tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4494742534428178003.post4883822525546726772..comments2023-10-06T02:09:21.948-07:00Comments on brettoppegaard.com: Does the Internet make you smarter or dumber?Brett Oppegaardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15224791260490249428noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4494742534428178003.post-29240559135970949522010-07-26T07:07:03.586-07:002010-07-26T07:07:03.586-07:00"This overall debate is fraught with complexi..."This overall debate is fraught with complexities that simply can't be addressed in a combined 2,500 words, which makes the format questionable."<br /><br />Doesn't your criticism here reinforce Carr's argument? The form shapes the content. That's his argument in <i>The Shallows</i>. The Internet formats the content that eschews "complexities." It also forms our reading habits.<br /><br />You've got a good blog here. I've interacted with Carr and Shirky in two blog posts. "<a href="http://thesecondeclectic.blogspot.com/2010/06/internet-is-making-us-smarter-dumber.html" rel="nofollow">The Internet is making us</a>" and "<a href="http://thesecondeclectic.blogspot.com/2010/07/technological-optimists-and-pessimists.html" rel="nofollow">Technological Optimists and Pessimists</a>." I'd value your reactions.Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04279379658409014125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4494742534428178003.post-74119222613575410832010-06-12T10:18:01.440-07:002010-06-12T10:18:01.440-07:00As this worthwhile discussion continues in the mai...As this worthwhile discussion continues in the mainstream media, psychologist Steve Pinker (Harvard prof and author of "The Stuff of Thought," takes aim at the new media critics and their methodologies in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/opinion/11Pinker.html?emc=eta1" rel="nofollow">his editorial.</a> This piece is short and worth reading in whole, but this paragraph demonstrates the weaknesses of the "science" argument: <br /><br />"Critics of new media sometimes use science itself to press their case, citing research that shows how “experience can change the brain.” But cognitive neuroscientists roll their eyes at such talk. Yes, every time we learn a fact or skill the wiring of the brain changes; it’s not as if the information is stored in the pancreas. But the existence of neural plasticity does not mean the brain is a blob of clay pounded into shape by experience."Brett Oppegaardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15224791260490249428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4494742534428178003.post-2688656063440147722010-06-11T10:30:34.064-07:002010-06-11T10:30:34.064-07:00"Reading is an unnatural act" also struc..."Reading is an unnatural act" also struck me in this article. I'm not sure he was suggesting that our ability to read printed texts as they are formatted today evolved with the medium, but it is important to think that we evolved into print-based readers and are now de-evolving and into much different readers.Craig Baehrnoreply@blogger.com