Is this the end for books?

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by pocoreader

No more books? Oh, man! I'm still getting over the loss of scrolls.

Good job they've got antibiotics for that now, could be bad having a case of the scrolls...

[luqmaninbmore]

Sensationalist headline aside, I don't think that the article was particularly luddite. It didn't seem to be making a value judgement. What bothers me is that the author seems to misunderstand Carr's position. It's not that the interwebz are making us stupid, it's that they are changing the way we think and perhaps causing us to lose skills that Carr (and many other people) finds valuable. This does not preclude the possibility that these changes may also have benefits. And he totally mis-represents Carr's view vis-a-vis Plato and books; while acknowledging that there could have been some loss in mnemonic skill, Carr definitely believes that the trade off was worth it in terms of the cognitive avenues that books opened up.

[luqmaninbmore]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

As I said, it may be true of most people today; it doesn't mean people won't learn to deal with it better tomorrow.

Carr's point is based upon studies of the physical structures of the brain. While one of his points is that the brain is quite plastic, there are still physical limits. And, more to the point, it is that plasticity that makes what you are saying unlikely: while it is possible that we may become better multitaskers via practice, these practices shape the brain and consciousness in such a way that it becomes more difficult to engage in certain mental activities: concentrating on long form narratives, intricate logical and philosophical arguments, and moral deliberation. The latter was something that Heidegger was particularly worried about.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Oh my god, this so many times. I am so tired of hearing that the internet is making us all ADHD jumpy morons who can't concentrate for ten seconds.

Ok, let's say you had an iPad and you had the choice of reading, playing ngry Birds, or surfing MobileRead? I think reading might not win that round. Oh and email comes in and you hear the app go bing. So you go check email and from there, the reading just gets lost.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Ok, let's say you had an iPad and you had the choice of reading, playing ngry Birds, or surfing MobileRead? I think reading might not win that round. Oh and email comes in and you hear the app go bing. So you go check email and from there, the reading just gets lost.

I don't agree with the premise and I don't see the problem.

Sometimes I want to play Minesweeper, so I do that. Sometimes I want to read, so I do that. Having an all-in-one device doesn't mean I play Minesweeper more often and read less; it just means I spend less time switching between Minesweeper-device and reading-device.

When an email comes in, I glance up at the status bar to see what the sender/title is and if it's important. I either deal with the email later (for low priority senders/titles) or immediately (for high priority sender/titles). Then I continue doing what I was doing before the email came in.

So I disagree with your conclusion that "books lose" more than they did before I had the all-in-one device. (Indeed, I read MORE now, because I can take my phone to work, but I can't really take a paperback to work. )

Even if I was playing angry birds more often than reading, how would that be bad? Angry Birds teaches physics and spatial relationships. The Sisters of the Moon series has hawt witches sexing up fox demons. I don't buy the "reading is a purer brain activity than app games" argument.

[beppe]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Ok, let's say you had an iPad and you had the choice of reading, playing ngry Birds, or surfing MobileRead? I think reading might not win that round. Oh and email comes in and you hear the app go bing. So you go check email and from there, the reading just gets lost.

Not if you are reading a book that catches you, and that gives you continuous pleasure in reading it. Like I am reading now A passage to India, and I am happy to have the kindle to read it on the beach, and the iPod for when it is dark. I want to finish it, so I try to read fast, I want to savor all the delicious details, therefore I read it carefully. Oh, what a thrilling contrasting feeling.

Thank you Jon, for mentioning that masterpiece again.

For serious reading, a simple reader like kindle is best. But from time to time, peeking MR is a lot of fun. iPad then, like now.

[K-Thom]

Actually, printed books are kinda cute.

I have one by now and I intend to buy a second one next year or so. They look nice on the shelves.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by luqmaninbmore

Carr's point is based upon studies of the physical structures of the brain. While one of his points is that the brain is quite plastic, there are still physical limits. And, more to the point, it is that plasticity that makes what you are saying unlikely: while it is possible that we may become better multitaskers via practice, these practices shape the brain and consciousness in such a way that it becomes more difficult to engage in certain mental activities: concentrating on long form narratives, intricate logical and philosophical arguments, and moral deliberation. The latter was something that Heidegger was particularly worried about.

Well, since we are still not clear on the mental constraints that the physical limits place upon the human brain, its actual performance limits, or the difference in performance limits from person to person, we can't say with any certainty what the brain can and cannot accomplish. So any opinions of same are sheer conjecture.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

Well, since we are still not clear on the mental constraints that the physical limits place upon the human brain, its actual performance limits, or the difference in performance limits from person to person, we can't say with any certainty what the brain can and cannot accomplish. So any opinions of same are sheer conjecture.

I think that it has more to do with priority than limits on the brain. Is I think that instead of reading 100 pages in a book my time would be better spent reading 100 blog posts, articles, emails, status updates, etc., then I'm not going to be able to concentrate on reading the book.

I have this problem with sleeping. I'm not a morning person. In an ideal world, I would wake up at 10, stay in bed snoozing until 11, and not leave the house until 12. I can get out of bed to stop the alarm on my phone regardless of where I left it in the room, go back to bed and sleep for another couple of hours without any recollection of doing it. But on the rare occasions when I actually really want to wake up early, I can do it without an alarm.

[charleski]

Kahle has set up a series of converted shipping containers in California where he hopes to create another archive – one that contains a copy of every book ever published.

What, like the British Library or the Library of Congress? What a novel idea - pity that others thought of it over a hundred years ago.