A Book Review of The
Shallows, What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicolas Carr. By
Donna Samudio
No one
really needs to tell us that we live in a shallow world. From television shows
urging us to root for strangers in competition with each other to changing
fashions in hair, clothing, and makeup that make no lasting difference to our
lives, the world seems built on shallow interactions and superficial
presentations. Nicolas Carr in The
Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains argues that we are being
led into increasingly shallow thinking by the very nature of how we access the
world through technology. While the book is secular, its message has relevance
for us believers living in a technological world.
Carr’s
central argument is this: the way we get our information and interact through
technology actually hinders our ability to make deep connections between ideas
and to contemplate complex issues. He explores his ideas by looking at
television, word processing, brain plasticity, and how we read on the internet.
His tone is concerned, but I wouldn’t call him alarmist. I have experienced
some of the things he talks about, like getting lost in a sea of pages by being
lured by hyperlinks (the blue or underlined words in an article on the internet
that take you to another page when you click on them).
According
to Carr, our experiences with data can easily become a matter of breadth rather
than depth with each new page competing for space in our memories. Likewise,
all the clutter of pop-up ads and animated gifs disrupt our brain’s natural
process of moving things from working memory into storage memory. Have you ever
had trouble remembering things you have read on the internet even when you
tried to pay attention? It could be that you suffered from memory disruption.
Google,
Bing, Wikipedia, and other information gatherers would argue that access to
endless information and multitasking through multiple windows is beneficial.
Carr argues that in the long run our memory and neuron formation is programmed
to be hyperactive by the increasing demands on our eyes and attention. Just
like a diet too high in sugar will affect our body’s chemistry by reprogramming
the release of insulin, a mental diet too full of these visual distractions and
shallow interactions will hamper our ability to concentrate and think deeply. The
internet screams at us to click anywhere and instantly get new visual
information without ever stopping to ponder what we might be learning.
I believe
that the issue of contemplation versus stimulation has the most relevance for
us in terms of our walk of faith. Ephesians 6:18 says, “praying at all times in
the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.” Kyle’s recent message (August
18) dealt with this issue of “all prayer” and “praying in the Spirit.” He said
something I am trying to contemplate deeply—that prayer is spiritual because it
reminds us of our humanity, that we haven’t got it all together, and that we
are vulnerable. Prayer is serious business. We are constantly vulnerable to
Satan’s attacks; therefore, we need to be in constant prayer. It takes
mindfulness and effort to keep the shallow “hit and run” prayer from being our
primary means of talking with God.
Satan would
have us shallow and distracted by whatever means he can. If Carr’s argument is
correct, then we need to counter the effects of the internet by shifting our
focus and practicing contemplative thinking in the Scriptures and an attitude
of constant prayer. Carr’s book has made me aware of how even seemingly good things
on the internet can possibly make my mind conform to the world’s shallow ways
without even being aware of their influence.
