In-class writing Thursday, Sept. 3rd: One PERTINENT QUOTE from
Carr's chapters one and two and an explanation for why the quote is significant
either to Carr's argument or to you, as a reader.
NOTE: After posting on the blog, open up the CANVAS assignment (by the same name) and DO copy and paste the URL address into the CANVAS "WEB URL" text box so that I have record of your submission on Canvas. Thanks.
Devante Wrenn
ReplyDeleteEng. 101
Mr. Kirk
9/6/15
O ‘Shea says “Sitting down and going through a book from cover to cover doesn’t make sense. It’s not a good use of my time as I can get all the information I need faster through the web”. I say that you can go both ways with this because the web helps you with most things you need. What the web can’t do is say what we think in our brain. Anything you need you can say what you want to say without having anyone’s opinion. When you use the web you are using others thoughts.
"Over the last view years I've had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory." Page 5
ReplyDeleteThis quote explains perfectly what most people, especially me, are going through today. When I am focusing on reading a book, doing homework, or any other task at hand, I feel completely distracted. Social media now a days occupies most teenagers' time. It feels nearly impossible to try to sit and read a book. The urge to text someone back, to open a snapchat, or to just not do it really distracts me from paying attention to what I'm reading. I find it interesting that Carr describes his distraction as "someone, or something that has been tinkering or remapping his brain." I think that is a very good description of how it feels to have so many distractions in your mind at once.
Carr informs the reader that, "My employer had, in the meantime, banished Macs in favor of Windows PCs, so I was using two different systems, one at work and one at home." (p. 14) I believe that he put that statement in his book, "The Shallows", because it shows that a simple thing has now become available for multiple aspects of his life. Now, Carr doesn't have to carry his one computer back and forth. He had to adjust to the different systems, like we often do in different aspects of our lives. This quote also shows how much technology affects our everyday lives.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCarr tells his readers of David Sarnoff, who states that "The products of modern science are not in themselves good or bad" (3). What I perceived this as personally is that many realists are quick to criticize technology for decreasing intelligence levels, when it is not the technology causing the issue, it is the way someone chooses to use it. It is a decision one makes to use the internet excessively, which potentially leads to addiction. Becoming addicted to the internet does cause one to drift from their previous ways of using their knowledge, causing lower intelligence levels, and a more difficult time concentrating in a way one had once been able to.
ReplyDeleteCarr states that “The plasticity diminishes as we get older-brains do get stuck in their way-but it never goes away.” (26). I believe Carr explains this to us to show that there is a common misconception that the brain stops reorganizing itself, but, in reality, the brain is always changing. The way I see it the brain is always remodeling itself and expanding to conform to the ways of society. I believe that the environment makes the brain change, and although it won’t change a lot when we’re older, it will steadily and slowly change to adapt.
ReplyDelete"Reality had a material side, which was the realm of science, but it also had a spiritual side, which was the realm of theology-and never the twain shall meet." (27).
ReplyDeleteI feel that this quote is very true to how us, humans, think today. For most of us, we all have a "greater power" we believe in that helps, shapes and guides our lives. However, we also understand how the world works, why the leaves change in the fall and why rainbows occur. These two mindsets are so etched in our minds and we believe them whole-heartedly but like oil and water, they can't seem to mix.
The computer, I began to sense, was more than just a simple tool that did what you told it to. I was a machine that, in subtle but unmistakable ways, exerted an influence over you.” (p.13)
ReplyDeleteI find this quote very relatable and true because technology has become what our generation is. Without the influence of the computer, or any other technology, our generation would be at a stand still. I believe this quote to be a very good summary of what this book is about.
“What it does mean is that the virtual paths in our brains become… the paths of least resistance. They are the paths that most of us with take most of the time, and the farther we proceed down then, the more difficult it becomes to turn back.” (p.45)
ReplyDeleteThis summarizes and is the climactic idea of chapter two; it is the reason why Carr painstakingly described neuroplasticit and how the brain works. Even more importantly, it ties back into the first chapter when he stated that he could feel his brain changing the way it processed information. This quote, then, adds to that idea that the change he feels is becoming a “well traveled path”, and will be difficult to reroute.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete“Experiments show that just as the brain can build new or stronger circuits through physical or mental practice, those circuits can be weaken or dissolve with neglect” (35)
ReplyDeleteThis quote supports Carr’s argument the more we use technology and depend upon it these circuits only grow stronger and became a second nature to us. We lose old skills such as how professional scholars lost their skills to sit down and read a book when they rather just quickly read something on the Internet. The more we begin to depend on the Internet and other technologies it diminishes old skills like being able to sit down and read a book for a long period of time. Because now you are tempted to check your phone constantly to see if you’ve got any text messages or new snap chats. What the Internet (and other technologies) is doing to our brains?
“Our neural loops don’t snap back to their former state the way a rubber does; they hold on to their changed state. And nothing says the new state has to be a desirable one.” (34)
ReplyDeleteThis quote is important because it establishes the point that once your mind learns a new habit, it is not so easy to get rid of it. Whether it’s a good or bad habit the mind cannot immediately change back, even if desired to. We have gotten accustomed to relying on the internet instead of close reading. Our minds have adjusted to the habit of constantly needing to be connected to the internet.
“Our neural loops don’t snap back to their former state the way a rubber does; they hold on to their changed state. And nothing says the new state has to be a desirable one.” (34)
ReplyDeleteThis quote is important because it establishes the point that once your mind learns a new habit, it is not so easy to get rid of it. Whether it’s a good or bad habit the mind cannot immediately change back, even if desired to. We have gotten accustomed to relying on the internet instead of close reading. Our minds have adjusted to the habit of constantly needing to be connected to the internet.
"I missed my old brain." (12)
ReplyDeleteI believe this quote is significant because it sets the tone for the book. He has said he misses it, now he will go on to explain why it has happened or is happening. His attention span has decreased due to the instant gratification of computers and wishes it hasn't.