[Web4lib] "Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet isdoing to our brains"

[Frances, Melodie]

This is a very interesting thread - I have the same problem too of having trouble concentrating on something - tons of articles all over the place that I feel I should read that I probably never will - I'm wondering though if it's more just the shear amount of information overload rather than the way in which it is presented that is problematic - (in fact aren't there already burblings of the next new greatest thing being a way to deal with this?).

 

I also still don't really believe that the internet or virtual reality has changed anything fundamentally - we are still these messy organic complicated immature frightened and at times amazingly wonderful embodied creatures - the older I get the more it seems like there ain't NOTHING new under the sun - the tools change which obviously has huge impact but the stuff that runs us still seems to be the same.

 

As for Elizabeth's question: "I'd be interested to hear if others think a value system exists where one has no need for the skills of "concentration and contemplation" (I'm not being snarky...I'm genuinely interested in this question)." - my first response is no - because someone has to do the concentrated work for any of this internet stuff to run - but there are also a ton of people who do not engage in concentration or contemplation - personally I have never found them to be real interesting and secondly I really don't think you can grow or learn without blood sweat and tears. Kinda goes with the whole messy human thing. 

 

Melodie Morgan Frances

Head of Cataloging

Graduate Theological Union

mfrances at gtu.edu

510-649-2521

 

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Elizabeth Winter
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 10:40 AM
To: K.G. Schneider
Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] "Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet isdoing to our brains"

 

Carr may be a little ambitious in what he's trying to do in the space of 5 pages (for those who still print things out), and he loses a little credibility by referring to "the Net," but he makes a number of good observations--things I've noticed in my own habits.  

 

"Chipping away at my capacity for concentration and contemplation" certainly resonates.  The process of reading this article is illustrative: I read about 25% of it, printed it out, went to get lunch, picked it back up, started reading again, and couldn't finish the article without looking back at my computer screen at least three times to check for new emails.

 

I'd be interested to hear if others think a value system exists where one has no need for the skills of "concentration and contemplation" (I'm not being snarky...I'm genuinely interested in this question).

 

Best,

Elizabeth

 

 

-- 

Elizabeth L. Winter

Electronic Resources Coordinator

Collection Acquisitions & Management

Library and Information Center

Georgia Institute of Technology

email: elizabeth.winter at library.gatech.edu

phone: 404.385.0593

fax: 404.894.1723

 

----- Original Message -----

From: "K.G. Schneider" <kgs at bluehighways.com>

To: web4lib at webjunction.org

Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 10:53:42 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern

Subject: Re: [Web4lib] "Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet is doing to our brains"

 

 

On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:30:42 -0400, "Ross Singer"

<rossfsinger at gmail.com> said:

> The philosophy of "your values don't match my values so they must mean

> you are stupid and I am right" is a particularly arrogant one, in my

> mind.

> 

> -Ross.

 

Ross, I agree with that statement but disagree that it applies to Carr.

He has the humility to talk about what he believes Google is doing *to

him* as well as to others (and for that matter, phrase it as a

question). When Carr writes, "I’m not thinking the way I used to think,"

I identify -- in part because he isn't standing on a mountaintop

sneering at the scatterbrained masses. I blogged about this today...

after pushing myself to read for a couple of hours, even though the

laptop beckoned from the next room. 

 

I don't agree with everything Carr says, but I agree with the way he

says it. 

 

K.G. Schneider

kgs at freerangelibrarian.com

 

 

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