book as opposed to a pretty decent one. As is, Carr's arguments and his feelings on the subject often seem to be at odds with each other and I'm left wondering what the heck his goal was.
Many books I've ready about the Internet and society seem outdated and naive very shortly after they're published. A large part of this book is not about the Internet at all, but rather takes a historical perspective of advancements that have come before it - writing, mass literacy, the printing press and typewriters - and the hopes and fears that people had for them when they emerged. Creating and consuming information in ways which have deep effects on the ways our minds work is nothing new, but the level of distraction that the Internet now presents us with is perhaps unprecedented. Don't be put off by the fact that this book was published in 2011 when smart phones were in their infancy and before presidents governed via Twitter, if you have a mobile, read a news website or use social media, read this.
I've been interested in this subject for a while now, especially seeing as I've noticed certain "changes" to myself with increased internet usage. The book started off a bit differently to what I had hoped, since the author mostly starts by explaining neuroscience and its history and later on the history of written language and books and what effects they've had on our brains.
A lot of the neurological changes the author touches upon are ones I have noticed in myself as well. While I did not fully agree with every argument put forth in this book, I agree with the majority and I believe it's one of the most important books to read at a time where the Internet has become an even more integral part of every day life than it was back when this book was written.
I've been interested in this subject for a while now, especially seeing as I've noticed certain "changes" to myself with increased internet usage. The book started off a bit differently to what I had hoped, since the author mostly starts by explaining neuroscience and its history and later on the history of written language and books and what effects they've had on our brains.
A lot of the neurological changes the author touches upon are ones I have noticed in myself as well. While I did not fully agree with every argument put forth in this book, I agree with the majority and I believe it's one of the most important books to read at a time where the Internet has become an even more integral part of every day life than it was back when this book was written.
Good book, but went into a lot of detail about specific things and repeated itself some. I’d rather have read a short blog post about it... which is ironically what the book is about 😂 (our short attention spans)
II enjoyed the beginning of this book. Carr introduces his arguments clearly with very interesting examples. In the last third of the book, however, things were drawn out a little bit and my attention wandered. The Final conclusion is an apt evaluation of our current society.
