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1-Page Summary of The Shallows

Overall Summary

Nicholas Carr’s book The Shallows examines the effects of technology on our minds. In today’s digital age, we have more access to information than ever before and feel like we’re more connected with each other. However, these benefits come at a cost: We are trading in valuable skills for a type of intelligence that is adapting us to computers instead of vice versa.

In his book, Carr discusses how the Internet has changed our definition of intelligence. For example, it used to be that a person’s intelligence was measured by their ability to sit quietly and solve complex problems (the literary mind). However, after the Industrial Revolution came an obsession with efficiency and multitasking over deep thinking. The system as a whole is seen as more important than the individual. This obsession with efficiency has spiraled out of control since we are constantly bombarded with information from apps on our phones and websites like Facebook. Our brains aren’t equipped to handle all this data at once while also learning new things about ourselves or others. As result, people are becoming increasingly dependent on social media for entertainment instead of relying on books or other forms of literature for knowledge and understanding about themselves and others.

Carr argues that the Internet is changing our definition of intelligence. It also rewires our brains in a way that makes us more susceptible to distraction and less able to focus on complex thoughts or develop subtle emotions. He presents this argument by using scientific studies, brain science, and case studies.

Prologue

The prologue to The Shallows, titled “The Watchdog and the Thief,” quotes Marshall McLuhan’s iconic statement: “The medium is the message.” Far before the invention of the Web, McLuhan warned that people would be distracted by content on media devices and not see how those devices themselves were affecting them. Carr uses this as a starting point for his book because he believes that we are in danger of being distracted from what matters most about our new digital media—their effect on us.

Chapter 1

Carr opens The Shallows by describing his realization that the Internet was hurting his ability to read. His research led him to discover that he wasn’t alone and that many people were experiencing the same problem. Carr also found out about bloggers who had similar problems, but they all preferred absorbing information in a fast-paced way instead of reading long pieces of writing. In conclusion, Carr worries that literary minds are becoming obsolete due to the influence of technology on society.

Carr’s life was divided into two parts, one in which he had no computer technology and the other in which he did. In 1977, when Carr started college at Dartmouth, the school still had a traditional library but also a place called Kiewit Computation Center that housed an early computer. The center wasn’t very popular with students; they spent more time in the library reading room than on computers. However, occasionally Carr would spend an hour or two playing primitive games on this machine.

Several years after he left Dartmouth, Carr became interested in computers. He bought one of the earliest Macintoshes in 1986 and started to upgrade his hardware as technology skyrocketed. In 1990, the biggest change occurred when he got connected to the Internet and began using social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. By 2007, he concluded that his experience with these technologies had a greater impact on him than earlier computers ever did, so he set out to figure out why