Memory
by Theresa Pallotta

      In Chapter 9 of the Shallows, Carr states that "the web provides a convenient and compelling supplement to personal memory, but when we start using the Web as a substitute for personal memory, bypassing the inner processes of consolidation, we risk emptying our minds of their riches." I guess it is true that people have started to store their memories in forms of pictures and memories on websites such as Facebook or Tumblr, and some people's Twitter account's read almost like a journal, but I don't believe that this lessens our personal memories or erases our old memories. I don't understand why Carr is so convinced that each time we use the Internet, our brain deteriorates cell by cell. I think that each memory we experience and decide to share through the Internet, is only enforced by this sharing, not destroyed.
      When people decide to share memories on the Internet it is usually because they enjoyed their experience or because it is with people that they are close with and do not want to forget. A memory shared online is stored forever and therefore can never be forgotten. Memories saved online can be revisited whenever one choses to do so and therefore can be relived whenever one wants them to. So why does Carr say this storing of memories online destroys our current memories?
        I believe that Carr is so convinced that the Internet is evil that he can't see it for any of the good that it does. I understand that obviously the Internet does affect the way that we think and process memories because it provides such speed so everything is available with the touch of a button, but I don't think that change is necessarily a bad thing. He admits that books were considered a huge change in the thinking process when they were first invented and that authors changed the way they wrote to fit books, but books didn't destroy our brains, so why is this new change of using the Internet considered such a horrible thing?