Does the Internet Make You Dumber?

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Does the Internet Make You Dumber?

Wall Street Journal by Nicholas Carr | Jun. 5, 2010 (Opinion)

The Roman philosopher Seneca may have put it best 2,000 years ago: "To be everywhere is to be nowhere." Today, the Internet grants us easy access to unprecedented amounts of information. But a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that the Net, with its constant distractions and interruptions, is also turning us into scattered and superficial thinkers.

The picture emerging from the research is deeply troubling, at least to anyone who values ... Full Story »

Posted by Fabrice Florin - via Wall Street Journal (Most Emailed), Subramanya Sastry (f), Fabrice Florin (f), Shams Kazi (f)

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3.6

by Kaizar Campwala - Jun. 5, 2010

Essentially promotion for Carr's new book. I have concerns about the casual intermingling of scientific studies with Carr's on opinions and literary references (a trend I attribute to Malcolm Gladwell). Nevertheless, Carr's thesis is a fascinating one that should be taken seriously.

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4.0

by Fabrice Florin - Jun. 5, 2010

Interesting opinion about the psychological side effects of the Internet, from author Nick Carr (whose latest book is "The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains"). He makes a thoughtful argument that the Internet's constant distractions reduce our ability to concentrate and remember what we learn. He backs his point with extensive evidence from recent studies at Cornell, Stanford and UCSF.

Food for thought (assuming we all read the entire article ;o) Check the opposing view from Clay Shirky (see link)

Does the Internet Make You Smarter? - 5 Reviews »

Fabrice posted this story.

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3.8

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Does the Internet Make You Smarter?

Wall Street Journal by Clay Shirky | Jun. 5, 2010 (Opinion)

Digital media have made creating and disseminating text, sound, and images cheap, easy and global. The bulk of publicly available media is now created by people who understand ...

Posted by Kaizar Campwala

3.3

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The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains

Wired by Nicholas Carr | May. 24, 2010 (Special Report)

During the winter of 2007, a UCLA professor of psychiatry named Gary Small recruited six volunteers - three experienced Web surfers and three - for a study on brain activity. ...

Posted by Randy Morrow

4.0

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Overwhelmed Internet users choose to unplug — for a little while

Baltimore Sun by Gus Sentementes | May. 15, 2011 (News)

Consciously avoiding using the Web may seem impossible to many in this era of information overload. Researchers on the issue say addiction to information may be similar in ...

Posted by Gin Ferrara

3.2

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Does the Internet Make Us Smarter or Dumber? Yes.

GigaOM by Mathew Ingram | Jun. 6, 2010 (Opinion)

Is the Internet making us smarter or dumber? The Wall Street Journal put together a couple of provocative essays this weekend looking at that question: one from Nick Carr, ...

Posted by Fabrice Florin

3.7

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