Post by cheyennebolin on Aug 9, 2011 18:54:02 GMT -5
Nicholas Carr’s opinion about reading a book now compared to the days when technology wasn’t as popular, “now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally had become a struggle.”
I can imagine that this happens to thousands of people nowadays, including me. It’s hard to do a research paper and make time to sit down and read a full article or chapter in a book when you have so many other things to do in a day. The invention of Google has let people quickly find the passage they are looking for without having to go to a public library and spend thirty minutes looking for the correct book. We can easily access what we are looking for at home. With so many things to do during any given day it is no wonder that we spend as less time possible doing a certain task. People have come up with the tool of skimming so they don’t have to fully read and take in every single word. We as humans have adapted to skim articles because we can collect snippets of the information needed without spending too much time and who blame us? Times today are moving lightening fast and we are struggling to keep up.
Google declared that its mission is “to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Google thrives to develop the perfect search engine and in a year or so my guess is that they’ll find it.
The invention of technology was to help make our lives easier and that is exactly what it has done. Google is just doing its job of helping people day to day find what they need in a clean swipe.
Is the internet curbing our ability to be able to read a lengthy essay? It could very well be a possibility but we have to learn how to change with the times. If you are still able to go in an old dusty room in a library and take the book of a shelf and sit down and read it then kudos to you. You are one that has been able to keep the old way as well as being able to adapt to the new.
Two fictional characters, Rupert Giles and Jenny Calendar, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer once had a conversation about the use of computers verses books. Mr. Giles was the school librarian who was constantly around old tattered books while Ms. Calendar was the teacher who focused on using computers to help her students learn. Their conversation was as followed, “honestly, what is it about them (computers) that bothers you so much?’ asked Ms. Calendar. “The smell,” replied Mr. Giles. “Computers don’t smell, Rupert.” “I know. Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower, or a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell musty and rich. The knowledge should be tangible, it should be smelly.”
Rupert Giles’s response is a quite logical one. I believe he is correct. The smell of a book can help you remember what you have read, while a computer has no smell to help you recall the words.
Technology is a thing of the present and future. We can’t stop it from happening.
I can imagine that this happens to thousands of people nowadays, including me. It’s hard to do a research paper and make time to sit down and read a full article or chapter in a book when you have so many other things to do in a day. The invention of Google has let people quickly find the passage they are looking for without having to go to a public library and spend thirty minutes looking for the correct book. We can easily access what we are looking for at home. With so many things to do during any given day it is no wonder that we spend as less time possible doing a certain task. People have come up with the tool of skimming so they don’t have to fully read and take in every single word. We as humans have adapted to skim articles because we can collect snippets of the information needed without spending too much time and who blame us? Times today are moving lightening fast and we are struggling to keep up.
Google declared that its mission is “to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Google thrives to develop the perfect search engine and in a year or so my guess is that they’ll find it.
The invention of technology was to help make our lives easier and that is exactly what it has done. Google is just doing its job of helping people day to day find what they need in a clean swipe.
Is the internet curbing our ability to be able to read a lengthy essay? It could very well be a possibility but we have to learn how to change with the times. If you are still able to go in an old dusty room in a library and take the book of a shelf and sit down and read it then kudos to you. You are one that has been able to keep the old way as well as being able to adapt to the new.
Two fictional characters, Rupert Giles and Jenny Calendar, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer once had a conversation about the use of computers verses books. Mr. Giles was the school librarian who was constantly around old tattered books while Ms. Calendar was the teacher who focused on using computers to help her students learn. Their conversation was as followed, “honestly, what is it about them (computers) that bothers you so much?’ asked Ms. Calendar. “The smell,” replied Mr. Giles. “Computers don’t smell, Rupert.” “I know. Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower, or a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell musty and rich. The knowledge should be tangible, it should be smelly.”
Rupert Giles’s response is a quite logical one. I believe he is correct. The smell of a book can help you remember what you have read, while a computer has no smell to help you recall the words.
Technology is a thing of the present and future. We can’t stop it from happening.