Hi readers, Bearkat here, I apologize for the almost two month delay in submitting any thoughts about The Shallows but here are some quotes and points that stood out to me.
111 – Clay Shriky, a digital media scholar at New York University, suggested in a 2008 blog post that we shouldn’t waste our time morning the death of deep reading – it was overated all along”
178 – Umberto Eco: our fear of new things replacing old.
181 – Don Tapscott memorization is a “waste of time”.
217 – James Evans: journal research study – less diverse citations in articles as journals have moved online.
218 – “The easy way may not always be the best way, but the easy way is the way our computers and search engines encourage us to take.” (when using Google, Netflix, Facebook, etc.) We are “following a script”
And some questions:
* Do you agree with Clay Shirky that we shouldn’t waste our time morning the death of deep reading (p. 111), and/or Don Tapscott’s opinion that with the storehouse of computer databases and the Web that memorization is a “waste of time” (p. 181)? What are we forsaking by relying too much on the Web as a memory tool? All of us probably use it as a memory aid but should we stop memorizing things altogether?
* In chapter 9 Carr seems to imply that Google is the main constructor of how we use the Web. Is this true? If so, what are the implications? If is true will be so in 5 years?
Background
Here is the discussion of some of the previous chapters of the book:
Chapter 3
http://lisnews.org/shallows_chapter_3
Chapter 2
http://www.lisnews.org/shallows_chapter_2
Chapter 1
http://www.lisnews.com/book_discussion_shallows_chapter_1
Introduction to discussion
http://www.lisnews.org/shallows_what_internet_doing_our_brains
memorization
There is a good discussion of memorization and how experts versus amateurs work in the book _Why Don’t Students Like School_ by Daniel Willingham. To sum up, having things memorized is important because of how our brains work, and allows us to maximize our short-term memory potential.
Mourning, not morning
I am forever mourning the death of proper spelling.
Typo
Thanks for pointing out a typo. Ever think bout get out of you’re momsss basement??
It’s not a typo when it
It’s not a typo when it occurs twice. It’s a misuse of a word.
And it’s your (the possessive), not you’re (“you are”)
Reread
Reread the sentence that I had previously posted — Ever think bout get out of you’re momsss basement??
You are going to comment on the word you’re?? How about “momsss” and the phrase “ever think bout get out”??????
Are you truly so slow that you do not see that those errors were put in their intentionally as a “fcuk you spelnilg nzai.”
Watch this
Watch this Grammerrr Nazi: http://youtu.be/N4vf8N6GpdM