Read Nicholas Carr's book THE SHALLOWS, Prologue, Chapters 1 - 2.
Then, at our COURSE blog, reflect on the following:
1. Discuss THREE specific observations Carr makes in EACH chapter (Yes, include the "Prologue" as a chapter). Use 2-3 sentences for each observation, and combine his quoted observations with an IYOW analysis.
2. Ask ONE specific question of Carr, after reading all 3 chapters.
Prologue:
ReplyDeleteMarshall McLuhan said, "The media is the message." Carr interprets this, no doubt, as McLuhan meant it: both as a good thing and a bad thing. Carr understood that McLuhan was trying to warn people that new technology can be a threat, and that it is dangerous to be oblivious to that threat.
On page 3, Carr states that, "in the long run a medium's content matters less than the medium itself in influencing how we think and act." This means that if a society starts using a new medium, it will eventually reshape how the whole society operates.
Carr notes that McLuhan stated that "The content of the medium is just 'the juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind.'" This is an extremely cynical statement, but it also beautifully stated, and I think it does hold some truth. Changing the way we live can always have its pros and cons.
Ch. 1:
Carr talks a great deal about how he perceives his brain has shifted from years of using the web: ". . .what the net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation." He also notes that he has heard this happening to numerous other people as well, and this definitely proves McLuhan's theory.
Carr describes the experiences of three, well-educated men who also feel that the internet has reshaped them the same way it has him, but all three do not regret what they have lost. The three men are observant enough to understand what has happened, but they have embraced the way that technology is beginning to reshape society.
Carr describes his shift from the world of books to the world of the web. He realized that his brain was changing, and that he had an intense desire "to be connected."
Ch. 2:
Nietzsche wrote that "Our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." This is just an earlier statement of what McLuhan theorized, and it's interesting that someone as early as Nietzsche had the same idea.
It was once a widely accepted fact that the brain never changed once it reached adulthood, but British biologist J.Z. Young argued that the structure of the brain might be in a constant state of flux and adapts to whatever circumstances it is presented with. This theory was later proven, which means that our brains can indeed change with new technology.
Michael Merzenich did extensive (though not very humane) studies with monkeys and the ability of their brains to readapt when he injured their hands. He found that their neural pathways regenerated to correspond with the physical changes in their bodies, which proves that their brains did not become fixed when they reached adulthood.
Question: Do you wish the internet had never been invented?
my response was too long so its posted here.
ReplyDeletehttp://heythereyalllll.blogspot.com/
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePrologue:
ReplyDelete- "In the long run, a medium's content matters less than the medium itself in influencing how we act and think." Carr goes on to explain that the way a medium manipulates our brain leads us to form opinions on life and society built off of what certain mediums try to make us to believe.
-"The clash between Net enthusiasts and Net skeptics...has become as polarized as ever with the former heralding a new golden age of access and participation and the latter bemoaning a new dark age of mediocrity and narcissism." Social networking sites like facebook and Myspace exemplify this opinion.
-"Even people who are wary of the Net's ever-expanding influence rarely allow their concerns to get in the way of their use and enjoyment of the technology." This statement is probably true for many considering how the internet is now converging into many different types of mediums.
Chapter 1:
-"We seem to have arrived at an important juncture in our intellectual and cultural history, a moment of transition between two very different modes of thinking." The internet makes us scattered and more distracted in our thinking unlike any other medium has before it, forcing our brains to work in a different way.
-Carr describes his technological history, recalling when he became trapped in the "upgrading cycle". Internet and computers in general are always upgrading their upgrades, making it an easy obsession to obtain given that software companies are constantly one-upping themselves.
Chapter 2:
-The first half of the chapter discusses the history and questioning of whether or not the adult brain is malleable. Carr states that, "since the brain could not change, human nature, which emerges from it, seemed necessarily fixed and unalterable as well".
-In the second half of the chapter, Doidge states that "If we stop exercising our mental skills, we do not just forget them: the brain maps space for those skills is turned over to the skills we practice instead." Basically, if we do not rehearse certain skills on a regular basis we will lose them completely. Carr also states that the "possibility of intellectual decay is inherent in the malleability of our brains."
QUESTION: How do you predict the internet will have affected our brains 10 years from now?
DeletePrologue
ReplyDeleteNicholas Carr claims in his prologue to The Shallows that in the long term, the content of media plays an insignificant role as far as influencing our thoughts and behaviors as societies. He references the old saying, that “the medium is the message”- that it is the media itself which influences the ways we think and act. People are quick to debate over media’s effects using content as their main stance, but they often miss that it is the technology, the media itself, that has a lasting effect on the way we live and the way we develop.
Carr notes that networked computers have been condensed into movable, accessible, available anytime anywhere smartphones. Their convenience has expanded greatly in the recent years and as Carr states, “Even people who are wary of the Net’s ever-expanding influence rarely allow their concerns to get in the way of their use and enjoyment of the technology” (4). The technology has not necessarily become essential to modern life, but in endless ways has made our interactions with the world around us easier (we can pay bills online, chat online, find directions online, shop online, etc. etc. etc.) and so most people are finding that participating in the web media has become essential in their lives enough so that the platform must go with them everywhere and act as an extension of self.
Carr concludes his prologue in stating that, “[the internet] is so much our servant that it would seem churlish to notice that it is also our master” (4). As consumers, we naturally identify what the media is doing for us but we rarely stop to ask what it might be doing TO us. I consciously realize how accessible the world is with the internet- I can find a wealth of information on any given subject, I can connect with people anywhere, and with my Iphone I can do all of it anytime- however, I don’t often consciously realize how truly dominated by this media I am. Even without membership to social networking sites, I am dependent on the web and my life and ways of thinking and knowing are a direct result of the world wide web I have grown up with.
Chapter 1
ReplyDeleteThe first and most obvious observation Carr makes about the internet’s effect on the way we think is it’s shortening of our attention span. In a class last semester I studied the characteristics of the Millennial generation and throughout the course, we continuously read, discussed and analyzed why our attention span is so short (rapid internet access to endless information) and how it effects the way we live. Those of us who have grown up with the internet have tendencies to move constantly, change jobs, and multitask or overload ourselves more than any previous generation.
As Carr notes, the internet has changed even the way that we read. We no longer read top to bottom, left to right, but tend to skim the pages for information of interest. We are accustomed to finding the information we’re seeking instead of immersing ourselves into another person’s facts, ideas and conclusions- making books less desirable and almost obsolete. Carr compares reading a book to sewing one’s own clothes or butchering his own meat- as for convenience, it just doesn’t make sense anymore.
Carr in detail describes the way the computer’s influence crept into his world and eventually became a component of every part of his life. Most of the population has seen this in their life as well- the role of computers changing and becoming more and more important. What used to be just a word processor has become a primary form of communication, of information finding, of business, entertainment, etc., and a great number of us have it in our pockets all the time (even my grandmother has an Iphone). The more intertwined with the internet we become, the more aspects of our lives it reaches, the more it changes our thinking.
Chapter 2
ReplyDeleteCarr mentions in Chapter 2 the subtle effects the typewriter had on Nietzsche’s writing- when he began using the new equipment, his style changed. I have noticed in my own work that the equipment I use changes my writing as well, even being accustomed to both typing in a word processor and writing by hand. When writing by hand I have inclinations and desires to keep my writing formal and timeless- as to not date my content. On a computer, I am much more willing to use contemporary words (like megapixel) and references (like pop-culture). This doesn’t really mirror the concrete changes in Nietzsche’s work, but it’s a thought.
Carr uses most of Chapter 2 to explain that the brain is not exactly “hardwired” and that “the genius of our brain’s construction is not that it contains a lot of hardwiring, but that it doesn’t” (31). When exterior changes occur and become part of our existence, our brains actually alter the way they function in response. Our brains are plastic and even as we age, they remain malleable and continue to change the way they think.
Evolution has created the internet and likewise our minds continue to evolve as a result of the internet. Because media is so present in our lives, we adapt to it and think differently because of it- more importantly, it is widespread so it doesn’t affect one brain, it affects all of our brains and therefore the way our society functions as well. There are many facets to this evolving brain function and the results are not all obvious at this point but as with everything, more shall be revealed.
Question: It seems that shortened attention span is a main concerning byproduct of the internet. In what significant concrete ways do you see this affecting our society as a whole?
Prologue
ReplyDeleteA popular phrase arose out of Marshall McLuhan’s books, Understanding Media, which was, “The media is the message.” This implies that the content of the media isn’t as important as the medium being used to deliver the content. With so many people using the internet nowadays, it appears as though McLuhan’s message has been lost as most people spend all their time looking at the message and very little time examining the media delivering that message.
“Our focus on a medium’s content can blind us to these deep effects,” Nicholas Carr states. By this he means that by focusing solely on the content that the internet provides, people don’t spend anytime thinking about the possible effect that the internet itself have on our brain. We ignore the idea that the internet could change how our brain functions, which Carr argues is a dangerous decision.
With this lack of interest in learning about the medium used to deliver our much needed content, people continue to believe that we are in charge of the internet. Carr ends the prologue with this thought, “It (the internet) is so much our servant that it would seem churlish to notice that it is also our master.” Though a bit extreme for my taste, the idea that we use the internet for so much that we might not be able to function without it has some merit.
Ch. 1
Carr describes how the internet has begun to change how his brain works by saying that it is, “…chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation.” This mimics the effects the internet has on other people Carr uses as examples. This would appear to be some of the “deeper effects” mentioned by Carr in the prologue.
The easiest way to understand this change is presented by Scott Karp, who says we are losing, “our old linear thought process.” The internet is training us to ingest information in “short, disjointed, often overlapping bursts.” I often wonder how this new way of taking information in affects our ability to comprehend it.
Carr ends the chapter by describing how ultimately; the internet has created within him a need to be “connected.” This need to be “connected” is the most obvious side effect of the internet, as now almost everyone has a smart phone allowing them instant access to the internet.
Ch 2.
For much of history the brain has been understood to be fully formed once a person reaches adulthood, leaving no opportunity to adapt to new experiences. J.Z. Young, a biologist, argued in 1950, that the brain might be in constant state of flux. He went further saying, “It may be therefore that every action leaves some permanent print upon the nervous tissue.”
Young’s arguments are taken seriously, tested, and proven correct leading to the brain being deemed, “malleable” as opposed to fully formed. According to Alvaro Pascual-Leone, plasticity is a key evolutionary trait which allows the nervous system to, “escape the restrictions of its own genome and thus adapt to environmental pressures, physiological changes and experiences.” So all these changes we see in our brain are simply our brain trying to adapt to our reliance on the internet.
While on the surface, this malleability of our brains seems good, it’s not all good. The paths in our brain become the “paths of least resistance.” There is not way to guarantee that the neuroplastic adaptations our brain makes will be good. Since it appears as though brains are adapting to our use of the internet, it just can’t be determined if this change is going to be good or bad.
Question: If the internet went away tomorrow would our brains be able to return to old “linear” way of thinking or are we to far down the path to disjointed information?
Prologue
ReplyDeleteMarshall Mcluhan published Understanding Media in 1964, in which he preemptively indentified the importance of the medium. At that time and even to this day, people will focus on the content while ignoring the medium that transmits this content. Carr makes the point that even when a medium is being debated; it still is in terms of the content, with little or no attention to how the medium shapes said content or the consumer.
The urge to ignore the medium and focus on the content has become an engrained part of our culture. This is especially true in terms of the Internet, where the content is so lush and abundant. As Carr notes at the end of the prologue, we hardly notice that these amazing devices, so useful and potent, also have a controlling effect on the way we think.
Chapter 1
Carr’s realization that the Internet is reshaping his thinking comes to him as he attempts deep reading. He finds it harder and harder to concentrate for long periods on the page, his mind wandering, what was once “natural” has become a “struggle” (pg 16). This is the first and clearest hint that the medium, in this case the Internet, is altering the way our minds work, shaping them to function more capably in the online realm and less in the solitary world of deep reading.
In exploring this idea that the medium shapes our thinking, Carr quotes Philip Davis on his reading habits: “I read a lot – or at least I should be reading a lot – only I don’t. I skim. I scroll. I have very little patience for long, drawn-out, nuanced arguments” (pg18). This is exactly the way the Internet causes us to think; in short burst. We want information, we Google it and the information is just there. The entire concept of “searching” has changed.
Not to be totally pessimistic about the Web, Carr points to the wealth of information available – “only a curmudgeon would refuse to see the riches” (pg20). And with the advent of Web 2.0, the medium shifted again, though more subtly this time. While little changed on the surface, the ability for consumer to become producers means a drastic shift what content online looks like.
Chapter 2
Neural science, beginning mostly at the start of the 20th century, reveals even more the ability our brains have to adapt. While the old wisdom held that the brain is a solid, concrete organ that develops and eventually freezes in that development to form the adult brain, new science suggested that the brain is continually evolving and adapting, based on the stimuli provided for it. This idea, coupled with the versatility of the Web, means our minds are quite actively reshaping themselves to make us the tools available.
Michael Merzenich, in a lab in Wisconsin, cuts into a monkey’s brain to experiment with the mind’s neural connections. He discovered that when he wounds the monkey’s hand and allows it to heal, the mind is confused, unable to pinpoint sensations on the damaged tissue. Most astonishing was that the same test, performed months later, resulted in proper remapping of the monkey’s neural pathways: the brain relearned the organization of the healed nerves and responded in kind.
This new understanding of how the brain functions brings into focus old ideas of nature and nurture, specifically how the brain develops. The nurture camp believes the mind is made up entirely of experiences, the nature folks believe the mind has a template that is carefully followed during development. Current science points to both being correct, working in harmony to allow us the greatest potential use of the tools available.
Question: This there a strategy one can approach modern information gathering with to maximize our potential while avoiding getting trapped in the vastness of the web?
Yeah it's late. Yeah, It says no credit for late posts. I'm doing it for me.
ReplyDeleteLet's talk about the prologue, shall we? In typical Cheeto fashion, I'll lay out a quote I think is profound, and then I'll talk about it.
1. On page 2, second paragraph, it is written: "McLuhan understood that whenever a new medium comes along, people naturally get caught up in the information - the 'content'- it carries.They care more about the news in the newspaper, the music on the radio, the shows on the TV, the words spoken by the person on the far end of the phone line. The technology of the medium, however astonishing it may be, disappears behind whatever flows through it- facts, entertainment, instruction, conversation."
This is a good point, and it's one that is so obvious, it's the elephant in the room. Unless you are actively involved in the production of the content, how the content is delivered doesn't really matter. I guess it does matter in a 'keeping up with the jones'' kind of way, but it stops there.
The second quotable quote would be located on page 3, first paragraph - " What both enthusiast and skeptic miss is what McLuhan saw: that in the long run, a medium’s content matters less than the medium itself in influencing how we think and act."
I think back to the days when betamax and VHS were duking it out, and more recently, when Blu-ray and HDDVD were battling it out. in regards to the more recent tussle, it was the content that determined the future of the medium. It boiled down to gamers and the porn industry. Because the PS3 had Blu-ray, and because whatever content the porn industry backs usually wins, Blu-rays are on store shelves now, and HDDVDs are in collectors' closets. This is an example of content defining the medium. Unless I totally missed something.
And finally for the prologue, Page 4, first paragraph - "As networked computers have shrunk to the size of iPhones and Blackberry, the feast has become a moveable one, available any time, anywhere."
It's amazing to see what the mobile platform has done to our collective consciousness. I would again argue that the mobility of the medium defines the content, not the other way around, making it about the medium first, and not the content. Sure, Apps are central to the medium, but that is also a vessel to content in itself. A medium within a medium, if you will. A channel on a TV is as central to the content as the TV itself.
Alright everyone, brace yourselves for Chapter 1, as retold by the Burrito:
Page 7, first actual paragraph) "What if I do all of my reading on the web not so much because the way I read has changed, but because the way I THINK has changed?"
It seems that, because a vast majority of the text I consume is online, I have an affliction to reading long, drawn-out pieces of literature. I wonder, however, if that is due to a shift in thinking, or a shift in writing. I am still captivated by in-depth reporting, with long feature articles taking up a lazy afternoon. I was never a War and Peace guy, and maybe I'm the outlier here, but I can't stand 1337-sk34k. But in a world where cursive isn't on the curriculums in public schools anymore, you have to wonder what a would without spellcheck would be like.
Part 2 coming up...
Here's part 2
ReplyDeleteNumero 2 - Page 7, last paragraph. "He says we was 'astonished' and 'even irritated' when the woman paused to read the text on the sites she stumbles upon.
I can 100% see how this would be a possibility, especially now in this age. Writing extended blog posts is frowned upon because the attention span of the average internet user is rapidly shrinking. Frankly, I'm surprised that movies that last 2-hours long are still being made.
And the last of chapter 1's quotable quotes - Page 16, last paragraph.
"even when i was away from my computer, i yearned to check e-mail, click links, do some Googling. I wanted to be connected. Just as Microsoft Word had turned me into a flesh-and-blood word processor, the internet, I sensed, was turning me into something like a high-speed data processing machine, a human HAL."
Everyone always talks about how the human brain is the most advanced information processor in existence. Is it possible that it has taken this long just to finally give the brain what it wants? Is the internet, and all the stimuli that goes with it, exactly what our brains have been yearning for? IT's going to be interesting to see what our brains will do with even faster data availability.
CHAPTER TWOOOOOO!
Page 28, second paragraph. "What we know comes entirely through our experiences, through what we learn as we live. "
Apparently I should be a brain scientist, because that statement has been something I've believed for as long as I remember. It's the very nature of wisdom.
Number Duo - Page 32, second paragraph - "But they discovered something even more striking as well: the rakes and pliers actually came to be incorporated into the brain maps of the animals' hands. The tools, so far as the animals' brains were concerned, had become part of their bodies."
Firstly, how the hell do they figure that stuff out? Maybe I should not become a brain scientist. Secondly, on a base way, that makes sense. Hoe many times have you heard a really experienced person saying that the object they are good with 'became a part of them'?
And finally, 3. Page 35, last paragraph of chapter 2) "That doesn't mean that we can't with concerted effort, once again redirect our neural signals and rebuild the skills we've lost. What it does mean is that the vital paths in our brains become the paths of least resistance. The further we proceed down them, the more difficult it becomes to turn back."
I guess this means that the Internet and new media have become a sort of addiction. Like Carr says earlier in the chapter, even a small amount of addictive drugs can change our brain's circuitry. It makes absolute sense that the Internet and new media can make some real and potentially devastating changes to our brain. And the worst part is, we don't really know what is going on in there. We won't really know until it's too late. This reminds me of a bit of news I heard recently - apparently, every male who has spent a long amount of time in space now has some serious ocular damage. I guess the lack of gravity reshaped the eye or something. The point is it took at least 25ish years for them to realize it.
Now, don't get me wrong - I LOVE the internet, and I'm probably as 'addicted' to it as anyone here. I don't see myself giving it up anytime soon, because it's the one drug that, the more you 'do' it, the more successful you could potentially become. No one is going out in a Tony Montana blaze of glory from being a Youtube star. At least not yet.
And my question WAS STOLEN by Rose, FYI. My new question is, if you could use a writing ball with a computer, could you?