[Air-L] Is Google making us stupid?

[Robert Cannon]

> http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/200807/google 
> 
> Does the way that the Internet delivers information
> to us destroy our
> attention spans?


This is typical of the "Myth of the Eternal Return"
where the past is held up with Utopian hindsight, and
contrasted against the present.  As other respondents
quipped, exactly when did we have expanded attention
spans.

I will say this, as noted in the article, with the
ready accessibility of relevant information, I am less
tolerant of frequency-to-noise ratios.  The author
whines about the decreased inclination to read books -
whatever.  But if I am searching for or interested in
information - and a source is not presenting it -
NEXT.  There is much greater competition between
sources of information - if the presentation is poor -
if it is packaged in color commentary and fluff - then
the searcher may be apt to move on.  If I am searching
for information on, for example, hip surgery, I will
hone in on the source that provides me descriptive
information, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery
information.  A long fluff blog about how some dog
owner replaced Killers hips will get skipped for the
piece the Vet Academy at the university.  Discernment
between poor authors and effective writers doesnt mean
reading less.

And as for reading books, could it be that most people
read less as they grow old - and other things creep
into their lives like kids, mortgages, and reading all
day long behind the desk jockey?  Could it be that the
author looks for a scapegoat for midlife whining? 
Just a thought.

As for me, I keep getting recommendations of books and
reports to read from other people's blogs and
websites, and cant seem to find enough time to read -
always carrying one of those antique books around with
me.  Right now I am reading The Telephone: The First
Hundred Years.  Marvelous book.




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Cybertelecom :: Federal Internet Law & Policy  
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   bobArlington :: blogging from Arlington
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