The Shallows: How the Internet is Changing the Way We Think, Read and Remember [Paperback]

Is our constant exposure to electronic stimuli good for us? Can we transform the data we receive into the knowledge we need? Are we swapping deep understanding for shallow distractions?

In this book, Nicholas Carr argues that our constant exposure to multiple and faster data streams is changing the way our brains are wired. This change, which is due to the inherent plasticity of the brain, tends to reduce our capacity to absorb and retain what we read. Mr Carr cites a number of different studies to support his views, and the book makes for interesting reading.

Mr Carr acknowledges that the digital world brings both advantage and disadvantage: `Every tool imposes limitations even as it opens possibilities.' The Internet is a wonderful tool for finding information, but value usually requires some analysis, and often requires a context which is not always immediately obvious. How do we find a balance between those aspects of life that require self-awareness, time and careful consideration, and those aspects of life where an automatic (or semi automatic) response is more appropriate and perhaps even required? Do we understand what choices we have, or are we responding in line with the immediacy of the medium we are using? Are we consumers of data or evaluators of information? Does it matter? I think it does: `The more distracted we become, the less able we are to experience the subtlest, most distinctly human forms of empathy, compassion, and emotion.'

The most valuable aspect of this book, to me, was thinking about the short and long term consequences of the Internet. Those of us who grew to adulthood before the Internet shaped the way we work and communicate have (to varying degrees) embraced the benefits and new possibilities afforded.

A return to the past is neither possible nor desirable - but conscious choice is both.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

The Shallows is a book that comes with quite a bit of hype and promise. It covers the Internet phenomenon and how its changing our deep thinking skills and ability to read and process information properly. It was also short-listed for the Pulitzer prize this year. Its not a particularly long book - just over 200 pages. However, it will take a little time to read as it can get quite technical with neurological functions being explained. It certainly isn't aimed at those whose attention has been affected by the internet. This being said it does bring quite a bit of evidence to the table and explain the issues well. The chapter on Google is very illuminating. There are digression chapters which tend to be written in the first person and relate to the authors experiences. These digressions are of some interest but sometimes they can just distract - the very thing that the author says the internet does to its users.

The problems that I had with the book, aside from getting through it which I managed to do over a period of five days, are about the missed opportunities and bias. A lot of the evidence here actually relates to people who are 30+. This is important and shows how the adoption of the internet has changed their thinking and reading. However, the internet natives of under 20 who are only used to the internet are not covered in as much depth. There is some evidence but not a lot and their experiences are vital as they are only used to the internet. I was left with the question of what the effect is on that demographic. I have experience with them at work and can probably make some assumptions but not from what is contained in this book. On the very last page some quotes for the positives of the internet of our thinking are given and the quickly dismissed. That's a shame in many ways as if a more balanced view was given before jumping to conclusions then I might embrace those conclusions more readily. Whilst I don't doubt that they are correct (for instance one being that the internet is a distraction engine that does not allow for deep learning or thinking) I do feel that I haven't been fully convinced on the evidence here for those reasons of suspected bias and demographics.

This is an important book. It does focus the mind (ironically) on the internet and its long term effects on the users and their thinking. It does this in an over-long way at times and this kind of defeats its very premise. But it is recommended as if you manage to get through the harder to read sections it contains important and useful information that can be thought provoking and also useful for those who work on the internet for extended periods, work in education and use it as a tool or those interested in Psychology and social sciences. I fit all three of those categories so was well served by this book.

When I was younger, there was no internet. I filled my days with going to primary school, playing with friends and reading books. When I went to secondary school, there were a few computers with internet access and I had no internet connection at house. At the end of six years of education the internet was available everywhere: there were many computers with internet access at school and my parents had subscribed to a fast internet plan at home. What happened in the ten years that followed is history: the internet became pervasive and was accessible from everywhere.

I have lived in two worlds: one in which there was no internet and one in which there was. Of course, I was influenced by both worlds and I have the feeling that this makes me - just like many more people of about my age - a bit special. I have learned to appreciate books and what they can teach people. But I have also discovered what the internet can bring to the table: instant access to lots of information and friends. People who are older than I am, appreciate print stuff more than they appreciate web things. For those younger than me, it's the opposite. Of course, these are generalizations and over-simplifications, but my generation has a big advantage over the ones that went before and came after: we live and lived in both pre-internet and internet times.

Why this story? Well, I think it illustrates Carr's argument quite nicely. In this book, Carr tells us that the internet has physiological and neurological effects on the brain. Because of the way the internet is structured, namely around short bits of hyperlinked information, our brain gets attuned to this new method, which is fundamentally different from the 'old' way of the book or the 5000 word article. Those texts contained long and difficult arguments and story lines, but our brains find it difficult to concentrate on understanding what is going on in the text. They got better at working with short and hyperlinked texts and superficial reading on the expense of the ability for deep-reading.

This has all kinds of interesting effects. Of course, we all know of news papers and TV shows, which have shortened material and added extra content that could be read and understood by hyperlinked minds. But the real changes are much bigger. According to Carr, we are loosing our natural capacities--those for reason, perception, memory, emotion (p.211), which causes a deep form of alienation.

And right there, when I read that sentence in this book, it struck me: I grew up in an age and time where the internet was not everywhere, one where reasoning and logical arguments were still valid for all, and one where having actual facts stored in your brain was actually valued a lot. The internet did not make all that irrelevant - at least not yet - but it did change how people approach questions, problems, ideas and change (even cultural change). I am in the strange position that I live in both worlds: I love Facebook, RSS and news sites, but I also have a few hundred books that I have read and try to use in understanding the world and what's happening in it. Both worlds are enticing to me, but I know too many people that only favor the internet and no longer are able to grasp the goods in books and long articles.

Of course, this book has also some shortcomings. One of them is that this book does not shed a lot of light on the many big and great advantages of the internet. For example, the fact that now every once-poor farmer in Africa can go up on the internet to check on the price of his product in the next town or market is great, because it enables him to decide about the best price-point to sell his product. Another example, the fact that it's as easy for me (a Dutch citizen) as for a London native to book tickets for The Lion King musical is also a very great convenience. And there is more, much more. Other books have been written about that. Carr's work could have been stronger if it also had focused on that kind of the medallion.

Another shortcoming of this book is that it's being quite firm about it's conclusions, but that the research that it's based on is not at all that old. Yes, it's possible to check for changes in the brain very soon. But to answer the question if our culture is changing because of the internet and it's mind-altering work, I really believe that it's too early to say so.

Nevertheless, Carrs book is entertaining in its breadth and interesting because of its persuasiveness.