Blog Post 9

So far in The Shallows by Nicholas Carr, I have had some mixed feelings about his way of arguing. I completely understand the way he is doing it, but personally, I do not think it is effective for me. He is giving a lot of background information of the evolution of literature and technology. He is also giving different viewpoints/opinions on the subject of how technology effects us as humans. His first chapters had me interested, but then when I got to the third and fourth, I found myself wanted to skip over parts and get to his main points. The first chapter caught my attention the most. When Carr talks about how his way of reading changed over the years because of the improving, advanced internet. I could relate to what he was saying about reading because I also find myself struggling to read long articles. It is hard for me to sit, read a book or long article because my attention span does not last long. I find myself getting bored of reading the same material and I do agree that the internet and technology is the main cause of this. I chose a quote on page 6 that reads, "The Net has become my all-purpose medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears and into my mind." This quote made me think deeply about how important the internet is, especially as a student. The immediate access of the internet is so crucial to me as a student because, for instance, writing papers would take so much longer due to the sources needed. It is very hard to even think about life without the internet because it is used in so many ways and for so many different reasons. I still cannot decide that because the internet effects our reading abilities, if it is a negative aspect. I look forward to reading Carr's argument about this, after he finishes giving background info and different viewpoints.

Blog Post 9

In the chapter one of “The Shallows”, Carr uses his own experience of Internet and computer to convince the audience that Internet and computer change our life and even make us lose some abilities, like keeping concentration. His argument really leave deep impression for me. Because I also have the similar conditions in my life. We prefer to get the segments of information from search results online rather than reading long articles and books. In order to prove that the change of our reading habits is caused by the effect from Internet on our brain, Carr gives us the evidence of science and history in the chapter two. He mentions that our brains always change to conform a new environment. If one thing is used in high frequency, our brains will give it higher priority and faster reflection. That is why our behaviors change following with the widespread use of Internet. Within a period of time, when the time that we receive segments of information from Internet is more than the time we spend in reading paper books, our brains will automatically allocate more neurons to receive information online. And on the contrary, the area to manage reading on paper will shrink, so we begin to feel unaccustomed on traditional reading style. But he introduces these professional knowledge with a storyteller mode and make readers understand easily.  

Blog Post Week 9

"What the map did for space -- translate a natural phenomenon into an artificial and intellectual conception of that phenomenon -- another technology, the mechanical clock, did for time." (page 41)

This quote does well to prove the point that we as human beings used the technology we make to take control and make reason out of the natural. We give space and direction a visible image as we give a non-visual concept of time a physical form. We give the uncertain and out of our control elements of our life definition in order to feel that we are in control and in many ways to give us uniformity. Imagine how different life would be if we had no concept of time outside of whether the sun was up or not. Hours, minutes, seconds, and so on have become so deeply integrated into the way we go about our everyday lives that without them much of our order and formality would be thrown out the window. How would we know when to be somewhere or how long we had to do something? Scheduled events would crumble. The problem still exists however what Carr wants us to think his stance is on the matter. Is he trying to say that we are over reliant on using technology to solve all our problems and give us order to our chaotic lives or is he saying that advancements such as this has bettered us as society but our use of the internet is going too far. He remains unclear with what he actually wants us to believe and even what he wants us to believe that he believes. I suppose we'll see if he's going anywhere with all this, but right now it seems to me all he's doing is rambling facts.

Blog post 9 (Taylor Dlesk)

Throughout the first chapters of the novel I feel like Carr gives a lot of good background information on his main argument. Often times however, I felt many of the extensive history he reports is overdrawn and gets in the way of his main point. Still I think his argument is most effective during the second chapter when he speaks about the basic workings of the brain. One quote that really supports this is “A handful of biologists and psychologists saw in the rapidly growing body of brain research indicators that even the adult brain was malleable or plastic.” (pg. 21) The facts he presents such as this really strengthen his overall argument. They create a good base for many of the main points he presents. It also adds great validity to his topic. I find the information he presents on the brain very interesting, but I think he often makes many topics overdrawn.

Free Will

“Every technology is an expression of human will.” – pg. 44

In this chapter he talks about each time we advance in anything especially technology it has a way of changing our brains and it is our own choice. When one person chooses to advance in technology almost everyone does because our society revolves around technology and usually we want to take the easy way. If cars or trains weren’t invented people would have to find a new way to get to places far away.

            And he introduces the idea of how writing was an advance and it changed the way we think and I really liked this argument because it wasn’t whether writing changed our mind because it did, but he was trying to introduce the point of whether writing changed our brains for the better or not. One person chose to invent a language of writing so that our history could be permanent on a paper and we could remember things more easily, yet it changed our brains to how we memorize information. While he doesn’t clearly state which side he is on, if writing is a good thing, he does keep his stance on advancing in technology definitely changes our brains and lives in the process. If we never invented the concept of time or clocks and watches we would never know or think about being late or on time because that would simply not exist but now that is how our minds work and we can turn back.

Plastic (Post 9)

"The brain is not the machine we once thought it to be" (Carr 29).

This quote begins one of the passages in which Carr describes the plasticity of the brain--it's ability to change over time and adapt to different circumstances. Although this chapter was super heavy on sort of complex psychology, I thought that Carr made his argument very well. Representing to us readers the workings of the brain and how easily it can be changed is definitely a necessary part of his overall argument for the book. It sets a stage for the following chapters when he describes (in so much detail) the evolution of our technology up until the internet, and how the brains of humans have changed to adapt to all of them. For me, this put into perspective the fact that our brains are changing without us really noticing. When I think about it, I notice that I have shorter attention span when it comes to reading long articles or books--most likely due to the internet. But it isn't something I would realize without thinking about the context of my own life and of this time in our technological evolution. Kind of haunting.

Blog Post #9

In discussion this week, many of you voiced complaints about Carr's argument (or lack thereof) in The Shallows. In this week's post, indicate something you felt Carr argues WELL in Chapters 1-4. Please use a quote (and indicate the page number) which you felt was particularly convincing, and use that as a starting point for your post.