The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing our Brains

The Shallows: What the internet is doing our brains
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The Shallows: What the internet is doing our brains
Question 1.
The effect of technology use in the learning process and the effect of technology in human brain development are among the key themes discussed in the book. Technology has transformed the way information was processed, printed, distributed and stored in books. The changes in the writing styles have all been enabled by the use of technology. Currently information in books, magazines and even music videos is distributed in a disjointed manner. People have access to only what they need unlike in the past when one had to have the whole document in order to get the information that they need. This has enhanced a gradual shift to the way read because the internet is a library with a lot of information. Researchers have also been among the greatest beneficiaries of the use of technology in research and experimentations as noted by "There is absolutely no question that modern search engines and cross-referenced websites have powerfully enabled research and communication efficiencies (Carr, 2010).
The human brain development has also been affected by the continuous use of technologies. These technologies substitute the human brain in the thinking process. The current thinking abilities of the human beings are more advanced than those of our ancestors. However, compared to our ancestors the thinking done by our brains is incomparable to those of our ancestors as they had no any technological tools to aid them in the thinking process. These technologies include things like the calculators that aid in faster calculation. This is based on the fact that the current human thinking is based on finding solutions on specific problems, as Carr noted "Our thinking narrows, and we struggle vainly to come up with new ideas" (Carr, 2010).
Question 2.
The cognitive learning theory explores how the human brain is at the centre of human information processing and the way the human beings behave. The cognitive theory explains why human being behave is a certain way and how their thinking is influenced by what they interact with (McLeod, 2015). On this case the cognitive theory is very relevant to the writings of Carr. Carr has demonstrated on how the use of technology has revolutionised the human behaviour and their way of thinking. Firstly is the loss of empathy among the human species due to the influence in the use of technologies. The human species have adopted the non-humanistic aspects that are associated with these technologies. The analysis presented by Carr on the human brain and the way people interacted in the past shows a deviation from the way people are interacting in the current world. The behaviours of the ancestors are not the same as of the current human spec...