Nicholas Carr The Shallows Analysis

In his article “The Shallows”, Nicholas G. Carr explains to his readers how reading & writing came to be, it 's effects on the brain, and what both Plato and Socrates thought about the subjects.

Do you feel like over the years you have become less connected to friends, loved ones, and even yourself ? Well in the book The Shallows the author, Nicholas Carr, believes this is a real problem and it is being caused by the internet, he believes we are becoming somewhat shallow minded individuals. He feels as if something has been tinkering with his brain, making it much harder for him to concentrate, engage, and understand difficult texts and complex ideas. Nicholas Carr blames this on technology, more specifically the internet. I agree with Nicholas Carr in his argument, I believe the internet specifically has had a major impact on individuals, like myself, causing us to lose connections with the people around us and have a harder

Books also had social consequences. The ideas of nature and education had changed. Books suggested more private reading while universities and cities began to think of libraries as more important. While the printing press made books available for almost everyone, the public’s aspiration for literacy skyrocketed. But with easier access to printing, this led to more propaganda, gutter journalism, and quack theories to longing buyers. Books had become the center change for humanity. As books became the primary means of exchanging knowledge and

Carr starts at his paper in a first point of view. He expresses his feelings that the internet is changing his own personal thinking. This man is an author, he's born to read and even he says that he's having problems because he can no longer read anymore. Carr says that “the web has been a godsend” (Carr), but he also explained it's not only a

Birkerts provides three effects that will occur as a result of moving away from the printed word to the electronic media. The first effect is the language erosion. He explains the reader that transition from books will lead to the “complexity and distinctiveness of verbal and written communication, which are deeply bound to transaction of print literacy, will gradually be replaced by a more telegraphic sort of plainspeak” (9). In the future our language will start to become more simple and dumb. Whereas, by reading books and printed materials people are able to dig more depth and understand and imagine the contents. But, soon this will start to disappear as people will no longer be able to understand the complex language of the literature and intelligence level of people will start to decrease. The second effect of electronic media is the flattening of historical perspectives. This means that due to the electronic media the history will start to recede because the “printed page itself is a link” and when this link is broken the past will gradually diminish (10). Birkerts explains the audience that the past is best represented in the books and libraries. Therefore, moving away from the printed word means moving away from the past and its history. The last effect is the waning of the private self. Birkerts worries that in the future people will forget how to live because of the electronic

In the 1600s, critics saw the increased production of books as a threat to society, because they feared that people would not be able to keep up and process the information at the same rate as it became available. Others feared that new books would outshine the classics, and as a result the society would plunge into a primitive state with masses of uncultured people. Ann Blair offers quite the opposite perspective in her article titled “Reading Strategies for Coping with Information Overload ca. 1550–1700,” where she demonstrates that the plethora of books, rather than numbing the minds, in reality cultivated new learning methods while making reading a more personal and intellectually stimulating experience.

The next point, neuroplasticity, receives its own chapter in “The Shallows;” I think this was an unnecessary choice on Carr’s part. I have been repeatedly taught that the brain is plastic. I have never once questioned it being anything else. The need he felt to go in such depth with the topic is what makes me think this book’s ideas are outdated. What he took twenty pages to explain could have been summarized in two. Also, he uses the concept to create an incredibly dark picture of the world. The idea that we can be changed unwillingly is not a kind one; it takes away choice. He makes it seem like we do not choose to pick up our cell phones, but are forced to by our own, hungry brains. Even while writing this essay, I have my phone next to me. It is not because I need it, but because someone could need me, or I may just want a break. As long as people are still getting their responsibilities done, there is no harm in a little technology.

In Carr’s description of the Internet, he explains why it is affecting humans. He leaves the technology as a virus that absorbs our commands, injects information into us, and then scatters and spreads our concentration. However, before labeling the Internet as a human made pest that has gone wild, Carr makes one last appeal to ethos by stating possible benefits of this rapidly capable means of statement as well as his own faults of being a worrywart.

This book also describes Montag’s inner conflict with himself, how our society would drastically change without information provided in books, and the difference in technology we would face in the future. In the end this book teaches us how important it is to keep books around until the end on time so we don’t repeat the past or keep our people as smart as they can be because books impact our lives every single

Draw Conclusions: What does Carr suggest about the effect the Internet is having on us? What evidence from the text supports your conclusion?

Today, no one seems to give much value of literary works or reading. Not because it doesn’t give anything beneficiary, but because not everyone had the urged to at least finish a book. We now live in a world where social medias almost dominates our daily activities. It’s unlikely to have a place for us to consume a non-fiction or fiction book. As absurd as it sounds but that’s how people often think. We now live in an egalitarian society, where everyone is given the freedom and right of its own.

Carr stated, “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of worlds. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.” Carr gets quotes from authorities who have the same view as him, as evidence to support his argument. For example, the author mentions a blogger, Bruce Friedman, who explains, “I now have almost totally lost the ability to read and absorb a longish article on the web or print. Even a blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it.” The author also mentions other prominent sources such as Scott Karp, Maryanne Wolf, and even scientists like James Olds and Joseph Weizenbaum. The author’s credible sources all share his view on the argument, which makes his point more convincing. Carr describes how technology, such as the clock and the typewriter, has had an effect on the mind. Friedrich Nietzsche bought a typewriter when he was having trouble with his writing. Using the typewriter made “his already terse prose even tighter, more telegraphic.”

People also found the books to be impractical and useless. Most people also found it as a non-fun activity looking and searching for the right book for them. As well for those who did find interest in reading and exploring books, it became tough for them. Due to publishers only printing a specified number of books and then hoping to sell as many as they could for the year, and then do it again next year. At the start of a new era, the Pulp Era the book got an upgrade and began to fly off the shelves as the pocket book came out.

During the development of technology, most people have shifted to use electronic books to read both academic and non-academic texts. However, despite the technological changes, there has been a wide debate about the benefits of paper books over the e-books. It is important to understand that various reasons are suggesting why people should shift back to using the traditional books rather than the electronic ones. Even though some think that e-books are better that traditional ones, I believe that readers should return to traditional books because of various reasons.

Books, a source of entertainment, education and interest, have been around for hundreds if not thousands of years. Books are widely used at schools, in the workplace and at home, but the recent information age has the taken the world by storm, with the introduction of tablets, e-books and kindles which all provide a convenient use of ‘books’. People’s change in lifestyle and tastes comes with a craze over technology, which begs the question that; are hard copy books that are sold in high street retailers at risk of being extinguished by online resources of books? Or will the long-standing book hold too much sentimental and historical value? This report aims to identify and discuss upon whether High Street retailers and online