Education in Light of The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains

Three weeks ago I wrote about the isolation of technology.  Previous to that I posted my skepticism concerning technology’s role in education.  In both cases I would have liked to have written a better researched paper on the scientifically proven effects of technology on the brain, but the demands of a weekly blog make deep research a lot more difficult.  Still, I planned on examining a number of books, including Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other by Sherry Turkle, You Are Not a Gadget by Jaron Lanier and The Shallows by Nicholas Carr.  Since The Shallows found its way to the library hold shelf first, that is the first one I’ve read. It was fascinating.

Because Mr. Carr does a much finer job of making “my arguments” than I could, I will just do a quick summation of the book and encourage you to pick up a copy for yourself. 

The author’s main thesis is this:

The Internet is causing the human brain to lose its ability for deep,linear thought (i.e. reason and logic), creativity, sustained concentration, and long term memory while it increases our ability to multitask and operate on very superficial levels more quickly.

I will break down the thesis in bullet points below, and invite you to consider the consequences of increasing the use of technology in education and particularly in home education where we parents have complete control over our children’s learning environments.

• Because our brains are plastic every conscious mental exercise we perform reshapes our neuralogical physiology.
• Throughout history man has used technology to facilitate his interaction with his surroundings and has consequently increased in intelligence and mental capacity over time.  Starting with representative symbols and growing through the development of written language, number concepts, cartology, time measurement, the invention of the codex (bound books), the printing press, and up to the emergence of electronic media, the human brain has altered itself in response to the varying demands made on it.
• Nicholas Carr cites many interesting studies that demonstrate how stimulation of particular areas of the brain promote both the creation of new synapses and synaptic ports and the strengthening of existing synapses through a series of chemical processes.
• Some of the neural changes have reportedly occurred in a matter of weeks, and in some occasions, hours.
• The studies also reveal a diminished function in areas of the brain that are not exercised.
• Throughout our lives our brains change and adapt based on the needs of the organism (us) as manifested by the activities in which we engage.
• In response to web browsing and searching, where linear thought is replaced with rapid identifying, sorting and cataloguing, the brain is developing in the area of negotiating distraction, and diminishing in the areas of learning, deep thinking and long term memory.
• Further studies suggest that the overstimulation of multimedia – especially online where multiple tasks are performed simultaneously - prevents our brains from processing information effectively, and results in diminished function.
• The development of long term memory increases our intelligence.  Long term memory results from the processing of short term or working memory by the hippocampus, a small centrally located section of the brain.  The capacity for storing long term memory is unlimited.  By allowing the web to retain data in place of our own active memory, we transfer less data into the long term memory and consequently starve our brain…reducing our ability to learn and to know. 
• Renowned thinkers, university professors, scientists and other influential members of our society are promoting the web as a replacement for reading, and are celebrating extensive use of the Internet as a way of freeing our minds for more important tasks than memorizing, unaware of its deleterious effect to our mental acuity. 
• By limiting our use of technology and balancing it with quiet contemplation, extended linear reading, and sufficient sleep, we can benefit from technology while protecting our mental assets.

In closing I’d like to quickly mention that while is well-researched and intelligent it is also oddly personal and very readable.  In fact, I had a difficult time putting it down.  I think you will enjoy and find it enlightening.

The Shallows:
What the Internet
is doing to our brains
Buy it now, from Amazon.com