On Air: Does the internet change how we think, read and remember?
| 12:18 UK time, Monday, 30 August 2010
will on the show today and taking your questions about your internet use.
His new book is It is the expansion of a much-debated article he wrote for The Atlantic Monthly called
Here's how Nicholas describes his reading now:
Once I was a scuba diver in a sea of words, Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a jet ski.
Do you recognize yourself? Do you read less deeply or differently now that you have access to the internet? And do you think you have more or less real knowledge from your internet use?
Do you still read books or do you read mainly online?
Previous WHYS guest on the death of deep reading says it was overrated all along. Do you think so?
Does it matter, if as a society, we don't want to read 'War and Peace' anymore?
Nicholas also thinks we are losing the ability to totally immerse ourselves in one task and think deeply about complex problems.
'mentally we are in perpetual locomotion'
Now, if what Nicholas says is right, you won't have clicked on the links above to read more deeply. He believes when we use the internet repeatedly, there is evidence that our brains are actually changing, becoming more hungry for small pellets of information fed to us in a haphazard way. We are becoming 'pancake people' with lots of information but only superficial knowledge.
Do you think the internet has made you smarter or dumber?
Sam Anderson who wrote says it's too late to return to a quieter time. Do you still have quiet time or are you always connected?
And what about remembering? Nicholas again:
'the web is a technology of forgetfulness'.
Do you find it hard to concentrate when you are away from your computer?
He is also concerned about alienation and losing humaness and ultimately could alter the depth of our emotions as well as our thoughts.
Does that seem extreme to you?
And what about the community and connection? If, in fact, Nicholas is right, maybe it's still worth having less knowledge on subjects if in fact we can be more connected to the world?
