The Shallows

Between 2008 and 2011, I wrote several brief reviews of books which appeared on the Education Review web site. Since then, the editors ceased publication of that type of review and removed the previously published brief reviews from the site. I am making the original drafts of my reviews available here.

Brief Review of Carr, N. (2010). The shallows: What the Internet is doing to our brains. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. By Dr. Gary L. Ackerman, January 2011

The Shallows book coverNicholas Carr is a well-known writer on science topics, in recent years, the focus of his books has been information technology and its influences on human organizations and society. In this book, Carr turns his attention to the Internet and the manner in which online information is presented, and the influences of that infosphere on human cognition. Although not intended specifically for educators, the book does have potential to influence stakeholders’ thinking about the future of education and the popular dialogue about education in the media-rich world.

Carr reviews much well-known research in fields such as media theory, computer science, and cognitive science and he both puts the research in historical context and discusses the implications of that research for explaining phenomena we observer in our students, ourselves, and society today. His reviews are brief, lacking some detail, but very appropriate for a 200-page book written for general audiences. He does provide both references and a bibliography for those who seek more details on these ideas.

Throughout the chapters in which Carr establishes the facts of the effects of networked information on society and on individuals, the tone is very neutral. One senses Carr is about to conclude that the Internet is exerting terrible effects on humans, and end with a Luddite rant; and then within a few pages one senses Carr is about to conclude that the Internet is a great benefit to human cognition. He draws neither conclusion too early, simply reviews the evidence for how the current observations related to information technology are similar to observations as information technologies emerged in the historic past and explains the science explaining those observations.

In the last two chapters, however, Carr suggests that the Internet is exerting influences that may not be for the benefit of humankind, although he maintains his matter-of-fact style. Carr posits that when humans adopt any technology, the result is a separation between humans and the nature that is controlled via the technology. Carr does not argue for avoiding the Internet, but he does argue for using it support human thinking and learning. He argues for turning it off to allow for deep thinking, and to literally getting outside and relax your brain. It seems good advice for educators charged with designing curriculum and delivering instruction.

Between 2008 and 2011, I wrote several brief reviews of books which appeared on the Education Review web site. Since then, the editors ceased publication of that type of review and removed the previously published brief reviews from the site. I am making the original drafts of my reviews available here.

Brief Review of Carr, N. (2010). The shallows: What the Internet is doing to our brains. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. By Dr. Gary L. Ackerman, January 2011

The Shallows book coverNicholas Carr is a well-known writer on science topics, in recent years, the focus of his books has been information technology and its influences on human organizations and society. In this book, Carr turns his attention to the Internet and the manner in which online information is presented, and the influences of that infosphere on human cognition. Although not intended specifically for educators, the book does have potential to influence stakeholders’ thinking about the future of education and the popular dialogue about education in the media-rich world.

Carr reviews much well-known research in fields such as media theory, computer science, and cognitive science and he both puts the research in historical context and discusses the implications of that research for explaining phenomena we observer in our students, ourselves, and society today. His reviews are brief, lacking some detail, but very appropriate for a 200-page book written for general audiences. He does provide both references and a bibliography for those who seek more details on these ideas.

Throughout the chapters in which Carr establishes the facts of the effects of networked information on society and on individuals, the tone is very neutral. One senses Carr is about to conclude that the Internet is exerting terrible effects on humans, and end with a Luddite rant; and then within a few pages one senses Carr is about to conclude that the Internet is a great benefit to human cognition. He draws neither conclusion too early, simply reviews the evidence for how the current observations related to information technology are similar to observations as information technologies emerged in the historic past and explains the science explaining those observations.

In the last two chapters, however, Carr suggests that the Internet is exerting influences that may not be for the benefit of humankind, although he maintains his matter-of-fact style. Carr posits that when humans adopt any technology, the result is a separation between humans and the nature that is controlled via the technology. Carr does not argue for avoiding the Internet, but he does argue for using it support human thinking and learning. He argues for turning it off to allow for deep thinking, and to literally getting outside and relax your brain. It seems good advice for educators charged with designing curriculum and delivering instruction.

I generally enjoyed reading this and appreciated that libraries were given a pretty decent analysis, which is definitely not something you can say about all books in this general "reflective tech" genre. It is overwhelmingly based on the conclusions and musings of middle-aged white men - most egregiously in the beginning before we start to get into the meat of how Carr surmises the internet has changed our brains. But he has many good insights here about how the nature of how info is presented to us determines how we use it and what we get out of it. For my anecdatal $0.02, I think I probably succumbed to the shallowing effect 10-15 years ago but steadily have grown out of it, mostly by spending a lot more time reading books than I was at that time. Interesting to contrast the techlash of a decade ago - are we getting stupider online? - with the one of today - stop gobbling my data, plz.

I started reading the book with the notion of it being first and foremost a critique of technology and its effects on reading and our ability to concentrate. It also is, but I was blown away by all the history, the science and the balanced view that not all things with a screen and a processor are evil and bad. Far from the contrary, Carr acknowledges and welcomes many of the technological advancements.

What he's getting at mostly, I believe, is the culture of scientific materialism, neohumanism, transhumanism and the blind, singular view that technology is all pure goodness and progress is all that is and matters. This view sets aside the person and in her stead places the system and the machine. And I agree, this view should be examined, and Carr does an excellent job at it.

Well worth the read, immaculate edition as well, so just shut up and read it.

Read first 100 pages, then got distracted by short attention span and went to look at cute kittens.. No, that's not right.

Read first 150 pages, decided not to stay up all night to read the rest, since I had to leave the book behind in the morning due to it being made of dead tree matter and on loan from the library (and borrowed besides). Had little trouble concentrating on the narrative flow despite nearly 20 years of heavy internet use. Did think author was being a bit disjointed and pompous.

I suspect a large oversimplification lurks within this book. It starts with a discussion of the medium being the message. While the message of the web is certainly that it encompasses "everything", and that clicking the next link to the next thing is often more important than carefully reading a page's content, the web is not the only computer mediated medium.

Whole industries are forming to provide concentration devices like the kindle, whose entire purpose (besides proprietary lockin, profits, and power) is to allow people to avoid computer use habits that prevent concentrating on and becoming lost in the narrative flow of a book. A book on an e-book reader is not the same medium as the web.