Rosi

I kind of agree with the following... to some degree.

(Reuters) - When author Nicholas Carr began researching his book on whether the Internet is ruining our minds, he restricted his online access and e-mail and turned off his Twitter and Facebook accounts.

His new book "The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains" argues the latest technology renders us less capable of deep thinking. Carr found himself so distracted that he couldn't work on the book while staying as connected, as is commonplace.

"I found my inability to concentrate a great disability," Carr told Reuters in an interview.

"So, I abandoned my Facebook and Twitter accounts and throttled back on e-mail so I was only checking a couple of times a day rather than every 45 seconds. I found those types of things really did make a difference," he said.

After initially feeling "befuddled" by his sudden lack of online connection, Carr said, within a couple of weeks he was able to stay focused on one task for a sustained period and, thankfully, able to do his work.

(Full story here -- http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6523DV20100603)

P.S. Wasn't sure where to post this, didn't seem appropriate for the Current Events section. I think there is very much a philosophical aspect to the topic which is why I chose this place for it.

corrocamino

Historum invites, but doesn't always elicit, deep thinking. I've never thought deeply about Twitter or Facebook.

Kyle

That's an interesting article. However, I don't think the internet is ruining our minds, it's just causing a distraction, just as television and video games did in the past. If you spend half of your day on social networking sites (which sadly, some people do) than it's going to have a negative effect. However, if you restrain yourself and only visit those sites moderately, than you will be more productive.

corrocamino

TV and video games have hardly been relegated to the past -- the Internet has been added to that.

Toltec

Are our minds ruining the internet...........?

It use to be a great place years ago, before too many people started meddling with it.

Sargon of Akkad

I think this is entirely his problem.

Pedro

I would venture that Mr. Carr's problem is not the internet but auto motivation.

corrocamino

I remember the adumbration of the Web presented as a TV spot with a pretty little girl with English accent standing at a seashore, informing us that what was coming would be "the information super-highway". I didn't realize what was meant. But I do now.

The Web is indeed an information super-highway. Unfortunately, it's also the mis- and disinformation super-highway, and endless commercialism.

I love occasionally to Google such phrases as "earwig penises", to find that they're available on eBay, and from any number of retailers, at bargain prices no less!

diddyriddick

The internet is no different than any other kind of media....It can be as positive, or as negative as you want to make it. If people stop using it for the baser things, then those things won't be offered.

For me personally, there is stuff available to me online that I just can't get elsewhere. Living in cosmopolitan Hamlet, NC, my personal library has more books with more depth than the public library; and the local community college library isn't much better. As an example, I've recently found original source material online that I would not have had access to as recent as 10 years ago short of traveling to a major university.

So to those like the author referenced in the OP....If you don't like the content-Read something else....If you don't like what it does to your lifestyle-Modify your behavior.

But, please. Stop blaming the internet.

Rosi

I don't think internet is ruining our minds per se but it definitely isn't a place for people with little or no self-control, or for those with a discipline problem.

It is a great place to read up on stuff, to communicate with interesting minds, etc. But it is also very easy to abuse it, and I think the mania surrounding the social networking sites is a symptom of that problem.

I agree with the author that it helps to take a break from the internet every now and then. I do that at least twice a week when I don't even check my email (don't have a job at the moment so I can afford that). I do have a facebook account but I only visit it once or twice a month. I want to deactivate it but my friends suggest I should leave it be for some time (their reasoning is weird).

And I also agree with the author that the internet dissipates your energy, scatters your attention in a number of different directions rather than focus it on a particular thing. The problem obviously is that many of us don't know how to use the internet for our maximum benefit. So of course the problem lies at our end.