The Shallows - Nicholas Carr

[Anonymous No.16167706]

Any of you read this book? What your opinion? Or I've finished yesterday so ask anything related.

TLDR: I recommend reading it, however I have to read some of those studies the book refering to, because I'm sceptical about a few things.

[Anonymous No.16168031]

>because I'm sceptical about a few things.

Which things in particular?

[Anonymous No.16168056]

You remember that bit towards the end in Phaedurs where Socrates talks about writing
It's that, but about the internet, and really stretched out

[Anonymous No.16168085]

>>16168056
Socrates was kind of right though. Most people never cultivate the kind of long-form memory that bards relied on because there's no point in doing so, so that talent has largely disappeared from society. The internet is far worse than transitioning from oral tradition to writing due to the omnipresence and daily importance of the internet. We're fucking with our cognition at a level far deeper than we ever could before with our old lifestyles.

[Anonymous No.16168163]

>>16168085
I'm not saying I disagree, it's actually true that illiterate people have much better memories than us
I'm just saying that the author isn't really saying anything new when there's like an over thousand year old summary of the arguements in a few pages
Also
>omnipresence and daily importance of the internet
A-are you implying that writing is less omnipresent than the internet?!

[Anonymous No.16168194]

>>16168163
>A-are you implying that writing is less omnipresent than the internet?!
capital-W writing? absolutely. you only need to be barely literate to survive in society. with smartphones and apps supplanting computers and websites, Writing has been only getting less and less important.

[Anonymous No.16168221]

I've read his articles in Atlantic. Seems to me he was prophetic in some way. The shallows is on my read list. I am afraid of the effects of information overload and instant gratification the Internet had on my mind over these years. Does the books contain some advice for reversing or at least relieving the consequences?

[Anonymous No.16168285]

>>16168056
I don't. What he said?

[Anonymous No.16168302]

>>16168221
im gonna guess he suggests staying away from the internet as much as possible

[Anonymous No.16168317]

>>16168285
I've read the Shallows. He keeps bringing up that bit because he states that we are essentially "offloading" our memory to the Internet so we don't have to remember it ourselves because its always accessible at our fingertips. He argues that the argument that this leaves us with more brainpower for other tasks is flawed because neuroscientists conclude that the brain is like a muscle, if you don't use it it withers away, much like Socrates warned that by implementing writing we would be offloading memory to paper.

[Anonymous No.16168482]

I found his arguments pretty convincing desu.

[Anonymous No.16169724]

>>16168482
based

[Anonymous No.16170300]

ANECDOTE ANECDOTE ANECDOTE