In the book The Shallows, Nicholas Carr's main argument is how the internet is changing us and the way we think. This chapter goes even deeper into that discussion. Carr believes the net is quite possibly the most mind-altering technology since the book. While stating that what we do online has neurological consequences, he also suggests what we're not doing online has equal consequences. "The brain recycles the disused neurons and synapses for other, more pressing work. We gain new skills and perspectives but lose old ones" (Carr, 120). I partially agree with him here. I do believe our minds can only store so much information and eventually we begin to forget particular facts or skills and eventually have to relearn them. For example I wouldn't be able to remember most of the answers to a biology test I took in high school; however skills that require more of a muscle memory such as riding a bike or ice skating, I will always remember how to do. The majority of the skills that we do not use on a daily basis will eventually be forgotten or "recycled" to make room for new ones.
-Leah A
I think both Carr and you have a good point here. If we instead take up space in our memories to do pointless things on the internet, we may forget more important things that we learned in our past.
ReplyDelete-Jill Zalewski