A fascinating and thought provoking review of this equally interesting book, thanks David.
I read books on Kindle because I enjoy reading in bed at night, but it's awkward to read with spectacles on in bed. Easy with larger font size you can set on Kindle (I assume the same on any "E-book".)
I'm not on Facebook, TikTok, X or any other social media. I'm not welded to my cellphone and don't cary it around with me. I'm aware that as a consequence of these choices there are some things I do miss out on knowing, but I also don't have FOMO (fear of missing out) and the dominance I see this holding over friends and family. The genie is well and truly out of the bottle and I fear for the collective future of the minds of the coming generations. Perhaps this makes me a luddite, but I just wish that we, as a culture, had put the brakes on a bit to give us time to learn discrimination about how to use and apply new technologies.
No Aroha - not a Luddite because you dont want to break the machines but as your post demonstrates you are prepared to use them for limited purposes. The choice is yours. Problem is that digital techs have sort of snuck up on us - some of us understood the way things were going which is why I taught Law and IT back in the day.
But the real problem is that Nick Carr for whatever reasons identifies the problem but not the solution. Should that solution be a regulatory one - stuff the Djinni back in the bottle. - or recognize like any technology there are good uses and bad uses (nuclear provides a stark example). I agree that there should be better education in technology use. I am concerned for the young who, worshipping at the altar of iPhone are going to have serious curvature of the spine or slumped shoulder problems in later life and also lack situational awareness - missing the joy of the world around them as they go through their day.
A good start on solutions would be to stop using devices etc for education PDQ. When it started I was lecturing (c1980) and we embraced the idea of computor-based self-motivated learning programmes with enthusiasm, but now we know much more about learning patterns and the effects of so much screen time on developing brains I think we were premature. I've been listening to Professor Robert Epstein on search engine manipulation on the internet and that is truly terrifying. So I think it's rather bigger than internet negativism or techno-pessimism.
Ironic thar a. Books are being wrutten about books not beibg read and b. That you wrote a long article online about the paradigm shift to internet as a repository of ideas via the immediacy of technology at hand.
A fascinating and thought provoking review of this equally interesting book, thanks David.
I read books on Kindle because I enjoy reading in bed at night, but it's awkward to read with spectacles on in bed. Easy with larger font size you can set on Kindle (I assume the same on any "E-book".)
I'm not on Facebook, TikTok, X or any other social media. I'm not welded to my cellphone and don't cary it around with me. I'm aware that as a consequence of these choices there are some things I do miss out on knowing, but I also don't have FOMO (fear of missing out) and the dominance I see this holding over friends and family. The genie is well and truly out of the bottle and I fear for the collective future of the minds of the coming generations. Perhaps this makes me a luddite, but I just wish that we, as a culture, had put the brakes on a bit to give us time to learn discrimination about how to use and apply new technologies.
No Aroha - not a Luddite because you dont want to break the machines but as your post demonstrates you are prepared to use them for limited purposes. The choice is yours. Problem is that digital techs have sort of snuck up on us - some of us understood the way things were going which is why I taught Law and IT back in the day.
But the real problem is that Nick Carr for whatever reasons identifies the problem but not the solution. Should that solution be a regulatory one - stuff the Djinni back in the bottle. - or recognize like any technology there are good uses and bad uses (nuclear provides a stark example). I agree that there should be better education in technology use. I am concerned for the young who, worshipping at the altar of iPhone are going to have serious curvature of the spine or slumped shoulder problems in later life and also lack situational awareness - missing the joy of the world around them as they go through their day.
A good start on solutions would be to stop using devices etc for education PDQ. When it started I was lecturing (c1980) and we embraced the idea of computor-based self-motivated learning programmes with enthusiasm, but now we know much more about learning patterns and the effects of so much screen time on developing brains I think we were premature. I've been listening to Professor Robert Epstein on search engine manipulation on the internet and that is truly terrifying. So I think it's rather bigger than internet negativism or techno-pessimism.
Ironic thar a. Books are being wrutten about books not beibg read and b. That you wrote a long article online about the paradigm shift to internet as a repository of ideas via the immediacy of technology at hand.