Nicholas Carr’s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_G._Carr) contention is that the internet is rewiring our brains to negative effect. He is not merely talking about ‘dumbing down’. What he posits is more significant: that human culture has been built steadily over our literate history by deep and meditative reading, and the internet threatens to undo this process. Millions of people are becoming ‘pond skaters’, gliding on the surface of an incomprehensibly vast lake of ‘information’ but lacking any depth of understanding or grasp of underlying principles. Attention spans have been reduced to a matter of seconds and school pupils can’t tell you whether the Second World War came before or after the Napoleonic Wars. Oh! dear, Oh dear! Enjoy being a Jeremiah for the length of time it takes to read (what’s that?) this stimulating assessment.
384 pages in Atlantic Books paperback edition.
ISBN 978-1848872271