Is the Internet Changing the Way You Think?
(pgs. 1-3, 405-408)
The Bookless Library By Nicholas Carr
“The times they are a changing…” or at least that is what Bob Dylan said. But, are these times really different from any other? Is the technology revolution we are experiencing in schools really that different from any other? Author Nicholas Carr of The Bookless Library believes it is. In his paper he addresses the problems created by the new “digital age.” He explains the issues he has with a school in Massachusetts that has pledged to make its library “bookless”. A school that has changed with the times and believes, as one Boston Globe journalist put it, “when I look at books I see an outdated technology.”(pg. 1) This school has decided to place itself ahead of the curve and move towards changing the medium with which students learn and grow. Carr takes a real issue with this stance on education. He firmly believes that “The medium does matter. It matters greatly. The experience of reading words on a networked computer, whether it’s a PC, an iphone, or a Kindle, is very different from the experience of reading those same words in a book.” (pg. 2) While I agree with Carr, that the medium does matter, I do not take as much issue with a “bookless” library as he does.
I believe that the argument Carr outlines is a fundamental one that has occurred throughout history. There are people that are “fundamentalists,” who believe that change is always negative and causes us to “…lose as much as we gain.” (pg. 3) There are also “progressives,” those who believe in change at all costs. These individuals within society are constantly working to stay ahead of the curve. These people often move too fast and do not foresee the consequences of their actions. I find my identity to be somewhere in between Carr and the Massachusetts school. I firmly believe that we should change and adapt our mediums with the times. However, I recognize moving too fast may cause us to not foresee problems that occur with rapid change.
Bleat for Yourself By Larry Sanger
What problems do new mediums of technology create within society? How has the “digital age” changed the way we process information or behave? Larry Sanger, author of “Bleat for Yourself”, a paper on how technology is changing our minds, believes that we are being changed by “the availability of an ocean of information”(pg. 405). Sanger believes much like Nicholas Carr, that we are being altered by the internet which has us “getting to many messages of information.” (pg. 405) Sanger writes about the issue as a choice, that we as individuals have free will to believe and act as we want. As people we can choose to fall into the trap of being changed into beings that are controlled by the “hive mind” (pg. 406). The hive mind, as Sanger describes, is the internet which allows us not to memorize and rely on this medium for information. This hive mind also causes us to have a lack of focus by the flood of information which is constantly overwhelming us.
While I agree that technology does change the way we think, I disagree that it is a negative. I feel it is important to understand and accept that change happens and is inevitable. We must as free individuals within this society, understand that it is occurring and be aware of its consequences both good and bad.
Technology is changing the way that we process information, think, and behave. But is this age any different than any other? No, change is inevitable. We must embrace it slowly and work to understand that if we focus we do no have to lose anything. We should only have to gain.
Jeffrey Fisher 