Does Google make us more stupid?

Does Google make us more stupid?

3:27 AM


Does Google make us more stupid? Read "Shallow: How the Internet poisons our brains"

As we become more and more inseparable from computers, more and more of our life experiences are completed by flashing swaying and imaginary symbols on the computer screen. The biggest danger is that we are about to begin to lose our humanity. The essential properties of the machine. "Is Google making us stupid?"

The media is information, and simplicity is profound. The Internet makes us no longer pretend to be deep. Only in this and the present is the thing itself.

(Preface) Watchdog and household thief: We were violated by the Internet

In 1964, when the British Beatles invaded the US television broadcast, Marshall McLuhan published the book Understanding the Media: The Extension of People and quickly turned from an unknown scholar to a famous star. This book is like the teachings of the gods, full of mysterious aphorisms, and it has a dreamlike feeling. In the 1960s, which was far away, the psychedelic journey was prevalent, humanity was successful on the moon, and space was free to enter and exit. This book is the perfect product of that era. The book "Understanding the Media" is essentially a prophecy, which predicts the dissolution of linear thinking. McLuhan claims that the "electronic media" of the 20th century - telephone, radio, film, television - is breaking the text's absolute domination of our thoughts and senses. For thousands of years, we have closed personal reading in the printed text. Everyone is isolated, like pieces of debris. Now it is about to become a whole again. The whole earth is being merged into a village. “When the creative process of seeking knowledge is about to become a collective activity and eventually expand into the entire human society”, we are moving towards “technical simulation of perception”.

Even when the reputation of the book Understanding Media is in full swing, people talk much more and read less. This book has now become a cultural relic and is reserved for the media major in the university as a learning course. However, the author McLuhan is no less than a scholar in the limelight, he is the master of the rhetoric, a sentence in the book has become a famous saying: "The media is information." We repeat this In the process of a maxim, one thing is forgotten: for the power of change in emerging communication technologies, McLuhan is not only to recognize and praise, but also to the threat of this power and are unaware of this threat. The resulting risk issued a warning.

McLuhan understands that whenever an emerging media emerges, people will naturally be surrounded by the information they bring - "content." People will pay attention to and care about the news published in the newspapers, the music played on the radio, the programs on the TV, and the person on the other side of the telephone line who is far away. No matter how amazing the media technology is, it will always disappear after the various things that flow through it, such as truth, entertainment, teaching, and conversation. When people's effects on the media are good or bad arguments (as they always do), they argue about content. The supporters cheered and the skeptics slashed. Retrospective type printing has spawned the history of the book publishing industry. It can be found that whenever there are new information media, the content of people's arguments is always surprisingly consistent. For their good reasons, the supporters appreciate the flood of new technology and the new content and regard it as a signal of cultural “democratization”. The reasons for the skeptics are equally sufficient. They condemn the rudeness of the content and regard it as a signal of “sharpness” in culture. The fertile paradise of one side is the desolate desert of the other side.

The Internet is the latest media to spark this debate. For more than 20 years, there has been a constant conflict between Internet supporters and skeptics. Many books and articles, thousands of blog sites and video clips, have been divided into two extremes as always. The former is cheered for the arrival of the public and the new golden age of everyone, and the latter is a mediocrity. Lamented at the beginning of the new dark age of self-indulgence. It is important to argue that it is not important to argue about what it is, but because the debate is based on personal ideology and taste preferences, this debate has entered a dead end. Both views have gone to extremes and even suspected of personal attacks. "Lude!" 1 supporter mocked the skeptics. "The rough village husband!" The skeptics replied to the supporters. "The prophet that no one believes!" "Blindly optimistic arrogance!"

Both supporters and skeptics have not noticed the fact that McLuhan saw: in the long run, the content of media communication is not as important as the media itself in terms of the way we think and behave. Since our windows are facing both the world and ourselves, what we see and how we see them is determined by the mass media. In the end, if we use enough of the media, whether as individuals or as a society, we will be changed by the media. McLuhan wrote: "The effects of technology do not appear at the point of view or concept." More precisely, they "continuously change people's perception patterns and do not encounter any resistance. The media itself will exert magic or damage to our nervous system.

Focusing on the content of media communication will make us turn a blind eye to these deep effects. We are busy making plans and paying attention to the content that is about to enter our minds. As a result, we are dazzled and uneasy. In the end, we assume that the technology itself is irrelevant. We tell ourselves that what really matters is how to use technology. Behind this arrogant self-comfort, the implication is that we still control everything. Technology is just a tool, it doesn't work until we pick up the tool, and it goes to silence after we drop the tool.

In his book, McLuhan cites the statement of media tycoon David Sarnoff. Shanov was the first to introduce wireless radio in the US radio company and the first to launch television programs at the National Broadcasting Corporation. In 1955, Shanov gave a speech at the University of Notre Dame in the United States, refusing to accept criticism of the mass media that he relied on to build his own empire and wealth. For the negative effects of the mass media, he excused the media technology and overcame the audience: "We always regard the technical means as the scapegoat for the injurer. The products of modern science are not good or bad, and the value of their decision is The way people use them.” McLuhan ridiculed this view and accused Zanov of speaking in “the voice of sleepwalking”. McLuhan understands that every new media will change us. He wrote, "Our routine response to all media is the numbness of the technology idiots." The media's content is only "the burglars used by thieves to open the watchdog's meat buns."

Even McLuhan did not foresee the feast of the Internet in front of us: the food and the food together, one more than one, is simply making us "speak". As networked computers continue to shrink and gradually slim down into iPhones and BlackBerrys, this feast has become a mobile feast, everywhere, everywhere. At home, in the unit, in the car, in the classroom, in the wallet, in the pocket, the feast is always there. Even those who remain wary of the increasing influence of the Internet will not let their fears affect their use and enjoyment of technology. The film critic David Thomson observes and concludes: "In the face of the unsure voice of the media, doubts are weak." He is talking about movies, but his feelings and the sensitivity Sex can not only be projected onto the screen but also projected onto our engrossed, versatile audience. His comments are more powerful on the Internet. The computer screen scared our suspicions with its richness and convenience. Our servant seems to be arrogant and unreasonable, and it is our master.

Being "painless amputation" by the Internet

In 1932, the British novelist Aldous Huxley published "Beautiful New World", which described the future world in his heart with a satirical brushwork. In his view, people will gradually fall in love with oppression and worship the industrial technologies that make us lose our ability to think. In Huxley's "beautiful new world", people are reluctant to read books, become passive and selfish in the ocean of information, and our culture becomes a vulgar culture full of sensory stimulation, desire, and random games.

Neil Bozeman agrees with Huxley's remarks. He has published two books, "The Disappearance of Childhood" and "Entertainment to Death," explaining the changes in people's hearts under the modern media. Quietly mutating and the fall of civilization.

Judging from Nicholas Karl's new book, Shallow, he will also readily agree with Huxley's concerns that he will demonstrate the impact of the Internet on human cognition and civilization.

If you only look at the Chinese translation of the two books by Nicholas Karl, he is indeed a new neo-Luddite. From "IT is no longer important" to "shallow", the former editor of Harvard Business Review, who tried to "single down IT", seems to hate information technology.

Luddite appeared in Yorkshire, England, in 1811. When the industrial revolution began, the British Empire began to use machines on a large scale, and printers felt the pressure of employment. A worker named Luther suddenly took the lead in starting the machine and attracted a large number of suitors. The matter became more and more fierce until the government suppressed it, and the "Luther" became the nickname of anti-technical elements. The new Luther and the Lutheran are in the same vein. After the invention of the computer, those who fear computer technology and fear the Internet are the new Lutheran elements. They shouted "Google makes people stupid" and "Internet smoke messages make people feel at a loss."

It is worth noting that the Chinese translation of two books by Nicholas, "IT is no longer important" in English, originally called "The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, From Edison to Google", literal translation should be "Great Transformation: Reconnecting the World, from Edison To Google, this book introduces the concept of "cloud computing", not the one that makes him famous, and is known as "the number one public enemy of the IT industry". "Does IT Matter? - Information Technology and the corrosion of Competitive Advantage 》.

The book "Shallow" was born out of an article he published in the Atlantic Monthly entitled "Google is making us stupid?" The article in English, "The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing To Our Brains" - compared to the strong color and bias of the Chinese translation, the English original intention is not so shocking.

Historically, the large-scale application of new technologies or tools, in addition to the words of beauty, there is always another voice, and there is always someone telling you, "Technology itself does not matter how good or bad, the way to determine their value is the way people use them. ". In 1955, American media tycoon David Sarnoff gave a speech at the University of Notre Dame in the United States, admonishing everyone not to "use the technical means as a scapegoat for the perpetrators." Marshall McLuhan’s views on Shanov Ironically, he accused him of being a "voice in sleepwalking" speech. All of this would be so ironic because McLuhan understands that every new medium will change us, as he said: "We have shaped tools and tools have shaped us."

For McLuhan's point of view, Nicholas Carr clearly agrees. The purpose of the book "Shallow" is to warn us that computers (including the Internet) are definitely not a simple tool for you to listen to, it is a machine that can affect you in a subtle and certain way. And this influence makes our perception of the world shallow, and the change of understanding will also affect our civilization.

Why can a computer or the Internet change our brain and how can it change?
In the book, Nicholas’s human brain’s differences in human cognition in the age of speech, writing, and Gutenberg’s printing era have even plagued the literature on neurobiology and cultural history, telling us that the human brain is highly Shaped. The high degree of plasticity of the human brain also means that when we enjoy the convenience of Internet technology, we must also direct the Internet to the brain in terms of cognition and thinking.

The human brain is not only plastic but as a single individual, our energy or attention is always limited. In the multi-media form, our cognition is always in the state of losing one. And the Internet hypertext link form will inevitably distract our attention. This fragmented way of understanding will also make us finally confused in the smoke and dust information. As the economist, Taylor Cowen said, “In the case of easy access to information, we usually like short, fragmented and enjoyable content.” And Nicholas also frankly, “transfer from paper to screen, change Not only is our reading style, but it also affects the concentration of our input and the depth of our immersion in reading."
People invented computers and the Internet and fell into the "shallow" state brought about by these tools. This seems to be more of a response to McLuhan’s point of view: all media are an extension of some kind of human ability. With the expansion, as the wheel is the extension of the human legs, the telescope is the extension and expansion of the eye. Behind this extension will also gradually weaken some of our functions.  Which department will eventually be 'numb'. When we artificially extend some of our own departments We are also away from certain parts of ourselves and all the natural skills of this part."

McLuhan weakens the function of this extension of certain abilities or numb the department, and the profile of the image is “painless amputation”. Historically, this "painless amputation" is not uncommon. The promotion of textile machines announced that textile craftsmen gradually withdrew from history. With the typewriters, the popularity of computer offices, the art of writing and even the ability to write handwriting gradually declined. As an extension of the human brain and central system, computers and the Internet have become "outsourcing tools" beyond our ability to remember, and the "painless amputation" it brings to us seems to be far more than that. In Nicholas' view, it will bring To the decline of memory ability. And this is what he is most worried about. "Human civilization is not just the sum of the 'world information' expressed by the Internet, it is not just everything that can be reduced to binary code and uploaded to the Internet. Human civilization must stay vibrant. It must be rebuilt in the minds of all members of every generation. Memory outsourcing, civilization demise."

At the end of 2007, Nicholas began to write this book. He found that the Internet, as always, provided him with a lot of useful information and search tools, and constantly interrupted, constantly interrupting ideas and text organization. For __ to complete this, Nicholas canceled the Twitter account, stopped using Facebook, closed the blog, canceled RSS reading, and even took the e-mail.

It is true that Nicholas also knows that as a freelancer, his personality is so isolated that he naturally prefers this kind of life in isolation, and most people will not do so. Even so, the reader can not follow suit. Of course, this does not mean letting us abandon the computer, completely away from the Internet, but can actively and effectively work in the "digital world" smoke information led by Microsoft, Google, and Facebook. It is also possible to retreat into the sleeping valley and think about it. It maintains a balance between two distinct states of thought and maintains an appropriate and appropriate distance from the computer and the Internet.

Reading point: How to resist the damage of "information fragmentation" to thinking and reading habits

(1) An important issue facing us in this era: we are sacrificing the ability to read and think deeply while we enjoy the generosity of the Internet.

(2) Printed books allow us to enter the state of concentration and promote the development of deep thinking and creative thinking. In contrast, the Internet encourages us to collect "fragmented" information from a variety of sources in a water-like manner. Other theoretical norms are industrialism, a set of speed-first, efficiency-oriented ethics, and a set of production maximization. The ethics of maximizing consumption.

(3) The Internet is transforming us according to our own face. We have become more and more comfortable with “scanning” and “slighting”, but what we are losing is concentration, thinking and reflection.

(4) Industrialization thinking is to look at the essence through phenomena, from shallow to deep; informational thinking is to look at phenomena through the essence, from shallow to shallow.

(5) The Internet attracts our attention only to distract us.

(6) The human brain is highly malleable, and this plasticity person cannot feel it by itself. But today you finally "know": you often feel tinnitus, witness, concentration cannot concentrate; you are lazy to remember, used to open mouth to ask; you do not like lengthy statements and expressions like to go straight to the subject and search answer. This state is called "busy survival." In situations where information is readily available, we often prefer short, fragmented and enjoyable content.
The "non-linear" reading method, or the fragmented browsing method, is, on the one hand, the helplessness of people dealing with information overload, and the other is the direct basis for the quiet changes of the human brain nervous system.

(7) The mission of Google is to “make all the information in the world orderly, and let the information be “available” to “available everywhere”. The more information that can be “visited”, the faster the refinement will be made. The more we think about it, the greater the output.

(8) The higher the authority of a web page, the greater the value of its own outbound links. This is exactly the same as academic citations: it is quoted once by a widely cited paper and is much more valuable than a paper cited by a few people.

(9) Every click on our website marks that an interruption in our thoughts is a complete disintegration of attention.

(10) The debate on the “google book search” business is enlightening. This debate reveals that to achieve the goal of complying with copyright law literally and spiritually in the digital age, especially to ensure fair use of copyright law, we need The road to go is still very long.

(11) Let a book appear on the Internet and be searchable on the Internet. This is also a dismemberment of him. The cohesiveness and argumentation of this article and the linearity of the narrative are all erased. In the service provided by "google books", each page and segment is surrounded by a series of links, tools, tags, and advertisements, each of which is looking forward to distracting readers.

(12) The time to collect data efficiently and the time to meditate inefficiently.

(13) The best way to read is to practice the law, not the mechanical way of reading. All writers submit their work to the time old man. Looking back 10 years later, it is worth reprinting the reprinted works.

(14) Erasmus advised each reader to carry a notebook with him and pick up the wonderful passages that are worth remembering. Such a notebook was later called a “memorandum”.

(15) Long-term memory is not just an enhanced form of short-term memory. The biological processes of these two types of memory are different. Storing long-term memory requires synthesizing new proteins while storing short-term memory is not required.

(16) The generation of the network has put more pressure on our working memory, not only to squeeze resources from advanced reasoning functions but also to hinder the consolidation of long-term memory and the development of conceptual schemas.

(17) The real meaning of learning how to think is to learn to train the ability to control the way you think and think.

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