Hunters and Gatherers

            In chapter seven of the book The Shallows, author Nicholas Carr spends a lot of time talking about how we process information. He explains that times have drastically changed over the past decade or two. People are going from using books to gain knowledge to using the internet. However, Carr points out that this change comes with its benefits and with its consequences. 

           Carr writes, “We are evolving from being cultivators of personal knowledge to being hunters and gatherers in the electronic data forest” in chapter sever. I believe that this quote does a decent job of summarizing the chapter, and Carr’s overall point. He demonstrates how we are changing our ways of life (when it comes to the world of gaining knowledge at least) when he mentions that we are becoming “hunters and gatherers” instead of being “cultivators”.  Throughout the chapter he makes it clear that he believes the internet encourages “curiosity reading”. By curiosity reading, Carr means that we are hurried or distracted from the material we are attempting to absorb. 

            The internet provides us with endless information, and sadly not all of the information out there is scholarly, or factual. Some information is potentially useless. While online, it can be hard to avoid getting caught up in all of the different kinds of information. Different links that catch the attention of online readers can lead them on an information goose chase, until they are able to find something that they needed. Also, the links can be completely off topic and can be a huge distraction when somebody is trying to get work done. I know that I am sometimes a victim to those kinds of distractions. Being taken off course and distracted interrupts our though processes and abilities to retain important or needed information. Although I know this to be true for me while using the internet, I also know it to be true while reading books. I believe it all depends of one’s ability to stay focused on their work. I know that I subconsciously distract myself in order to postpone getting my work done. I do this both with the internet and with books.

           Carr uses a great example in this chapter about filling a tub full of water only with a thimble. Transferring water from a faucet to a tub with just a thimble is just like transferring information from our working memories to our long term. He relates reading a book with a steady, constant drip of knowledge. However, using the internet is like a faucet being turned on all the way. When the thimble overflows we lose some information and can only retain bits and pieces. The flow exceeds our mind’s ability to encode and retain information, thus not being able to store it in our long term memories.  The burden of having to wait for the connections while reading a book can actually help us to keep the information. Even though the internet gives us information faster, it may not be the most efficient way to learn and gain knowledge. The internet is not a bad guy. It offers us so many different opportunities to learn and gain knowledge. We just have to learn and adapt to its distractions rather than conform to them.

         - Kaitlin MacKinnon