So, I posted this on facebook a while back, but it is something I think about every time I sit down to study, so I thought that maybe you beautiful Innermost Parts readers might enjoy it as well.
I recently read an article by Nicholas Carr called “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, and I found it very interesting. Especially considering the amount of my friends who have complained of symptoms of ADD (some I’ll admit were joking, but I know several who have actually been taking steps to get diagnosed), I find it very fitting.
One point that stuck with me the most, was when he was talking about his difficulty reading:
Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.
I remember flying through books with relative ease when I was younger, and even just a few years ago in high school. Only recently have I stumbled upon this inability to focus and concentrate on the narratives being presented to me. Although I’m not sure I would 100% blame it on the interweb, I do find it interesting that this experience seems to be pretty common among many people I know.
Thoughts and feelings, anyone?
Funny sidenote: considering all the above, I think the length of this article kind of keeps it out of the reaches of those who might be the most interested in Mr. Carr’s perspective.