I just finished reading The Shallows: What the Internet is doing
to our Brains by Nicholas Carr. In this book, the author argues
that while the Internet has given us a greater breadth of
knowledge it has come at the expense of intellectual depth. Here
are my initial thoughts. The book is a fascinating read
combining a survey of the history of the development of written
language with cognitive psychology and interspersed with the
author's enlightening editorial asides. The author cites a great
deal of evidence that the brain is "plastic" and can therefore
be rewired throughout one's lifetime based on how it's used. He
believes that each successive advancement in written language
has led to a rewiring of the brain. Carr recounts this
development starting with the oral traditions of the bard and
continuing with the first chiseled words on cuneiform tablets,
the creation of writing surfaces like papyrus and animal hides,
the invention of the phonetic alphabet, the first books known as
the codex, and finally to th