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.