Reading and Discussiion Guide: The Shallows by Nicholas Carr

Chapter	Main Topics
One: Hal and Me	2008 – Research and consulting firm nGenera released study: For people who have grown up using the web, the “digital immersion has even affected the way they absorb information” (p. 9). They don’t follow traditional right to left, top to bottom pattern; instead, they jump around. Carr himself reported loss of ability to pay attention. Also, constant desire to get new information from the Net.  He “always wanted to be connected.”  (p. 16)
Two: The Vital Paths	Michael Merzenich – 1968 – First to discover brain’s plasticity in monkeys. Hebb’s rule – cells that fire together wire together. Brain constantly in a state of change; adapts to the smallest changes in circumstances, behavior, & thinking. Once new pathways are formed, they want to stay; thus, habits, addictions, mental symptoms. Use it or lose it. Survival of the busiest.
Three: Tools of the Mind	Four  outcomes of technology: 1.  extend our physical strength (plow, fighter jet) 2.  extend our senses (microscope, Geiger counter) 3.  reshape nature (birth control) 4.  extend mental powers (map, clock, computers) Two views of technology’s role; both supporting “technological advances mark turning points in history": 1.  determinism – is outside of man’s control, eventually will make man dispensable. 2.  instrumentalists – man uses technology to achieve what he wants. Speaking and understanding verbal words is innate. Reading and writing are learned skills – they require shaping of the brain.
Four: The Deepening Page	Reading – there are particular regions of brain devoted to deciphering of text. This becomes automatic.  Then, able to focus on meaning. Readers’ brains become able to ignore distractions and sustain attention. Many report a change in consciousness when “immersed” in a book.
Five: A Medium of the Most General Nature	2009 – Time people spent online increased rapidly, but no decrease in time spent watching television.  Decrease in time spent reading. “We don’t see the forest when we search the web. We don’t even see the trees. We see twigs and leaves” (p. 91). People using Internet more and other media less (music CDs, movie DVDs, newspapers).
Six: The Very Image of a Book	Benefits of books over digital readers: Easier to read paper than pixels Less eye fatigue Navigating book easier, turning pages Able to add notes When done, put on book shelf or give to a friend Advantages of digital reader: Clarity almost as good as printed page Can now use in direct sun New technologies reduces eye strain Easier to flip page, bookmark, highlight, annotate Font size can be changed Can hold hundreds of books Can get a book almost immediately
Seven: The Juggler’s Brain	Surfing the web “promotes cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking, and superficial learning” (p. 116). It is multi-sensory: hands and fingers, visual, auditory. We don’t really “read” when browsing the web. Our eyes mostly scan the screen. Constant source of new information overloads the working memory. Readers of “linear texts comprehend more, remember more and learn more than those who read text peppered with links” (p. 127). Brain activity: Reading – language, memory, visual processing, brains more calm in experienced readers. Surfing the Web – decision-making, problem solving, helps keep minds sharp. Strengthens lower-level cognitive skills: hand-eye coordination, reflex response, processing visual cues, fast-paced problem solving.
Eight: The Church of Google	Larry Page and Sergey Buin – founders of Google. They see information as a commodity with the goal to access and process as much information as possible as quickly as possible. Carr – need both “efficient data collection and inefficient contemplation”(p. 168). We live in a time of “information overload” (p. 170).
Nine: Search, Memory	Computer’s memory:  limited space, information immediately saved as entered, never changes. Human long-term memory: no limit, continues to process information after received, constant state of renewal.
Ten: A Thing Like Me	ELIZA – Computer program that can carry on conversation playing off what human responded.  Developed by Joseph Weizenbaum. Alan Turing – Turing Test – can a person distinguish between a computer and a human respondent? John Culkin, 1967 – “We shape our tools and thereafter they shape us” (p. 210). Christof van Nimwegen, 2003 – Experiment involving problem solving with and without help of computer.  Those without help solved problems quicker and more efficiently. Also, group without help solved similar problems quicker and more efficiently 8 months later.

For Discussion:

1.   In Chapter 10, Culkin states that we are shaped by the tools we create. How have humans changed due to new technologies?  What are the positives and negatives?

2.   This book focused on the downside of brain changes due to computers, what are the positives?

3.   Have you experienced any of the following described by the author:

          *        Loss of ability to pay attention and focus?

          *        Desire to constantly be connected?

          *        Being “lost” in a book – a calmness of the brain when reading?

4.   Where should research go next?