Similar to what Sean has referred to in his blog, there is evidence that the internet has been transforming the way we think, transgressing from a linear way of thought to a more staccato-like preference in the way we collect and absorb information. However, on page 3, Carr acknowledges that McLuhan’s reason for this change in our thought process is not as much a result of the medium’s content as it is a byproduct of the medium itself.
Carr says, “As our window onto the world, and onto ourselves, a popular medium molds what we see and how we see it—and eventually, if we use it enough, it changes who we are, as individuals and as a society.”
For instance, in Carr’s discussion of Scott Karp, a lit major in college, he focuses on Karp’s more recent loss of interest in reading books. Instead, Karp now does all of his readings on the web. Furthermore, Bruce Friedman admits that he can no longer read and absorb more than 3 or 4 paragraphs at a time in its entirety.
What do you think of these changes? How are they reinforced in our culture and do you think their potentially unrealized effects are good or bad? What have we gained and/or lost as a result of such changes?
Maybe it is important to read each page of say Pride and Prejudice. Or perhaps it is simply good enough to understand the gist of the plot either by skimming or using some form of Sparknotes. What do you think?
I’m sure media lead a lot of changes in what we think and how we think. The change in our thoughts is a result of our adjustment to the improvement of media, and I believe this is what people desired. For example, I think online video sharing sites started to appear because of people’s desire to make a TV more portable and to watch movies and dramas easily. Then after the appearance of the sites, I think a sense that online video sharing sites are useful and can be a big market spared. Thus I feel people’s motives to develop media must relate to the change, and also our ways of thinking and acting are affected by the change. Even though there must be confusion at first for most of people, I believe people tend to adjust themselves to the change and unrealized effects. Our new ways of acting and thinking brought by the transformation become ordinary someday as a result of the adjustment. Therefore I don’t think the change or the effects are bad things, rather they are just naturally brought by what we desired and we have an ability to fit ourselves into them.
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