Is the Internet Making Us Stupid?
Is the Internet making us stupid?
This is the question Michael Brown asks in his recent article about Nicholas Carr’s new book, The Shallows.
My take:
The Internet (and the portability of technology in general) is making us more distracted than ever. When it’s harder to focus, your ability to maintain a single line of thought is extremely inhibited, if not impossible.
One distraction leads to another. Interruptions pile on. Next thing you know, you can’t remember what you set out to accomplish in the first place.
So is the Internet to blame? Yes and no.
The Internet itself isn’t necessarily the problem — it’s the lack of boundaries. Without boundaries, there’s very little to control our behavior.
Therefore, I would argue that the heavy, undisciplined use of the Internet (and cell phones, iPads, etc.) is indeed making us stupid.
Want to kick your IQ up a few points? It’s simple, really.
Just turn off all your electronic devices that could distract you and focus on a single task for an hour or two straight. I dare you.
-Ryan M. Healy
