The End as Come!

Finally the end! I have read a lot of books but I have never been so excited to have one be over more than I am to have this one end.  The last chapter of The Shallows is where Nicolas Carr summarizes everything he mentions in the book and ties it all together. Now for the most part I agreed with Carr was saying throughout the book, but at times I felt as though he was forcing his opinion on the reader. There were other times where I could not have disagreed more with Carr, however like I said I agreed with him on most of the things that he said. The one thing that I agreed most with was that the internet makes it a lot harder to focus on just one thing at a time. Even as I write this blog post, I am constantly looking at my Facebook and e-mail. I find it hard to sit and just write this blog post without checking to see if someone as updated anything or if I have received an email.

                The one thing I thought was interesting about the way Carr wrote was how he would say am opinion but it would come off as a fact, so the reader did not question it. By doing this, I know I was not quite sure at times whether or not Carr liked the internet or wanted to get rid of it all together. There were also parts of the book when he would mention certain things, mostly things with monkeys; I did not understand why he needed to had such things.

                As I had mentioned in the first sentence, this book is finally over! This book as to have been the hardest book to get through. Every time I picked it up I instantly wanted to put it down. Now most of the time when this happens with a book I never take anything from it, but with this book, although it was a pain to read, there are definitely things that I will take out of it. For instance I will take out how much society has changed because of the internet. More and more people read things on the internet rather than read them in a newspaper or book. This fact concerns me, I do not think that we should ever get rid of books, and the way we are moving now, books will be gone in a 100 years or so. Another thing that I will take away is that the internet will only change us as much as we let it change us.

                I liked the way Nicolas Carr ended the book. A nice summary of all his ideas wrapped together. Sometimes in books the author leaves some ties untied, but Carr is able to make sure that all of his loose ends are no longer loose and the reader knows how all of his ideas tie together. I liked that the most about the book, but I will not lie and tell you that I will never open this book again.

Maggie Hartrey

THE END!!!

We are finally done with The Shallows!!!! Thank God! I have failed to do a single blog entry until this one and of course it is last minute. Many of the things I questioned throughout the entire book, but as I was reading the last chapter, A Thing Like Me, I came across a quote that I found particularly interesting. It was a bit exaggerated I felt, but I was able to relate to it and think of times where it applied to my life. Carr stated, “The price we pay to assume technology’s power is alienation. The toll can be particularly high with our intellectual technologies. The tools of the mind amplify and in turn numb the most intimate, and most human, of our natural capacities –those for reason, perception, memory, emotion (211). As I read this I took it as him saying that we rely on technology instead of our own instincts and that since technology has given us  abilities we never could have imagined, the use of technology stops us from accessing human traits that we have acquired over thousands of years. Even though the powers of technology are great they are not necessarily superior to human intuition.

I felt that in some ways we are alienated through technology. When you are using a computer you have information at your finger –tips, but you don’t have the human interaction that going to the library gives you. You are limited to your own creativity when using the internet, but say for instance you went to the library you have the opinion and ideas of the librarian.

Carr uses the last chapter to sum up all his ideas and explains one of his main points that we shouldn't just jump right into technology without understanding the effects it has on us.There is such an instant gratification with technology that I don't think people really care what is happening to them and how we are changing by using the internet, and I can admit I am guilty of it too. Carr's opinion is a bit ridiculous at times, but I do understand where he is coming from, though it's a bit exaggerated at times and repetitive. 

I'm glad that the book is over!

-Hannah Rey

Book vs Kindle

                In chapter six of The Shallows, Nicholas Carr compares reading a physical book to reading the text of a book either on a kindle or a nook. The chapter mainly talks about how the new e-readers are changing the way we read. The majority of the chapter tells about different accounts from different people on how they saw their reading change. They mostly told tales about how they would skip around and get distracted by the internet porthole that was available on the device.

                In my own experience, I have used the kindle app on my iPhone to read a book as well as using a physical book to read. I would have to say that my experience reading a physical book was much more enjoyable. I say this because I am biased towards normal books because I have grown up reading them and enjoy being able to turn a page and find out what is coming next.

                While I didn’t mind reading a book on my kindle app on my phone I did find it to be a bit distracting because whenever I would get a text message it would pop up on the top of my screen and I would get distracted from what I was reading. However, it did come with some benefits. Since I carry my phone with me wherever I go I just had to take it out to pick up where I left off in the book. I could read it on the bus without any trouble, in between classes, and best of all, in the dark. Since my phone is backlit I could use the light from that to read rather than having to turn on a lamp and possible wake my roommates. I find this to be the best quality of an e-reader because it allows you to do your own reading without having to wake or rouse others later in the evening.

                It does come with some disadvantages though. I found myself having to charge my phone more often than I had to before as well as finding my eyes hurting from the backlit screen. However, these disadvantages would not deter me from using the kindle app again. I do find that the application is useful and come with its own benefits. One specific advantage being not having to leave the comfort of your home to go out and buy a new book to read.

                I do find this to be somewhat of a disadvantage though because I personally like to browse through the bookstore and look at things that I may have no otherwise looked at.  I also think a book provides you with a more intimate understanding of what a book can convey through its pages rather than a screen. This is for the fact, like those mentioned in the book said, that you can write in the margins, highlight a specific line, and leave of in some random spot and are able to find it because you dog-eared the page.

- Jeanne Aggouras

Search, Memory

In the chapter "Search, Memory" from The Shallows, Nicholas Carr dicusses how the internet and technology may possibly be replacing our memory. He claims, "Our embrace of the idea that computer databases provide an effective and even superior substitute for personal memory is not particularly surprising...as the machines we use to store data have become more voluminous, flexible, and responsive, we've grown accustomed to the blurring of artificial and biological memory" (181). I don't exactly agree that the internet is a substitute for our memory. As the internet and technology continues to develop our memory is not being replaced by it. In a way, it can challenge the way we learn and think.

-Leah A.

Do we really perceive minds that aren't there?

In this chapter, chapter 10, Carr is looking at how our minds are changing as technology improves. At this point I agree with Carr. The new technologies have changed our minds. Where Carr and I differ is that while he seems to argue in the negative, I feel more positive about the change. For example, on page 213, Carr brings up the findings of neuroscientist Jason Mitchell. Carr argues, using Mitchell’s findings as evidence, that the computer age has affected our ability to “mind read.” Instead Mitchell says that we now perceive minds where they are not, as in the example with ELIZA. In that study, people using the software reported thinking that they were having a conversation with a person, not just a computer algorithm designed to rephrase the last statement in the form of a question. I believe, however, that we are aware of the absence of the mind in these cases. We know that it is a computer on the other side, but we want to believe that it isn’t. We want to believe that we have the technology is there. So as we seek out this artificial mind, it gives the appearance that we wholeheartedly believe that it is another mind. This can spawn from a variety of things. I think that we want to believe that there is someone there, a real mind, because we as humans have become attention seekers. And with that being said, as attention seekers we want there always to be someone listening to us and talking to us, even in the most general of forms; for example a computer program asking you generic questions based on your previous answers. This is another area where I agree with Carr. The internet and the computer age have had some debilitating effects on us as a race. As the internet has grown popularity, so has instant feedback and instant gratification. Someone can now post a Facebook status or tweet about something and instantly know how others feel about it. Whether it is a “like” or a comment on Facebook, or a retweet on Twitter, there is instant gratification. Acknowledgment that there is someone out there reading our posts and doing something with them. This is why we imagine a person behind the machine, we want someone to care, even just a computer. In Carr’s book, I feel like he is saying that we could have avoided this “problem.” I don’t think we could have. I think it was inevitable that someday the world would be connected and that international borders would be overlooked with these new technologies. Carr outlines it in an earlier chapter when he goes through and traces the path that books have taken over the past thousands of years. There was a need to change the book, just as there was a need to change the way we communicate with others. This need did not go overlooked and after several decades of work, we now have the intricate method of communication of today. And it is still changing. The technologies of today are already outdated. The next best thing has already come out. Now we are stuck in an eternal game of catch up.

--David Pierson

In the book, The Shallows, by Nicholas Carr, he talks about how people are addicted to the internet and technology. After going through an entire semester of reading this book and having class discussions about this addiction, I can sadly say that I have a slight addiction to it. I have a hard time going through my day not checking my email, seeing who has texted or called me, how many emails I might have that day, who has been on Facebook, or who has tweeted at me that day. I could never imagine getting rid of all my technology because I had to move somewhere that there wasn’t all of these technologies such as Carr had to do. In his book he states,” The dismantling of my online life was far from painless. For months, my synapses howled for their Net fix. I found myself sneaking clicks on the ‘check for new email’ button. Occasionally, I’d go on a daylong web binge”(199). I don’t think that I would ever be able to drop all of my devices and just walk away for a long period of time. I remember the last time I went on vacation to Mexico and I did not have my cell phone or my computer, I was about to go crazy. 

On days in class where I am not able to use my computer or go online, I feel like class drags on. I get the same feelings on nights where I have to read a certain amount for class the next day. Carr questions in his book whether or not people would be able to switch back to books, and then go back to using their internet. He goes over this point more than once, and it gives me the feeling that it is important. In his book he states,”The question isn’t really whether people can still read or write the occasional book. Of course they can. When we begin using a new intellectual technology, we don’t immediately switch from one mental mode to another”(199). This is showing us how Carr is thinking that people can go from reading a book, to being on the internet, to looking at their phones. Personally, I can never read or write anything if my computer or phone is near me. I need to be able to focus on what I am doing, and not jump around from thing to thing in front of me. 

The internet has caused a lot of good and bad things to people over the years that it has been around. It has personally given me some added personality, and given me a new outlook on life. Going from one form of reading to another isn’t as hard as Carr points out at some points, but for some people like me it can be very difficult. 

-Drew Loiselle

Sand Between The Pages

People have been reading print books for as long as they can remember. A book can be carried without care from point A to point B.  A book can be dropped in a puddle of water, left to dry and it is about as good as new. A book can be left in a locker for days and can be picked up and be read right where the reader left off. But with today’s new technology people are trading printed books for computers and for new e-Books or e-readers. Technology is allowing people to carry hundreds of books around at once and people enjoy the convenience of them. People are able to buy book online instead of have to drive to the store to go and get them. But e-readers and e-books are not as amazing as they are appearing to be.

            People having been turning away from print books and that can take a tool on them both mentally and physically. When I pick up a new book, it has a certain smell. Everyone can relate to this smell. Whether they are avid readers or just reading a book for a class, the smell of a book can make reading that much more enjoyable. E-readers and e-Books do have a certain smell, but the smell of plastic is not that inviting. Also the feeling of turning the pages of a book is much more rewarding then pressing a key on a computer or a button on an e-reader. Reading and finishing a print book in my opinion is more rewarding than reading a book on a computer or an e-reader.

            If one was to leave a book under a bed for a year and forget about it, then pick it up later and be able to continue to read it. If one was to do that with an e-reader, the e-reader will most likely be out of battery and need to be charged and electronics should not really be left under a bed for long periods of time. Also many enjoy reading at the beach. Drop a book in the sand and it will survive. Sand between the pages will not harm the book, but drop an e-reader in the sand and the sand could ruin it. Then you would be out of about a hundred bucks and will not be able to finish reading the book. Also you would lose everything else that is stored on the e-reader. E-readers can store many books as well as magazines, music and even emails and pictures. Ruin or lose your e-readers and you have lost much more than a story.

             E-books and e-readers are certainly becoming more popular and are being used by millions. They can store much more than books and people enjoy the convenience of that. But how could one trade the smell of a new book, the turning of the pages for a plastic device that will not last forever. I just do not understand.

Taylor Boulia 

Disconnecting From the Net Can Unclutter Your Thoughts

             In Nicholas Carr’s digression called “On the Writing of This Book” right before Chapter 10, he talked about what it was like trying to finish writing his book, The Shallows. He stated that he “struggled in vain to keep [his] mind fixed on the task” (198). The internet was interrupting him constantly and scattering his words and thoughts. He had to temporarily shut down his social network accounts and slow down his email application, checking for new emails less frequently. He said that after a just a little while he started to feel a lot calmer and “more in control of [his] thoughts” (199). He felt more like a human being and his “brain could breathe again.” After describing this in his book, he states that he knows it’s not very typical since he can disconnect easily because of his self-employment. Although I somewhat agree with him, I think he has a good point of bringing awareness to what happened to him and many others who use the internet today so that maybe they can consider how they might want to disconnect, at least for a little while. I have a few experiences that I believe illustrate Carr’s point of disconnecting from the internet making us more focused.

            A few years ago, my sister lost her phone while she was at a club. She was obviously sad, frustrated, and very angry at first, but noticed that she was so much less stressed. She didn’t have to worry about always responding to people online, by text, or by email through her phone wherever she went. She actually enjoyed not having her phone. She felt less cluttered and more in control of her thoughts and what she was doing, which is basically just like Carr’s experience. I think that Carr was definitely onto something with his concept that he keeps bringing up in his book.

            I myself have also felt cluttered and stressed out by the internet, including the present time. I feel like there are so many things going on at once, like getting texts, Facebook updates, emails, links, blogs, Twitter, and many other things. This is added to the stressors of daily life. I notice when I really have to do something like study or do homework and absolutely have to focus, I need to shut my phone off, my computer off, and put them away, out of sight. That’s the only way I can get myself to truly focus on one thing and one thing only. If I do not put those items away, I will be tempted to get distracted easily and go check the notifications on my phone or computer. Yes, the internet is an amazing technology and advancement, helping us with communication, easier learning and searching, and just overall life convenience, but I sometimes wish it would just go away for a little while. I guess I need to learn to ration out my time on the internet, giving myself some time away and not constantly being connected like I usually am.

-Jill Zalewski

Chapter 10 A Thing Like Me

Chapter 10 A Thing Like Me

Joseph Weizenbaum had created a new type of software that would almost have a conversation with the person using it. However it does not have a real conversation, it just changes the original sentence to seem like an appropriate response. To me this seemed like a conversation with a therapist.”If a person typed the sentence ‘I am very unhappy these days.’ The computer would need only know that the phrase ‘I am’ typically comes before a description of the speaker’s current situation or state of mind. The computer could then recast the sentence into the reply ‘How long have you been very unhappy these days’” (pg 202) Therapists just ask you why you feel that way, or how long you have felt that way in this case. Therapy is used to bring you to the conclusion all on your own, and the computer program will respond using things you say without generating new ideas causing the person to figure things out almost by themselves. This is one of the times I feel that Carr is in favor of the technology. Carr sees the good use of the ELIZA program and how it can be used to help people.

It is clear, that I am not the only person who saw the program this way because so did the psychologist Carl Rogers. The program ELIZA could be used to help many people with mental illnesses or even just people under a lot of stress. I feel therapy has a positive effect on people because what they had really needed was someone to listen to them. If more people used a program like this, then maybe it could help people who do not have time to see a therapist or who just have some stress in their lives.

This program also reminded me a lot of the new iPhone application Siri. A person using the iPhone can simply ask Siri a question and she then will give an appropriate response. The difference is that Siri gives more of a human response. Unlike the ELIZA program, Siri is able to actually answer questions using information found on other applications and from the internet. Although Siri cannot be used as a form of therapy, it is still a helpful application for people who have a hard time using smart phones.

Although Carr may seem to like the idea of the ELIZA program, he then goes on to talk about how technology becomes and “extension” of ourselves. “Every tool imposes limitations even as it opens possibilities” (pg 209) Even though such programs are helpful for people, it makes us dependent on the programs and harder for people to do things on their own. Continuous use of the program ELIZA would in time make some people feel they needed to talk to her to cope with everyday things, and not learn how to work through things on their own. This also has the same effect with the iPhone application Siri, if people are using Siri to do things for them then how will they know how to do such things on their own? I can see why Carr is continuously going back and forth on the internet and technology, they are a helpful resource but should be used in moderation to prevent dependence.

 

-Alexandrea White

Expanding Knowledge

A couple weeks back, we discussed how Carr believes that the Internet is affecting our memory capacity. Carr says that the more we use the Internet, the less information we retain because it is right at our fingertips. I disagree with Carr. I think that the Internet has actually expanded our memory and knowledge. Yes, lots of people don’t even bother memorizing anything anymore because all they have to do is open their phones and search for the subject. But I find, especially with myself, that because of everything I can look up on the Internet, I remember more.

            A lot of what I look up on the Internet is useless fun-facts that I pull up out of nowhere in random conversations. Some of the facts have even proven to be useful, but more often than not, I’m just showing how much of a geek I am. However, because I am always thirsting for knowledge, whether it is useful or not, I find that my brain has expanded and I can fit more knowledge in it than I could years before. Of course, this also has to do with my being older and using the Internet a lot more than I used to. For instance, I can tell you off the top of my head about 60 – 70 of 113 elements on the periodic table just from their abbreviation (note, I am a music major that got a C in Chemistry in High School). I can identify most soundtrack composers by just listening to a bit of a title theme of a movie.

            The Internet has provided me with enormous amounts of information that I love taking advantage of. And therefore, my brain has absorbed more than it ever possible could from reading out of a textbook (which does not make learning exciting in my opinion). My memory, though not the best at some times, has definitely grown from using the Internet for a good portion of my life.

~Liz Langelier

Is the Net Replacing Our Memory?

In Nicholas Carr’s book The Shallows, he wrote about how people once had to memorize sometimes as much information as a science textbook, since the information was just passed down from generation to generation. Then people finally started to write down their thoughts or notes, sometimes making them into actual books, so that they didn’t have to memorize everything and could just reference it later. Now we have the Internet, which holds so much information and can serve as memory for us, as some would say. Carr stated that the Net has come to be seen “as a replacement for, rather than just a supplement to personal memory” (180). A writer named Clive Thompson wrote a similar statement, referring to the Net as “an outboard brain that is taking over the role previously played by inner memory” (180). I see their point of view, but see somewhat of a flaw in their statements and disagree to a certain extent.

I as well as many other people rely on the internet for memory. We don’t have to feel stressed about absolutely having to memorize something because if we forget it, we can just “Google it” later on. Similar to this, Thompson said that he basically gave up on memorizing anything because he can “instantly retrieve the information online” (180). Although this is true, I don’t really think that we rely on the internet completely or that it totally replaces our own memory. There are some things that we memorize because we want to or maybe because we think it’s interesting or have a test in the subject. Things though like statistics or equations we don’t have to memorize anymore because they can be easily looked up. For this reason, I think that the Net is more of a supplement to our memory rather than a full replacement, since we can have more memory than ever before combining the internet and our own minds.

Sometimes I think though, what would happen if all of the information on the internet disappeared, and was lost forever? Yes, we would still have textbooks, but what about, for example, daily reminders like our calendar? My calendar on my phone is saved through the internet, and I have many important “notes-to-self” that I’m not sure what would happen if I were to lose. I’d obviously have to deal with it and maybe have to think deep within my mind to remember what I had written, but I have A LOT of notes to myself. I do admit that I rely on the internet for my reminders and such because they are saved through the Net, and that the internet is basically used as my memory in this situation.

As a final note that could stem from this discussion, many would argue that since we rely so much on the internet to remember things for us and store memory, we are not using our brains as much and will end up with a worse memory. This is because we are not exercising memorizing as much. Some would say that they are still using their brains and memories, but for different things other than facts and school-subjects. Many people have different opinions on this topic, but that is not within the realm of this blog post.

-Jill Zalewski

The Final Chapter

          In the final chapter of the book The Shallows, author Nicholas Carr summarizes the points that he has made throughout the book. Overall, he explains how me seem to shape technology and how technology seems to shape us. Throughout the entire book there were many things that Carr would infer that I found myself disagreeing with. He was very blunt with his opinions and sometimes pushed them onto the reader. However, in this last chapter I found myself understanding his points better, and agreeing with them a little more. In this chapter he seems to be a little softer in his opinion and explanations of opinions. 

           There was a quote that stood out to me in this chapter because it was the part of Carr’s opinion that I agree with most. Carr states that “Every tool imposes limitations even as it opens possibilities. The more we use it, the more we mold ourselves to its form and function… McLahan wrote that our tools end up ‘numbing‘ whatever part of our body they ‘amplify’”. I feel that this quote could summarize The Shallows in a positive way despite the fact that I was disagreeing with Carr so much. Carr used examples of technologies like the power loom. When the power loom was first invented people became less dependent of people who could make cloth and more dependent on the power loom. This was because the power loom was a faster, easier and more efficient was of creating cloth. The same thing has happened with the new technology of the internet. People can read books online, therefore people are not as dependent on hard copies of books anymore. Just like any other technology has done to humans in the past, the internet is having an effect on our daily activities and our mind functions. 

           I believe that Nicholas Carr wrote this book in order to show people how society is changing due to the internet. Before I read this last chapter, I felt that the message Carr was basically trying to get across was to stop using the internet completely because it was evil. However, now I see what his point really was. He wanted people to be aware of the changes taking place in our society due to the use of the internet. His intentions were not to have people eliminate the internet from their lives, that would be absurd. He only wanted to help people see what he saw was changing. As a society that can depend on the internet, Carr feels that we should not depend on the internet so blindly. We should move forward, continuing to use the internet as a tool for learning and communication, but to also continuously asking questions about how the internet is changing us. If the internet is changing us at all, we should at least be aware of the reasons why and/or if those changes are positive and necessary. As Carr says, “In the end it is not our becoming, but what we become” (Carr 222). 

- Kaitlin MacKinnon

Memory Tools

             Nicholas Carr, author of the book The Shallows makes it clear that he believes computers, more specifically the internet, has certain effects on our humans. In chapter nine Carr states, "As people grew accustomed to writing down their thoughts and reading the thoughts others had written down, they became less dependent on the contents of their own memory" (Carr 177). This quote jumped out at me. As I read it for the first time I immediately pictured myself studying information offline and writing it down for my test the night before. Because I could visualize myself doing this right away I automatically believed what he was saying. However, the more I thought about this quote in depth, the more I noticed that I was forming a different opinion completely. 

             Nicholas Carr believes and provides support through example that our memories begin to lose their function when we read or listen to information given to us and write information down. Most people I know have done this at some point in their lives. In class I listen to what a teacher is telling me in a lecture and I take notes, this way I have something to look back on and refresh my memory. Everyone I know takes notes in class. People write down information because it is a learning strategy. However, this does not mean that our memories are less reliable because we are writing the information down. In Carr’s quote he claims that people become less dependent on what they remember and more dependent on what notes he or she took. This can be true sometimes, but not always. 

             I find that I do rely more on the notes that I take in class as opposed to my short term memory only, or even the text book assigned to me. I read through my notes to ensure that I remember what the teacher was trying to get across, personal examples he or she may have used as well as the tone of voice in which he or she was speaking. All of these factors come in to play while I study because they help me to actually learn. Whether I am writing my notes down in a notebook or typing them on my laptop, they are still useful tools to look back on. My brain and memory function the same way, they are tools to helping me learn. Although people have to be reminded of things sometimes, it does not mean that our brains and memories have no use. All it means is that our minds are not 100% reliable all of the time. This is why people write things down and take notes. If our minds could possibly remember every single bit of information fed to it then there would be no need for tests. People cannot recall everything they are exposed to once, we need repeated exposure in order to store it in our long term memories. I feel that our memories are not more or less reliable due to the internet.

- Kaitlin MacKinnon

In Chapter 6, the very image of a book, Carr talks about how the internet has really caused people in the world to cut down on reading books. He describes books, how they can be used, and how they are used now that the digital industry is changing, and developing constantly. He tells several stories. One of the stories he tells is about a fellow in the public Policy Center in Washington DC named Christine Rosen, who wrote about her experience reading after she got used to using the internet. A few things she said was that when she was reading, her "eyes were restless and jumped around as they do when I try to read for a sustained time on the computer. Distractions abounded."(Carr 103). What she means by that is that while she is reading, it is hard for her to keep her eyes still, and focused on the page she is reading because on the net, there are often many different parts of a page to read. Examples include looking up people including Dickens on Wikipedia and so on. The internet is so specific that it made it hard for Rosen to keep focused by looking at only one part of a page. Another example of how the internet impacts our brain functions during a time of reading is how Steve Johnson realized that reading e-books on a Kindle would likely change the "way people read, write, and sell books in profound ways"(Carr 103). Not only does he believe that, but he also believes that it would help make books as searchable as any page on the net. Johnson is starting to get the idea that the internet is changing, and possibly causing a great development in how our brains think and function. Given that this experience has past on to many other people, "Book publishers have suffered some losses of business as reading has shifted from the printed page to the screen, but the form of the book itself hasn't changed much."(Carr 99). He means that many book companies, and sellers have went out of business because less people are buying their books due to the rapid development of the web.

One thing that has been invented given the constant inventions of technological devices, is the digital reader. When they were first made, they didn't start out very efficient, but according to Carr, they have greatly improved over the years. The advantages that they were meant to have are not as clear cut as they would have originally started. One example of how e books and digital readers have improved is that the functions have enabled people to click through pages, bookmarks, do functions like scribbling and highlighting, and more. The size of the writing in the e books are able to be changed in size for people who have eyes that are to weak to read a completely printed book. Despite the fact that book companies are going out of business, this technology has made the reading of books much more popular as more people are enabled to do it than anytime before the internet would have been invented.

The internet has really changed the way we think about text

-Drew Theran

Procrastination at its best

            It clear to see by my title that I am a bit late on getting to this whole blogging thing… well maybe a lot late but I’m still writing an entry nonetheless. I have procrastinated writing on this blog for one main reason – I really dislike Nicholas Carr’s book, The Shallows. I find it dry and uninteresting to be frank. I know it’s a little harsh but it is true. I mean honesty really is the best policy. Anyways, back on track here, ever since I first picked up The Shallows I was a little weary of what the book might contain. To my dismay, I found it uninteresting and found it hard to read. Also, I felt that I had more interesting material to read such as The Hunger Games series as well as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. As you can see,  I put the course reading on the back burning and focused my interests more toward books that do not directly involve what happens in my day to day life and also contains a bit of a thrill while reading.

            While I may not be flipping through the pages like my life depended on it, to make sure that someone from the book doesn’t come out and kill me that is, I am still plugging along through The Shallows. I did not dismiss the reading entirely but I did try to finish it as quickly as I could because I did not agree with the points that Carr was trying to get across. This is mainly because he has been contradicting himself throughout the whole book.

            At the very start of the book, Carr talks about how the internet and other media’s have taken over our lives and that we cannot focus at any single task – like reading a book. I’m not sure if he is aware, but for his point to be made, he shouldn’t have written the book itself. I feel that from the very beginning he is trying to force his opinions on the readers and there is no grey area to argue against. I say this because he makes it very clear of where he stands on the matters he write about and assumes that everyone who does in fact read his book has the same opinion also – because of course we all do.

            However, to contradict my previous statements a little bit, I do find some of his points to be valid. The most valid point being that we do have an addiction to the internet and other media because of how prominent it is in our everyday lives. I constantly find myself panicking when my cell phone has gone “missing” but is really just hiding somewhere in my room and I also find myself checking social networking sites every ten or so minutes to make sure that I haven’t missed anything interesting in the “world”.

            The main point that I am trying to get across here is that while I do not agree with the majority of what Carr says, he does have a point when he says that the internet is taking over our lives. From personal experience I can say that I do feel very much tied to media and would find it hard to drop it cold turkey for the fact that it’s everywhere in the world we live in today.

-          Jeanne Aggouras

Artificial Intelligence

In the closing of The Shallows, Carr talks about a program called ELIZA that was created by a man named Weizenbaum. This program was first created with the use of artificial intelligence to be able to analyze live stream of conversation and have the ability to appropriately respond. This program was the first to let people physically communicate with a computer. These types of programs are still used in today’s age where anyone can chat online to SmarterChild on AIM or now can even use an iPhone to talk to “Siri”. These types of artificial intelligences make me think how else the human brain can be manipulated into. If a computer can think, talk, and act like a human, what is our future going to come to? Carr also explains how some scientists wanted to use the program in order to talk and help treat mentally ill patients. The journal of nervous and mental disease said once, “[ELIZA could be] a therapeutic tool which can be made widely available to mental hospitals and psychiatric suffering a shortage of therapists” (205). If there were not enough therapists to help these patients, or if a specific patient needs more attention than others, ELIZA would be perfect because if physically replaces the human in the situation.

It is crazy to see how much technology is affecting our everyday lives. There is probably some type of tool or app that has been made in order to make life easier. Carr’s point in saying that we are addicted to technology is true. Without the internet, we would be productive, but a lot less efficient. Now with the program Siri on new iPhones, all you have to do is talk to it and all the work is done out for you. You can ask it for directions, a good place to eat, for the nearest gas station, or to call and text people whenever. Technology is advancing to the point where everything we need is legitimately at our fingertips without having to do much work to get it. Technology is developing so rapidly that it is almost becoming human. I never thought there would have been a day where my computer would ever be able to converse with me in a way that my friends could.

This technology that is being developed has made my life tremendously easier, but definitely has made me lazier. My parents always say, “I don’t understand how you are always on your phone, the computer, or watching something on tv?” I never thought anything of it until recently I was thinking the same thing? Why do I have this need to be using my phone or on Facebook somehow. The connection and technology is rather addicting and I feel like I need to stay connected with it for some unknown reason. It’s so easy to stay updated with friends through my phone or the internet. It has almost become a piece of me. Many people could probably say the same too though. That’s why this ELIZA program took off so well because there was that connection to technology, and partly a human being all at the same time.

-Alexandra O'Brien

My Memory

"As people grew accustomed to writing down their thoughts and reading the thoughts others had written down, they became less dependent on the contents of their own memory" (Carr 177).

When I was in elementary and middle school, I was taught how tot write a paragraph. My teachers always told me that it should be a certain length, have a body, closing, and to make sure to have a catchy first sentence. The teachers said "catchy", not something that would insult the reader. This is the first sentence of one of Carr's chapters, one of which I clearly am opposed to.

Yes, I do agree that we write thing down, whether it be on paper or a computer, to remember them, but that's it. Remember v. 1 keep in the memory; not forget. 2 bring back into one's thought. Our brains are so busy and contain so much information that we are bound to forget certain things.

Just because we need to be reminded of things sometimes, does not mean that our brains are completely useless. The reason we remember things is because it is in our brain somewhere and our reminder sparked it's existence. When we write things down, it clearly comes from somewhere. If anything, writing things down helps to increase our memory.

For example: When studying for a test, just looking over something it makes it difficult to remember things. When we write them down, we are drilling in into our brains to help hold onto the information. Our memories will be just fine as long as we have a couple reminders along the way. Writing things down only increases our need to remember things, therefore I disagree witht the quote at the beginning of the entry.

~ Nicole VanKuilenburg

Human Machines

Towards the end of the book Carr discusses what he feels makes us human. He states, “What makes us most human, …the connections between our mind and our body, the experiences that shape our memory and our thinking, our capacity for emotion and empathy. The great danger we face as we become more intimately involved with out computers…is that we’ll begin to lost our humanness, to sacrifice the very qualities that separate us from machines” (207). He voices his concern that the use of technology will deteriorate our higher order thinking. Our ability to think and reason is what separates from other animals. Carr feels as though the only difference we have from machines is that we have the ability think on our own and feel. He suggests that the more we rely on our computers and technology the greater risk we are at for becoming machines as well.

I can see where Carr is coming from because computers are mindless and information is fed to us. If we rely on them so heavily there is no need to think for ourselves. If we relied on them heavily enough and long enough we may lose our abilities to think for ourselves.

 This being said I do not agree with Carr. I think it would take much more than a reliance on technology to lose our humanness. Humans have the ability to reason, control their actions, feel emotions and many other unique traits. While technology can be addicting it is absurd to think that we won’t be able to think for ourselves and lose the traits that make us humans.

While machines have the ability to work faster than humans and retrieve information faster than anything else, it would be ridiculous to think that humans will ever stoop to the level of machines. Just because humans use machines in their everyday life it does not mean that we couldn’t live without them. While we rely on technology we could adapt and survive without it if we had to.

Carr is also saying that by using computers we are not shaping our memory and thinking. I disagree with this. The Internet is a valuable source that holds more information than anyone can fathom. If used for its benefits almost anything can be learned if there is a desire to learn it. When we use a computer we are forming memories. Just because we are communicating in a different way than previous generations it does not mean that we are any less capable than previous generations.

It is also ridiculous to think that using machinery will disrupt our emotions. While it may have an affect on how deeply we feel humans still have the ability to feel and relate to others. The Internet and social networking just make staying in contact easier. If anything the Internet has helped many couples stay together. Through the use of Skype and social networking site many couples that are separated due to military constraints have been able to stay in their relationships. Unless the frontal cortex of our brain was removed we will still be able to empathize and sympathize with other human beings.

-Nikki Gaspari

The Numbing Effect

In the tenth chapter of Carr’s book he describes the “numbing effect” (210) that technology has on human beings. He feels as though “the toll can be particularly high with our intellectual technologies. The tools of the human mind amplify and in turn numb the most intimate, the most human of our natural capacities- those for reason, perception, memory, emotion” (211). Carr is trying to say that the more technology we use limits our innate abilities to reason, perceive, remember and feel. He is trying to convey that the more we use technology the less we practice the skills that make us human.

I would have to agree with Carr. The creation of the Internet and cell phones has also interrupted our ability to reason. Instead of thinking a problem through or asking friends for advice many teens will consult the Internet for answers. Cell phones have interrupted our ability to reason because we often say things without thinking before sending them. Many people find that if they fight through texting the fight becomes even worse because they say things that they didn’t mean to say.

I feel as though technology affects our memories in a negative way because we no longer have to rely on ourselves to remember appointments or important dates. The majority of the people in the world have a cell phone and in cell phones there are alarms and calendars. When an appointment is made people immediately save it to the calendar on their phones or set an alarm as a reminder. This limits inhibits our memory because we no longer have to rely on ourselves but trust that our phones won’t malfunction and will keep track of our appointments and important dates for us.

Our perception is also changed by technology. Before there were clocks our bodies we accustomed to waking up when the sun came and going to bed when it went down. When we were hungry we would eat and when we weren’t we wouldn’t. With the invention of the clock we are expected to be on time almost anywhere we go. When it is time for dinner we eat regardless of if we’re actually hungry or not. This changes our perception because there is no one actually demanding that we have to do everything in such a structured manner except for society.

Our emotions are also effected by our current technology. Since everything in our culture is instantaneous we often get aggravated when things take a little bit longer than expected. Many people get aggravated when they send a text and do not get an immediate reply. What many people do not take into account is the fact that our ancestors had to wait days and sometimes even weeks to get a reply in a letter. Technology can also lead to regret. Behind a computer screen or cell phone, people say things that they normally wouldn’t. If such messages and information get in the hands of the wrong people it can be detrimental to the sender.

I don’t think that we shouldn’t use technology-it’s there for a reason. I think that we should monitor our use of technology to ensure we don’t lost ourselves in it’s power.

 -Nikki Gaspari

Owning a New Device

With the rapid growth of technology comes an even greater growth of want. The want is to have the latest and greatest device, whatever that may be. Nicolas Carr states that he “recently broke down and bought a Blu-ray player with a built-in Wi-Fi connection. It lets me stream music from Pandora, movies from NetFlix, and videos from YouTube through my television and stereo. I have to confess; it’s cool. I’m not sure I could live without it” (pg. 200). Carr is right; these new devices are cool. However, even Carr would agree that with these new devices follow greater distractions.

Carr mentioned that he purchased his Blu-ray player while he was writing The Shallows, and he purchased it while he was in the final stages of writing it. He said that he was “already backsliding” (pg. 200). I agree with how Carr was feeling while wrapping up The Shallows. If I purchase a new technological device, such as a gaming system or a new laptop, I feel as if that takes over my life for much longer than I initially intended it would.

The question I have regarding this matter is why does this occur? I’ve own a home computer for about five years, and even though it wasn’t my own personal computer (it was a family one) it still has the same functions as any laptop would. However, last Christmas when I got my first laptop of my own, all I could do was play around on it. I had the same access to the same websites and tools on my home computer than I did my laptop, but that seemed to not matter one bit. All I wanted to do was play around on my new device. Homework really didn’t matter; I could just push it off until later. Dinner? ‘After I’m finished with my game, mom’! This new device was running my life, as much as I hated to admit it. I think Carr would be one of the first to agree with how I was feeling.

Even to this day I still have the urge to go onto my laptop daily and browse around on the World Wide Web aimlessly. Doing this blog post alone took me about thirty minutes of procrastinating just to open up Microsoft Word. I feel that this occurs because of two reasons; these new devices present new experiences for us that are more interesting than work that we are forced to do. No one has told me to roam the internet for hours at a time; it’s my own personal decision to do that. When someone assigns a paper or an exam for the following day, it is human nature to experience nerves and uncertainty, which leads to procrastination. This leads to procrastination because we do not want to become overwhelmed with stress as a result of these assignments, so these new devices present a mental distraction from our every day lives. In Carr’s case, his stress may have been finishing his novel. Everyone, even professional writers, experiences this pressure and stress when it comes to having to accomplish an assignment. 

- Dylan Chisholm

Books: Print or Electric

All throughout The Shallows, Carr keeps making a point to bring up books in printed form and books in electronic form. According to Carr, we are slowly getting rid of printed copies of books, and will soon only have the electronic versions. Even though I hate to admit it, I agree with Carr. I think that the recent generations, including my own, are taking advantage of the electronics that we have. However, I also think that people, like Carr, are being a bit judgmental about these generations. I personally love books; love the feel, love the scent of them when they’re brand new, love turning the pages, and love the fact that I can read it anywhere. Also, if I were to spill water or food on my book, I would just have to wait for it to dry, or remove the crumbs and I can continue reading normally. I know it seems silly, but those are the things that make me love books even more. With e-readers, like the Kindle or Nook, you don’t get the satisfaction of opening a book for the first time and smelling the new paper, or feeling the different types of pages, or physically turning the pages. Also, if you were to spill water on your Kindle, then it’s very likely that you will need to buy a new one, or send it to a repair shop to get fixed. Kindles are not water friendly. Also, if the battery dies, you have to wait to finish reading or be attached to a wall while you read. With a book, you can bring it anywhere and it’s very unlikely that it will get damaged worse than a page tearing.

            There are benefits to having an e-reader, like saving paper, money on the production of the books, and on buying the books in general, and being able to read in the dark without using a miniature reading light. There are also disadvantages of using books over an e-reader, like the weight of carrying a book around over the slim e-reader, or if you rip a page, and all the money that you spend on books over the cheaper price for the book on an e-reader. Also, searching on an e-reader for a specific point in the book is much easier than looking through an actual book, unless you mark every important or favorite part with a sticky note (which I have done before).

            Overall, yes I do think that books are becoming old fashioned. But I also think that there are plenty of bookworms out there that will prefer using the actual source rather than an electronic version. I know that I am one of those people. I get much more enjoyment and a more fulfilling experience over reading an actual book rather than an e-reader. And I’m going to try and stay away from the e-readers as long as I can. As long as there are books being printed, I will buy them.

~Liz Langelier