Our Cognitive Erosion A Critique Of The Shallows

Our Cognitive Erosion: A Critique of The Shallows â€Å"†¦it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence† (224). With this thought, Nicholas Carr ends his 2010 book, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. Here, he attempts to convince readers that ultimately, technology has the power to be our cognitive undoing as humans. Carr’s arguments towards this idea and whether or not they are convincing and thorough will be explored. While some may consider the information he provides to be unconnected, I find each of the topics he covers to be powerful in his argument that technology can be a dangerous tool in humanity’s progress towards a higher intelligence. In The Shallows Carr seeks to prove his point that although technology can be of aid to our society, it can have detrimental effects on our ways of thinking and understanding. He begins with a connection to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey as an overarching topic to ponder throughout the text. He goes on, touching on humans’ ability to focus and the mental skills lost to new technology. This leads him to discuss past technological tools, once breakthroughs of their time and how they, one by one, created a downward spiral to which we lost depth in our cognitive abilities. From the first printing press, to the social media today, Carr poses thoughts that each new invention has its drawbacks. With consistently pertinent examples, the development of the main idea is convincing throughoutShow MoreRelatedOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pagestheory. I strongly recommend it to anyone seriously interested in the different intellectual traditions that contri bute to our understanding of organizations. Professor Tomas Mà ¼llern, Jà ¶nkà ¶ping International Business School, Sweden . McAuley, Duberley and Johnson’s Organizational Theory takes you on a joyful ride through the developments of one of the great enigmas of our time – How should we understand the organization? Jan Ole Similà ¤, Assistant Professor, Nord-Trà ¸ndelag University CollegeRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesbrutal oppression reached once unimaginable levels—in large part due to the refinement or introduction of new technologies of repression and surveillance and modes of mass organization and control. Breakthroughs in the sciences that greatly enhanced our understandings of the natural world and made for major advances in medicine and health care were very often offset by the degradation of the global environment and massive spurts in excessive mortality brought on by warfare, famine, periodic genocidalRead MoreIntangible Asset Accounting and Accounting Policy Selection in the Football Industry85391 Words   |  342 Pagesorganisations follow the preferred treatment outlined in SSAP 22. A 1993 investigation by the Financial Times found that 96% of companies wrote off goodwill upon acquisition [ASB, 1993b]. However, heavily acquisitive companies began to experience an erosion of their reserves after writing off purchased goodwill. The alternative treatment of capitalising purchased goodwill meant that companies suffered amortisation charges in the profit and loss account. However, it was possible to reduce the amount ofRead More_x000C_Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis355457 Words   |  1422 Pagesrecording, taping, Web distribution, information storage and retrieval systems, or in any other manner—without the written permission of the publisher. Thomson Higher Education 10 Davis Drive Belmont, CA 94002-3098 USA For more information about our products, contact us at: Thomson Learning Academic Resource Center 1-800-423-0563 For permission to use material from this text or product, submit a request online at http://www.thomsonrights.com. Any additional questions about permissions can be submitted