Its ethic is that of the industrialist, an ethic of speed and efficiency, of optimized production and consumption-and now the Net is remaking us in its own image. In stark contrast, the Internet encourages the rapid, distracted sampling of small bits of information from many sources. He explains how the printed book served to focus our attention, promoting deep and creative thought. The technologies we use to find, store, and share information can literally reroute our neural pathways.īuilding on the insights of thinkers from Plato to McLuhan, Carr makes a convincing case that every information technology carries an intellectual ethic-a set of assumptions about the nature of knowledge and intelligence. Our brains, the historical and scientific evidence reveals, change in response to our experiences. As he describes how human thought has been shaped through the centuries by “tools of the mind”-from the alphabet to maps, to the printing press, the clock, and the computer-Carr interweaves a fascinating account of recent discoveries in neuroscience by such pioneers as Michael Merzenich and Eric Kandel. Now, Carr expands his argument into the most compelling exploration of the Internet’s intellectual and cultural consequences yet published. He also crystallized one of the most important debates of our time: As we enjoy the Net’s bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply? “Is Google making us stupid?” When Nicholas Carr posed that question, in a celebrated Atlantic Monthly cover story, he tapped into a well of anxiety about how the Internet is changing us.

The shallows by nicholas carr