The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

Help, I can’t focus!

Do you have trouble focusing these days on reading lengthy segments of literature? Does your mind wander and seem to flitter between words without fully digesting or retaining the consumed information? If you can relate with these cognitive obstacles on a daily basis, you are not alone in your failure to attain unadulterated concentration. In fact, Nicholas Carr, a highly regarded American author, was so disturbed by the apparent disintegration of his thought process and memory that he wrote a book called The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. Throughout this New York Times Bestseller, Carr spotlights the alarming effects of the world wide web on human intelligence, the composition of the brain, and peoples’ every day lives. His explanation for why so many humans are struggling with distractedness is detailed in various historical technological advancements and their roles in changing the very neurological makeup of our intellectual capacity. However, the internet, in his opinion, is chiefly responsible for the greatest impact on the way people think and even write. Carr explores whether the internet is making our minds smarter, dumber, or just different. Finally, it is inevitable that he surveys the ethical ramifications of such a massive mechanical invention that has forced millions of people into technological slavery.

Plasticity

Before assuming such a revolutionary idea that the internet has indeed altered the physical composition of our brains, it is necessary to substantiate the underlying notion that the brain is even capable of change. After all, most neurologists and biologists for hundreds of years maintained the firm belief that the structure of the adult brain was neither malleable nor transformable. Astonishingly it was not until the 1980s the concept of the “plasticity” of the brain was acknowledged and embraced, but it has not been until recently that scientists are equipped with skills and machinery to monitor brain activity. With the conclusion that our brains are in flux throughout our lives comes increased responsibility and accountability. Our experiences and circumstances greatly impact and mold the neural circuitry, meaning we have an incredible amount of control over the way we think and process. Consequently, the way we think also has an indelible effect on the physical structure of our brains. As Carr writes, “We become, neurologically, what we think.” (Carr, p 33)

Now that Carr has established the validity of the web’s capacity to modify the structure of our brains, it is important to note why and how such change occurs. Intellectual technologies are defined as “tools we use to extend or support our mental powers” and are considered to have the greatest and most longterm impact on our thought processes. (Carr, p 44) Moreover, each intellectual technology encompasses an intellectual ethic, and that ethic is what has the most dramatic effect on humans. The original intention of technological inventions are not always the realistic outcomes that surface as byproducts. It is essential to step back and observe not only the products and results of thought but the thought itself.

According to an Israeli study designed to monitor web activity of millions of users in multiple countries, the average time spent on a web page is 19-27 seconds. (Carr, p 137) The act of “power browsing” is predominately utilized as opposed to leisurely browsing; rather than fully committing oneself to the informational text of a web page, the brain floats at the surface by skimming or reverting to graphics. This type of shallow engagement means people are constantly shifting their attention, which means the brain is constantly reorienting itself. After time, your brain becomes accustomed to the chaotic frenzy of visiting 10-15 pages in a period of five minutes and severely handicaps the art of concentration. The addition of hypertext and “hypermedia”—words linked to sounds, images, and videos—adds exponentially to the bouncing between pages. It is not necessarily a problem that people are browsing and skimming through web sites; the issue lies within the realization that skimming is becoming the most prevalent mode of reading. While one might argue that web browsing develops and promotes multitasking and enables users to access a plethora of informational data, Carr once again explains his reoccurring theme that people no longer have the ability to think or read deeply. We are training our brains to think in fragmented, scattered patterns. The tsunami of emails, social media alerts, messages, RSS feeds, news headlines, and other web based interruptions has overloaded our brains making it increasingly difficult to focus our attention.

The end of books?

Until the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press in 1450 the world was comprised of mainly oral cultures where stories, experiences, songs, and any type of worthy information were passed along from generation to generation by way of mouth. When books began to be printed and distributed after 1450, people immediately developed new mannerisms required by reading such as deep concentration, meditation, undisturbed attention, and intense mental discipline. Reading books quickly became a normal part of daily activity and has been an essential component of everyday life, that is, until the introduction of the internet. Now, the amount of reading print publications has drastically decreased due to the constant use of the web. People in their twenties spend an astonishing 19 hours per week online while adults between 18 and 55 are spending as much as 30% of their leisure time online. (Carr, p 86) As a result, attentiveness demanded by deep reading is being shattered while many people have ceased to read books completely. After all, “The intellectual environment of the internet is like reading a book while doing a crossword puzzle.” (pg 126) Now that companies, such as Google, are digitizing books and aspiring to make all printed literature available online, the literary world as we know it has forever changed. The finality and eternity of printed works are slowly being overhauled by the impermanence and ephemeral nature of electronic text.

Digital memory

With the creation and prolific distribution of printed materials came a vast supply of diverse and valuable information that the newly literate society safeguarded and committed to memory. The key to such detailed and voluminous memorization is being able to process, internalize, and digest literature attentively and with complete engagement of the brain. The brain’s capacity and retention of information depends largely on the mode by which it is processed. For example, thorough processing would yield more vivid and accurate memories while shallow and disrupted processing would yield memories of lesser quality. “With each expansion of our memory comes enlargement of our intelligence,” Carr explains. (Carr, p 192) Deriving from his statement, our intelligence depends on our cognitive load and how much of it we are capable of analyzing and absorbing deeply.

The emergence of “artificial memory” began with new media storage options such as copy machines, videotapes, audiotapes, and computer drives where information could be conveniently deposited and retrieved at pleasure. Rather than committing information to memory, humans could sift through their own experiences and filter what they desired to personally consume or outsource to an external processing device. As the internet made its debut in society, it quickly began to replace personal memory, especially the storage of information. While it afforded people the luxury of endless, bountiful information, they did not necessarily know more or increase their level of intelligence. For the first time in history, web users could utilize a search engine to instantly collect any information conceivable. Today, this has developed into an unhealthy dependency because humans are encouraged to rely on the internet rather than their own memory. The ethical and social ramifications reverberate in the deepest fibers of society, namely the sustenance of culture.

Implications

In conclusion, Carr writes a fascinating book that highlights many thought provoking concepts about the internet’s impact on human information processing. In my opinion, the overall perspective he casts regarding the web is quite negative. He does not necessarily relay verbatim that it is an evil invention, but he does broadcast its destructive powers over our society. While I do not completely disagree with him, I also recognize the enormous advancements the internet has bestowed on humans worldwide. He may not have intended to attack the internet so voraciously, but the gist that I find fault with is that the web has done more harm than good. Similarly, Carr repetitively focuses on the harmful repercussions of the internet but does not offer any remedial advice. After finishing the book, I thought to myself, “So what am I supposed to do?” If Carr had provided some strategic guidance on how to deflect the adverse effects, the book would have culminated on a more positive note. Carr confessed that many people do not retain the option to dissociate from the internet. I would like to think that those people are not doomed with brain deterioration as a result of their livelihoods’ dependence on the web, and we actually have a choice on whether we will allow ourselves to be controlled by technology.