Well, Duh.

Another book is in from the Seattle Public Library wait list:  The Shallows - What the Internet is Doing to our Brains, by Nicholas Carr.  It turns out I’m getting stupider as I blog this.  Or at the very least I’m shortening my attention span and becoming a less linear thinker.  Is this good or bad?  Bad, of course.  Alas, computers, the Internet, mobile phones and videos are not going away, and our culture will change as a result.  Bemoaning the fact gets us nowhere.  Shallower, less linear thinkers are inevitable.  

Maybe I’m just old fashioned, or slow to adapt, but no matter how much time I spend on-line (and it is A LOT), I still love to read books.  I have no trouble sitting on the couch and engrossing myself in an epic novel, memoir or history book (see Cleopatra, above).  Then again, I’m middle-aged, so I suppose my brain is less plastic and my reading habits are firmly entrenched after decades of reinforcement, but it appears that I am the last of a dying breed.  I will resist the temptation to assume that anyone younger than me is stupid.

For books on brain research that I found more interesting (or more helpful) than this one, try The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science, by Norman Doidge, and Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home and School, by John Medina.   I recommend the Medina book in particular because he gives you a lot of tips on how to learn and retain information.  This is helpful if you have kids in school, or if you’re simply aging and worried about the loss of brain function.  Apparently all hope is not lost.