The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains

Author: Nicholas Carr

Rating: ⭐ 4/5

Date Read: 2013/04/23

Pages: 276

The internet is a jumble of information: as I type this, I have two different email inboxes open in different tabs, another tab open to a blog post, instant messaging windows chiming, and text-messages being sent to my computer through Apple’s iMessages systems (I forgot it was called iMessages, so I also had to open google and look that up). In short, my computer screen effectively works as a purveyor of distraction; in The Shallows, Nicolas Carr argues that the internet impacts my brain outside the pleasantly-blunted edges of my MacBook Pro (and my iPhone. And iPad. And, come to think of it, my Apple TV).

In making his argument, Carr first examines the history of information technology, starting with scrolls, wax-tablets, and my beloved codex. He shows that the type of “deep-reading” afforded by books is an anomaly in our history, although one with a myriad of benefits. This history covers everything from Guttenberg to artificial intelligence to Google, and is the best part of the book.

Carr also examines the scientific literature on multi-tasking (something people simply cannot do well), memory, and cognitive load. He argues that the internet puts more demands on executive function, leading to poorer storage and retrieval of information. This is supposed to affect our brains through neuroplasticity (changes in brain structure due to particular inputs), although he doesn’t cite much evidence specific to internet use and reading. Carr’s understanding of the scientific literature is fairly shallow, but not necessarily incorrect. If I were to grade his work in an introductory course on cognitive psychology, I’d have to mark him down for lack of precision.

One minor pet-peeve: Carr uses the term “the Net” to refer to the internet, which feels as out-of-touch as saying “the world wide web” or “the information superhighway.” I’m guessing this was an editing decision, but it still bothers me.