Side effects of the internet

Nicholas Carr, the author of the book "The Shallows", points out many negative effects the internet has had on us. Such as lack of memory, difficulty reading mass amounts of text, and a shortened attention span. It is ironic considering he is writing about how we don't have enough attention to read a book in his 200 some odd page novel. In the process of writing his book he moved from a suburb in Boston to the mountains of Colorado. He disconnected him self from everything. Disabled his blog, cancelled his facebook and twitter, and cut back of instant messaging and skyping. In a matter of time his writing changed from random out bursts of thoughts to being able to write for a long period. Carr observes, "Although even the initial users of the technology can often sense the changes in their patterns of attention, cognition, and memory as their brains adapt to the new medium, the most profound shifts play out more slowly, over several generations"(199). Even after he altered his life style he has gone back to the technology he was accustomed to, admitting he's not sure if he could live with out it. 

This book has really shown me how much the internet and technology has changed the way we do things and think considering it has taken me about an hour and a half to write this blog because in the mean time I've checked facebook about 6 times played a game or two of tetris and watched Chelsea Lately. There has also been a few times when I didn't have access to a computer or phone and when I didn't have it, it was really nice because I didn't have to talk to people but once I got back I was sucked right back into using it religiously which shows how addictive technology can be.