Was it really less than two years ago that Nicholas Carr was worrying about losing his brain to the Internet? Carr is a thoughtful observer of the world of technology; and his 2010 book, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, captured a fear that many of us have had. Carr wrote, “My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it is changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. . . . I feel like I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text [that I’m supposed to be reading]. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.” And what was to blame for Carr’s distraction? The Internet.
Carr is not ready to get rid of his computer. Or his smartphone. Or his tablet. Or any of the many devices that connect us to the World Wide Web today. He just urged caution and some observation of how our online connectivity is impacting our lives and even our minds.
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