AUTHOR: Nicholas Carr
PUBLISHER: New York, NY: WW Norton, 2011, (286 pages).
"As we come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence." (224)
His concern has been shared by many authors. Marshall McLuhan's famous work, Understanding Media argues that technology effects can alter "patterns of perception steadily and without resistance." Hal the supercomputer takes away control from words into humans. The pathologist, Bruce Friedman confesses that reading long articles on the web or in print has become more difficult because he has grown accustomed to skimming articles. People click more than read. Their brains are being changed from the inside out as they become used to new powers of technology. Scientifically, it is proven that the human brain has plasticity that diminishes the older one gets. Carr begins to introduce the benefits of literacy, affirming like Walter Ong, that "writing heightens consciousness."I find chapter 4 particularly fascinating as Carr describes the "deepening page" of how people's literacy is aided by writing platforms. The Sumerians etched words into tablets of clay. In 2500BC, the Egyptians manufactured papyrus by pressing down wood fibers so that writers can scratch or put words on paper. Wax tablets enable the writing and erasing, thus enabling the reuse of tablets for multiple usage. With the invention of the printing press, force is exerted to transfer ink to paper. People in those days also read slowly and laboriously, just like Ambrose who read silently. Deep reading facilitates deep thinking. Carr comments on reading as follows:
