Reading Nicholas Carr’s book was a little hard to understand and difficult to pay attention for long periods of time. I kept having to read one page several times because I kept zoning out. In saying this, that very statement is what Nicholas Carr discusses in his book The Shallows. He mentions that, due to the internet and technology, former readers who now own a computer find it hard to focus on reading books. Carr predicts this situation could have been caused by rewiring of the brain by the different time era and resources available. Back in the day, people actually had to go the library and look for books that were relevant to the topic they wanted to learn about. Then they had to tediously search for information that was useful to them in each book and if one book failed then they had to find another book. Compared to modern day, information is literally and physically in a click of a button allowing people to easily find information they need quicker. In this way, we do not need the patience or attention span to do so because we can still skim the page and get what we need.
However the class discussion on a different aspect of the book was really intriguing. Although I got lost during the discussion at times, the main points Professor O’Malley caught my attention. We talked about how we are a lesser version of ourselves now because of the convenient resources that allow us to look up information instead of memorizing it. I do agree that a professional in a field should always know what they’re talking about at all times rather than someone who needs to look up information. It makes the person look incompetent in my opinion. If a doctor told me to hold on while he WebMD’d my symptoms, I would be a little nervous. Or a mechanic who googles the sound of what my car is making.