Nicholas Carr Foresees Brains Optimized For Browsing

An anonymous reader writes "In the next decade, our brains are going to become optimized for information browsing, says best-selling author Nicholas Carr. According to Carr, while the genetic nature of our brains isn't being changed by the Internet at all, our brains are adapting 'at a cellular level' and are weakening modes of thinking we no longer exercise. Therefore, in 10 years, if human beings are using the Internet even more than they do today, says Carr, "our brains will be even more optimized for information browsing, skimming and scanning, and multitasking — fast, scattered modes of thought — and even less capable of the kinds of more attentive, contemplative thinking that the net discourages."" While Carr isn't making a case for Lamarckian evolution, the argument here seems weak to me; the same kind of brain change could be attributed to books, or television, or the automobile, couldn't it?

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[steelfood]

Highway driving requires the most attention at high speeds, or while weaving through heavy (but moving) traffic. Driving unfamiliar or less familiar routes (like going to a shopping mall 50 miles away that you'd normally go to only twice a year) also require the same navigation abilities as city driving, but at a larger physical scale.

Map reading and route memorization helps maintain short term memory. This exercise is rendered moot by using a GPS. It also doesn't come into play when driving a familiar route, e.g. from home to work or from home to the grocery store.

Now television...that's the biggest intellect-killer out there. At least there's interaction when browsing or surfing the internet (for example, posting on /.), albeit minimal. But the brain is less active when watching TV than even when sleeping. On the other hand, constantly being online causes shorter attention spans. What suffers is concentration and focus, generally speaking, which is a necessary in order to solve difficult problems on the fly. It's the same skill that's necessary to do a complicated math problem completely in your head.

All in all, while TV causes an overall degradation of the brain, continuous use of the internet results in lateral movement, from being able to do a singular task very well to being able to do multiple things all at once. Whether this is a bad thing or not is an exercise left to the reader. I personally think that though a jack of all trades is master at none, it's important to at least have both vast but shallow knowledge, and one specific field of expertise. In effect, being able to do one thing really well, and being able to do many things but medially, are both important mental skills to hone and maintain.