I was intrigued by Nicholas Carr’s
essay. I thought he did a great
job of pointing things out to the reader that are true, but that one doesn’t
necessarily pay much attention to.
For example, how magazines are filled by many small snippets of
information, and how television programs add pop-ups and text crawls.
When Carr wrote about the findings of the published study of online
research habits conducted by scholars from University College London, I found
him describing myself perfectly. When conducting research on a given topic, I
will usually read from one source no more than two pages. I may favorite or
bookmark a page, but I rarely actually go back unless I am looking for some
specific piece of information. A quote from the authors of the study, “It
almost seems that they go online to avoid reading in the traditional sense.”
left me feeling a bit guilty. I definitely do this, especially with research
for a school project or something along those lines.
The
part of the essay that amazed me the most was when Carr spoke about the science
of the brain that is behind the change in how we read. The fact that “the human
brain is almost infinitely malleable” isn’t a new one to me, but it always has
and always will amaze me.
Overall,
I think that what Carr has brought to my attention is completely true, but I’m
not sure that it is so bad. Technology has changed the way we get our daily
information, but if the brain is so malleable, we can retrain ourselves to read
in a different fashion by simply reading longer length text more often.
I began to feel the same way you did Zoe-- guilty. I felt that way because I realized I do so many things that he was describing in his article.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you are right. It may be possible to train our brains to read a different way once again. But then again, it is hard to break habits. If we have been accustomed to "search" reading for so long, how hard will it be to change?
Hello Zoe! I liked your response! It was great! I was also intrigued by this essay. The topic was different, relatable, and relayed knowledge about a key part of today’s modern technological society. I think you definitely hit the nail on the head; I, too, feel guilty for avoiding “traditional” reading online just to skim text for easy and “quick wins.” I don’t intentionally go online to avoid reading, because reading is inevitable, but by speed-reading articles, I am close-minded by only quickly looking for information that I have already previously decided that I need to obtain. This behavior is especially prevalent for school projects, as you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI was equally as mesmerized by the fact that the brain is “malleable!” I think at first I was astonished by his essay, but your reasoning has positively reassured me. As you pointed out, technology has vastly changed the world; information is available at our finger-tips in seconds, now. But, like Carr said, our brain is “almost infinitely malleable,” and if the Internet can change our brain, can’t we change our brain back? I think that is a very good point Zoe! We have the power to re-train our brains by reading lengthier text more often, thus eventually eliminating losing focus and skimming!
I found that he described things that I didn’t notice before that make perfect sense as well—the snippets of information, pictures, etc. But now, I do notice them all the time! I agree that he described what I do too. I am trying to change how I research, but it is difficult when the internet is switching our brains to not wanting to read long essays. I don’t think that we are trying to avoid the “traditional sense”, but are more drawn to the easier way out. Also, the internet is something that almost every teenager loves now, and books can be a rare love. That makes perfect sense that we should be able to control our brains if indeed they are so malleable.
ReplyDeleteHi Zoe! Guilty was the exact word I was feeling after reading this article. I find it shocking to read articles where the author can pin point a teenage attribute or habit and completely tear it apart. We don't mean to "skim" over lengthy pieces of work; it's just unfortunate that we are becoming more accustomed to it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all you ladies when you mentioned how mesmerizing the fact that our brain is so "malleable." My only question is, knowing that our brain can so easily adapt to different forms of taking in information, instead of blaming the internet for being our down fall, is there some way that we can get the information from these long articles faster? It seems that all we want nowadays is information at our fingertips. We want the fastest way possible to reach it also, isn't that why we all have smart phones? I'm not saying get rid of books altogether, but maybe redirect the way we receive information only on the internet.
Then again, maybe it isn't a good idea...