There was an internal debate on where to put this - general interest, web junk or here. Mods, please advise if it needs to be put elsewhere.
I do not remember how I found this article or found Nicholas Carr's book "The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains", but it is very interesting to me -- a life-long reader. Thankfully, I can still lose myself in a good, long book even though I enjoy reading articles and fanfiction on the net.
The article is here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arch...upid/6868/
See what you think.
I have heard similar reports. I think there's some truth to the idea that the 'net trains you to think and read differently. I notice, for example, that I get impatient if I don't find an answer (say, I'm looking for a specific item to purchase, or want to research something, or just have a question) within the first two or three results on Google. And I want to find the answer at once. I'll even CTRL-F (find) to find a keyword, rather than read a long article, to get my answer.
But when I have time, there's nothing I love more than reading some long and interesting articles, particularly those I find on Arts and Letters Daily.
As to physical symptoms, I'd much rather curl up with a book -- if I have to do TOO much reading on the 'net, my eyes start to hurt.
I've always been predisposed to some form of undiagnosed ADD. In school I remember my mind wandering off while trying to read assignments or books that weren't interesting, I'd have to read the same paragraph over and over until I actually took it in sometimes, and I've always been easily distracted. For example, I've never been able to concentrate enough to read a book out in public, like at a cafe, library, park or on a train, just the slight movement of someone walking by would be enough to make me stop reading and then send my brain off into an long spin of thoughts leading to other thoughts and so on. And before I'd know it, an hour would go by and I'd still be on the same page.
So saying that, I do believe the internet has actually made this much worse for me. Now I have very little patience to read anything longer than a few paragraphs even if I like what I'm reading and I find it interesting. I find myself having to skim articles and I'm now reading several books at once, taking me longer and longer to get through just one book. When I'm on the net, I will usually have, literally, 20 different pages open that I want to get through. And then it's like a drudgery to get through it all.
So I can say the internet has made an already existing problem I had with concentration much, much worse.
The author was interviewed on NPR last week.
Book reading vs. internet surfing is a lot different. I still try to read books & I have a large pile, I don't know how many books I'm in the middle of.
It's really hard to find a non-distraction state of mind to concentrate these days. I think back to the Victorian era and certain classes of people had leisure to read those long involved novels. I am trying to read Democracy in America by Alexis de Toqueville(written in the 1840s)and I find it long-winded, but parts are good. It's just having to wade through the boring parts that is trying.
This is something I've always been interested in because of the historical angle. I don't think it's so much computers as electronics in general. With modern electronics we are always engaged with the world. Hear me out.
You take Thomas Jefferson. He was a man who was noted for his incredible letter writing skills and wrote for hours in a day. The thing was he could do it at his own leisure while attending to other affairs in his life. If he didn't want to be disturbed he could have the servants send the visitors away.
In fact, in pre-electrified homes a very common feature was a mirror at the top of the staircase allowing a view of the front door which allowed the residents to ascertain the identity of the visitor and either go down the stairs to greet them or quietly pretend not to be home. Oddly, this wasn't considered rude and the visitor would leave a calling card to announce they had been there.
If Jefferson wanted to spend an afternoon reading a book then he'd simply not answer the door and he'd be uninterrupted and would read his book.
Today, think of what we face. We have cell phones that are always on. We have email that is always active with read receipts so people know that you read their message. We have instant messenger programs always running. If you don't answer any of these then people think you are rude. I have had people get angry with me because I don't pick up the phone right away until they identify themselves.
We have information overload today. Thomas Jefferson would read a daily newspaper when he wanted. Today we have 24 hour news networks, websites, RSS feeds, text alerts, and other ways of informing you of the news RIGHT NOW!!!1! Even on the news channels you have tickers running at the bottom of the screen during the broadcast just to make sure you don't miss something while they tell you about something else.
The biggest problem I see? People can't relax anymore. It amazes me that people will answer their email or phone on a vacation. The whole point of a vacation is to get away from it all and yet they'll work for free during the vacation. Astounding!
I often like to sit on my porch and just watch the traffic go by. It's interesting and kind of to see how people react when I wave to them as they walk by. Younger people, especially those under about 35 will not notice me since they are using their phone or music player. 40-60 somethings will usually acknowledge me hesitantly. Seniors will usually wave back and say hello. Very sad how entire generations can't see how just sitting and relaxing can be fun.
Interesting about Jefferson!
Good points made, thanks.
People used to sit on their porches and talk to their neighbors, and just to keep track of the neighborhood(like telling the kids their behavior was out of line, I'll tell your parents, etc.)
You can see how electronics has changed home design. Almost any home built before the 1940s has an actual porch. Starting in the 50s you had the porches being reduced in size because of television keeping people indoors. By the 70s the front porch had pretty much disappeared. It's interesting if sad to see this.
This was required reading for First Year Composition last year. I completely agree, and when I have a chance, I do actually make them read a whole book. They CAN recondition themselves to concentrate, but it takes work. And they squeal about it like stuck pigs the whole time, too.
(06-10-2010 03:16 PM)noelle Wrote: [ -> ]Your Brain on Computers
just happened to see this today...
This kind of deterioration is exactly why I didn't take a laptop or any net-enabled devide on my recent trip. I don't WANT to be connected to everything at once. I want to be in the moment and experience it. Much as I love my computer, I still use my cell phone only for emergencies, and I deliberately leave the home office and go read an actual book in another room several times a day. I keep print media in the bathroom and next to my TV chair so I can mute and read during commercials. I have the ability to concentrate on one thing at a time for a long time and feel no compunctions about never multi-tasking. I will empty the dishwasher while on hold, but that's as far as it gets.
Eddy, we never pick up the phone unless or until we know who it is AND we are free to talk. We never yank the door open without looking to see who's outside. If we are engaged with some other activity, we don't answer either one. It's our time, our life and our choice. And we never drop in on people, either. I do no work on my vacations or other time off. Why? I don't get paid to do that. I am not on call 24/7, so don't expect an immediate response. And finally, we have no phones in the bedroom, so our sleep is uninterrupted.
I'm glad to see I'm not the only "anti-social" person here eslbee. It's always baffled me that people think it's rude to not be instantly at everyone's beck and call. I can barely grant the idea of being on-call for work although I honestly think this is very abused, especially in the IT field. Not picking up your phone on your free time is not a bad thing despite what people think. The idea of having your private time is a right.
You and I are normal, Eddy. Normal, I tell you! It's the rest of the world that's crazy!
We just value our privacy, and we don't allow intrusions. We certainly socialize, some. But we get to choose when and who. What the hell ever happened to that, I wonder?
It's not just changes at home that electronics chenged lifestyles. At places where cell phone use while driving is still allowed, some people have forgot the concept of driving without a cell phone glued to their ear and don't realise that texting messages while driving is not the safest way to drive.
I can't imagine what it's like being a teen nowadays and having parents who are in constant touch with you via cell phones anywhere you go at any time. There are a lot of overly obsessive parents who are texting and/or calling their kids' cell phones at least once an hour to make sure they're OK and find out what they're doing. Think back to when you were a teen. Would you want your parents contacting you once or twice every hour, every day when you're out of sight?
I pity kids and teens today. I have seen cell phone providers tout the proud fact that they have phones with a GPS that records where the phone (and user) have been so parents can keep tabs on them. Very disturbing mindset to me. I'm old enough to remember being allowed to play outside which apparently doesn't exist and the only rule was that when the streetlights came on it was time to head home.
I don't think it's a coincidence that when parents starting hovering over their kids that you saw a huge increase in allergies and mental disorders. If I had people watching over my every mood I'd go psycho too.
whot doo u meen da net maiks mee tink diffrent. da net dont doo nuthin bad to mee