In this section Carr attempts to present the idea that medium can highly impact the way people interpret the information being presented. This idea is best put in that, " 'The effects of technology do not occur at the level of opinions or concepts,' wrote McLuhan. Rather, they alter 'patterns of perception steadily and without any resistance.' " (pg 3) A further idea that seemed particularly poignant to me was " ' We are too prone to make technological instruments the scapegoats for the sins of those who wield them.' " (pg 3) At one point the internet is compared to a "juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind." The general tone of the piece is one of slight apprehension, yet a persevering dedication to find out how the internet might truly be affect who people are.
Chapter 1
A theme that seems to weave though out this chapter would be that people, as they lose the ability for "deep" thought and the mental stillness for contemplation they are also presented with easier and easier "bites" of thought from writers on the internet.
Pathologist at the University of Michigan Medical School, Bruce Friedman claims that he has now "almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or in print." (pg 7) This started me wondering how the reading ability of the current generation has changed from those of previous generations. A quick search on the internet (the irony of the paper shall I suspect be these quick searches allowing tangents to spring up where they once would not have been able to) revealed that illiteracy rates over the past 40 years have been decreasing, though researchers claim they are on the rise once again. (National Assessment of Adult Literacy)
The author mentions three separate authors who recognize that their writing has been altered because of more outside influences however they are unwilling to give up the quick access to information and outside ideas to go back to the old way of writing. I feel that it's necessarily to point out that "the old way" of writing is necessarily the better way. People often hear about changing this and changing that and become apprehensive, in this case we don't need to be apprehensive not yet. The jury is still out on whether or not the internet is detrimental to us.
These authors being posed the question, would they give up the net, inspired a question in me: What would the world be like without the net? How would people communicate quickly? What would be the new mode for transferring information? Surely books would still be "old technology" an we would have some other crazy thing trying to replace them but what would that thing be? I have lived in a world with "the net" to long to even grasp a glimpse of the world without it.
Carr states a feeling of intoxication while online. A feeling that is shared by other according to the anecdotal stories he shares with the reader. The chapter concludes with an interesting thought. Had mankind in trying to create a machine of flesh and blood actually end up creating a "flesh-and-blood word processor" out man? (pg 16)
Chapter 2
Chapter 2 introduces the reader to select moments of the 19th century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. These moments are Nietzsche sharing that he feels his thought have changed since he stopped using the pen, and instead in his advanced years used the Malling-Hansen Writing Ball to express his thoughts.
Carr then goes on to describe the basic functioning of cells in the brain presenting British biologist J. Z. Young to say that cells of the brain may die or grow larger depending upon how they are used. (For further reading on this subject see "Buller does to Evolutionary Psychology what Kitcher did to Sociobiology" "A review of Adapting Minds: Evolutionary Psychology and the Persistent Quest for Human Nature" to be read in further posts)
The research of Merzenich on reorganization after trauma of monkey brains is brought up answering the haunting question of phantom limb syndrome. Merzenich's researched showed that after significant trauma to the "giving" end of sense (say the monkey's hand or fingers) and an allotted amount of time for recovery the brain of these Monkey's would rewire themselves so that the area of the brain previously used by the injured hand is now used by a new location, like the wrist of the monkey. "Virtually all our neural circuits... are subject to change." (pg 26) This finding raises, in my mind, the question of how can anything known in neuro science be accepted as a fact if the facts are about a constantly shifting, adapting, intelligently connecting thing that isn't really what we thought it had been?
The empiricists (we are all born with a blank slate) and rationalists (we are all born with built-in mental templates that determine how we perceive and make sense of the world) can finally be in agreement with a brain that has a plan, but can also "go with the flow".
An interesting example that nearly everyone should have heard of at this point would be the increase in alternate sensations of the blind or the deaf. " 'Neurons seem to 'want' to receive input' " (said by Kanwisher Pg 29) " Neuroplasticity, argues Pasual- Leone, is one of the most important products of evolution, a trait that enables the nervous system ' to escape the restriction of its own genome and thus adapt to environmental pressures..' " (Pg 31)
This plasticity is presented as a possible cause, or reinforcement for psychological disorders, learning disorders, and even addictions. This concept provides a much greater chance at hope for anyone wishing to change one of these things in themselves. In a digression Carr presents "To believe otherwise would, we feel, call into question the integrity of the self". (Pg 38)
"National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) - 120 Years of Literacy." National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Home Page, a Part of the U.S. Department of Education. Institute for Education Services. Web. 14 Jan. 2012. <http://nces.ed.gov/naal/lit_history.asp>.
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