In-class writing Wednesday, Sept. 2nd: 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.
"Over the last few years, i've had an uncomfortable sense that someone or something has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory." (Chapter 1, page 5) This quote holds significance in more than one way. First of all, it introduces the scientific side of the book in which Carr is going to go more into detail in Chapter 2. It seems like he's just using these terms as metaphors to describe the way he feels, but the reader learns in chapter 2 that he was being very literal. The brain actually can get reprogrammed and remapped by doing something over and over, in this case, being immersed constantly in the Internet. This quote also causes the reader to try and relate to the author, seeing if they may have some of the same feelings towards the topic.
"And downstairs, in the musty basement family room, there are the books on the bookshelves-lots of books-with their many colored spines, each bearing a title and the name of a writer." (Chapter 1, page 11) This quote from The Shallows explains how books have been forgotten because technology has taken over. The basement is a place that soon becomes a storage unit for family's stuff after they move in. The books have been stored away in a actual location, the basement, but have also been forgotten in people's minds. Technology is replacing books and affecting how we think, whether you like it or not.
“As soon as you learn to be a ‘skilled hunter’ online, he argues, books become superfluous” (Chapter 1, Page 9). This quote is important because it personifies the notion that there is a direct relationship between online searching and reading a book in your brain. The quote represents the “I Say” of his idea. It complements the rest of the text by drawing a conclusion very early in the book to give the reader a solid background on his opinions that there is a correlation between the two psychologically.
“My concentration starts to drift after a page or two. I get fidgety, loose the thread, begin looking for something else to do” (Chapter 1, page 7). This quote is significant to Nicholas Carr’s book, “The Shallows” because it shows how much the world has changed since the internet became popular. We are able to find a lot of information quickly online so we do not take the time to look through books. People have become so accustomed to only reading short paragraphs on the internet that they cannot read for long lengths of time.
“My life, like the lives of most Baby Boomer and Generation Xers, has unfolded like a two-act play” (10-11). This quote from “The Shallows” expresses how the times have completely changed. It is important for Carr’s argument because it shows how he connects with the subject he is presenting. Before everything came on a device, all they had were books to get their information and research from. Baby Boomer, they’ve been “hardwired” to read actual books and that’s all they’ve done their entire lives. Generation Xers on the other hand, have lived with parents that taught them that reading an actual book was better but the prefer to read short things on a device. The new technology has made things simpler. Carr is an older guy but this quote really shows how he feels about the situation.
“The animals’ neural pathways have woven themselves into a new map that corresponds to the new arrangement of nerves in their hands.” (Chapter 2, Page 24) This experiment is key to Nicholas Carr’s explanation on how the internet has remodeled the way we think. It’s very similar to how humans have “woven themselves into a new map” in order to understand technology.
“As soon as you learn to be ‘a skilled hunter’ online, he [O’Shea] argues, books become superfluous” (Chapter One, Page 9). This quote is significant to Carr and his research as the quote provides support to Carr’s claim that “… they [people] wouldn’t go back to the way things used to be” (Chapter One, Page 9). People like Joe O'Shea live far from the reality. These people, according to Carr, get addicted to the new technology and are never able to turn back to the old fashioned way of life. They loose the ability to decide what is better for themselves.
“There are the paths that most of us will take most of the time, and the further we proceed down them, the more difficult it becomes to turn back. (Pg. 35) In my perspective, this quote clearly sums chapter 2 of “The Shallows” by Nicholas Carr. This idea is that our new technologies are damaging our brains and hindering the way we think. In chapter 2, he starts by using the effective writing tool, which is “They Say, I Say” So; he has summarized a lot of different scientist who all corroborate the ideas that our brains are “plastic” which means it is always changing. However, when he is using the scientist language, there were a lot of words pertaining to the brain (which I was unfamiliar with). This clouded my ability to grasp the main idea of the chapter. Although, in one of his last paragraphs, he was able to sum his chapter is a short and sweet sentence that cleared my understanding.
New neural circuits could form throughout our lives, they suggested, and old ones might grow stronger or weaker or wither away entirely.” (The Shallows pg. 21). This quote is talking about our brain and our memory. It relates to the book a lot because, if we don’t use our brain like we should, and we stop exercising it, it’ll get used to learning less and less and just become weak. We need to make sure that we continue to learn everyday and keep our mind growing with knowledge.
“The computer, I began to sense, was more than just a simple tool that did what you told it to do. It was a machine that, in subtle but unmistakable ways, exerted an influence over you.” (Carr 13). This quote is significant to Nicolas Carr’s argument because it expresses the control technology has on us. Computers, and other forms of technology, have slowly started taking over our everyday lives. Technology is a blessing and a curse.
“There are many reasons to be grateful that our mental hardware is able to adapt so readily to experience, that even old brains can be taught new tricks”. This quote is very significant because we really should be grateful that our brains can adapt. Carr puts it in the perspective of an old person learning a “new trick”. I really like this because to survive one must adapt. If we couldn’t adapt to new things then we would never be able to progress. In prehistoric times, those that could not adapt usually died off while those that could adapt, reproduced. This may be why we, as humans, can for the most part adapt effectively. In a social standpoint, those that can adapt to situations and their environment efficiently usually end up with better jobs and/or higher up on the social ladder. Those that cannot adapt effectively usually end up lower on the ladder. The world is constantly changing and we are changing with it.
“I can’t read war and peace anymore,” he admitted. “I’ve lost the ability to do that. Even blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it.”’ This quote from Nicholas Carr’s the shallows directly supports how people today are to lazy or time hindered to spend time on an in depth reading.
"Over the last few years, i've had an uncomfortable sense that someone or something has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory." (Chapter 1, page 5)
ReplyDeleteThis quote holds significance in more than one way. First of all, it introduces the scientific side of the book in which Carr is going to go more into detail in Chapter 2. It seems like he's just using these terms as metaphors to describe the way he feels, but the reader learns in chapter 2 that he was being very literal. The brain actually can get reprogrammed and remapped by doing something over and over, in this case, being immersed constantly in the Internet. This quote also causes the reader to try and relate to the author, seeing if they may have some of the same feelings towards the topic.
"And downstairs, in the musty basement family room, there are the books on the bookshelves-lots of books-with their many colored spines, each bearing a title and the name of a writer." (Chapter 1, page 11)
ReplyDeleteThis quote from The Shallows explains how books have been forgotten because technology has taken over. The basement is a place that soon becomes a storage unit for family's stuff after they move in. The books have been stored away in a actual location, the basement, but have also been forgotten in people's minds. Technology is replacing books and affecting how we think, whether you like it or not.
“As soon as you learn to be a ‘skilled hunter’ online, he argues, books become superfluous” (Chapter 1, Page 9).
ReplyDeleteThis quote is important because it personifies the notion that there is a direct relationship between online searching and reading a book in your brain. The quote represents the “I Say” of his idea. It complements the rest of the text by drawing a conclusion very early in the book to give the reader a solid background on his opinions that there is a correlation between the two psychologically.
“My concentration starts to drift after a page or two. I get fidgety, loose the thread, begin looking for something else to do” (Chapter 1, page 7).
ReplyDeleteThis quote is significant to Nicholas Carr’s book, “The Shallows” because it shows how much the world has changed since the internet became popular. We are able to find a lot of information quickly online so we do not take the time to look through books. People have become so accustomed to only reading short paragraphs on the internet that they cannot read for long lengths of time.
“My life, like the lives of most Baby Boomer and Generation Xers, has unfolded like a two-act play” (10-11). This quote from “The Shallows” expresses how the times have completely changed. It is important for Carr’s argument because it shows how he connects with the subject he is presenting. Before everything came on a device, all they had were books to get their information and research from. Baby Boomer, they’ve been “hardwired” to read actual books and that’s all they’ve done their entire lives. Generation Xers on the other hand, have lived with parents that taught them that reading an actual book was better but the prefer to read short things on a device. The new technology has made things simpler. Carr is an older guy but this quote really shows how he feels about the situation.
ReplyDelete“The animals’ neural pathways have woven themselves into a new map that corresponds to the new arrangement of nerves in their hands.” (Chapter 2, Page 24)
ReplyDeleteThis experiment is key to Nicholas Carr’s explanation on how the internet has remodeled the way we think. It’s very similar to how humans have “woven themselves into a new map” in order to understand technology.
“As soon as you learn to be ‘a skilled hunter’ online, he [O’Shea] argues, books become superfluous” (Chapter One, Page 9).
ReplyDeleteThis quote is significant to Carr and his research as the quote provides support to Carr’s claim that “… they [people] wouldn’t go back to the way things used to be” (Chapter One, Page 9). People like Joe O'Shea live far from the reality. These people, according to Carr, get addicted to the new technology and are never able to turn back to the old fashioned way of life. They loose the ability to decide what is better for themselves.
“There are the paths that most of us will take most of the time, and the further we proceed down them, the more difficult it becomes to turn back. (Pg. 35) In my perspective, this quote clearly sums chapter 2 of “The Shallows” by Nicholas Carr. This idea is that our new technologies are damaging our brains and hindering the way we think. In chapter 2, he starts by using the effective writing tool, which is “They Say, I Say” So; he has summarized a lot of different scientist who all corroborate the ideas that our brains are “plastic” which means it is always changing. However, when he is using the scientist language, there were a lot of words pertaining to the brain (which I was unfamiliar with). This clouded my ability to grasp the main idea of the chapter. Although, in one of his last paragraphs, he was able to sum his chapter is a short and sweet sentence that cleared my understanding.
ReplyDeleteNew neural circuits could form throughout our lives, they suggested, and old ones might grow stronger or weaker or wither away entirely.” (The Shallows pg. 21). This quote is talking about our brain and our memory. It relates to the book a lot because, if we don’t use our brain like we should, and we stop exercising it, it’ll get used to learning less and less and just become weak. We need to make sure that we continue to learn everyday and keep our mind growing with knowledge.
ReplyDelete“The computer, I began to sense, was more than just a simple tool that did what you told it to do. It was a machine that, in subtle but unmistakable ways, exerted an influence over you.” (Carr 13). This quote is significant to Nicolas Carr’s argument because it expresses the control technology has on us. Computers, and other forms of technology, have slowly started taking over our everyday lives. Technology is a blessing and a curse.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete“There are many reasons to be grateful that our mental hardware is able to adapt so readily to experience, that even old brains can be taught new tricks”.
ReplyDeleteThis quote is very significant because we really should be grateful that our brains can adapt. Carr puts it in the perspective of an old person learning a “new trick”. I really like this because to survive one must adapt. If we couldn’t adapt to new things then we would never be able to progress. In prehistoric times, those that could not adapt usually died off while those that could adapt, reproduced. This may be why we, as humans, can for the most part adapt effectively. In a social standpoint, those that can adapt to situations and their environment efficiently usually end up with better jobs and/or higher up on the social ladder. Those that cannot adapt effectively usually end up lower on the ladder. The world is constantly changing and we are changing with it.
The Shallows Quote
ReplyDelete“I can’t read war and peace anymore,” he admitted. “I’ve lost the ability to do that. Even blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it.”’ This quote from Nicholas Carr’s the shallows directly supports how people today are to lazy or time hindered to spend time on an in depth reading.