I'm constantly switching from a book, to a cell phone, wandering to my iPod, turning on the television, practicing piano, blogging a little bit, and repeating the cycle over and over again. In shorter words, I can't concentrate! It gets so bad that, as of now, only one of my hands has painted nails because I don't have the attention span to do the other one right now. Carr speaks of our brains adapting to the internet, needing information faster and faster that we don't have the attention span to read lengthy works anymore. I find that to have leaked into basically every aspect in my life.
I am, I admit, a computer addict. When I'm not on my desktop, I'm on my laptop or iPad. It's safe to say that I'm even using this blog to procrastinate on reading, convincing myself that I'm getting work done when really, I just need to read and write. Carr notes professors, scientists, and writers that don't even read or write anymore. They just blog to save time and money on publication and editing. They Google everything they want to know, so instead of getting authors that ramble in circles and add depth to the information, they get straight forward answers. Our brains aren't used to reading and absorbing as much "fluff" as it used to when we were little. Technology wasn't as advanced as it is today, and teachers made us read to make the grade. Will books survive the century? Or will the pages lose their value to little blips on computer screens before our lifetime is up?
I find myself in a very similar situation. When I get ready to read, I find myself having to force myself to do it. I try to keep distractions as far away from me as possible. However, when I start to read, I'm not focused. I may be reading the words, but my thoughts are elsewhere, and I often have to reread multiple pages because of it. Sometimes, I end up just going to sleep because I'm not processing any information, just repeating the same thoughts over and over again in my head.
ReplyDeleteI think he was pretty spot on about us needing information fast. With books, you have to read and read and skim and keep flipping pages to find your answer. On the internet, there's this this very convenient tool that I prefer when searching for information on a page: "ctrl+F".
I agree our generation consist of new technology, new intelligence, new inventions and many more "distractions." Like you stated, what differentiates our generation from past generations is our technology and our ability to stay on task. Even as i was reading your thread i was switching on and off from facebook, texting, Instagram, and even music(not saying you're boring). There are so many distractions and i agree technology is part of our short attention spans. My entire life i grew as technology grew and my mind prospered. People say, "just google it!" It gets straight to the point but the downfall to it we're learning new things easier and a different style than old times. I don't know if its for the better but it makes life easier.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion books will survive as long as we survive because even though the world is so advanced, many people in the world are still not yet up to date. There are many situations where something can happen and we have to refer to books for information.
I'm on the exact same page as you! I always get distracted and want to do something else other than AP work. I must confess, I even cleaned my room today so I didn't have to work on homework!
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, books will survive the century and many more centuries after, maybe just not in paper form. Now we have gadgets that give us books, like apps in our iphones/ipods, kindles and nooks from Barnes and Nobles. I myself like reading books in paper form, but others may like using their gadgets. Yes, there is always google to look up information, but books aren't just used for information, their also used for pleasure. So I think books will always remain in our lives forever.
I'm always getting distracted whenever I try to read, I think because as carr said the internet is making us want information faster. So when I read I'm just scanning the book and I have to keep going back to reread the information. As for books I think they will perish in time because it seems society is less interested in the physical copy when you can just download it off the internet. But what happens if when we no longer have physical copies and our computers, phones, kindles and other gadgets crash? That would be the only thing that I would be worried about if we no longer needed books. I read some where in an article that this man he's actually collecting every book ever published and storing them in a type of storage facility. Other than that, in my opinion, I hope books do survive through our technological advances.
ReplyDeletei have the same situation, i cant read a full chapter without constantly checking my phone or ipod or going on the computer. To be honest I even try to find some excuse so i wont have to even look at the book because I know I wont consitrate.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I think books will survive the century, but over a period of time they will start to fade. Technology is so adavance and crazy that paper back books wont exsist very long. Soon all books will be read on gadgets like iphones, ipods, and nooks. So to fully answer your question yes books will survive , but not for long.
I had to force myself to turn my cell phone and ipod off and then hid them so I would not be tempted to check for messages or listen to music. When I was reading Postman I found myself thinking, "Get to the point already!" I agree with you, we can't focus long enough to read anything lengthy. We are used to Internet answers or short bullet points. Books will become a thing of the past, like writing letters to people.
ReplyDeleteBooks will presumably be considered as "vintage" in a few years from now. They will be something considered different and unique while most of the world uses advanced methods of acquiring information. However, i have come to notice how our society has a very nostalgic attitude. This gives me great hope, realizing that we naturally recycle our history. We have much respect for our past and what we had achieved. Many people consider their selves very attracted to vintage items such as, clothes, music, lifestyle, furniture, art, and etc. Every year the new trend is actually not inspired by technology, but inspired by our own magnificent past. As a pretty hard core blogger myself, I am aware of what the newest trends surfacing the pop culture of the world. I would say a few years back, trends dating back to styles from the 80's were all over the place, the stores, music, cars, etc. Now I've noticed that the 90's is becoming the new inspiration. Many people are listening to music from the 90s and are adapting to the old styles they endured, haha.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of people aware of what's happening, but the negative shouldn't be made any more than what it is. People are truly grateful of man's history.
I like to believe that the generation we are living with right now, is the stage of gratitude and appreciation before the ultimate stage of completely NEW IDEAS. A few years from now, the 90s will be moved to the 2000s and then they're will be no more past decades to reminisce to.
There is something reassuring and familiar with the image of one reading a book in front of a fireplace. This book will inevitably be replaced by a kindle. Our society has to find the most efficient way possible. The book will have to evolve similar to the candle. The act of carrying limitless amounts of books on a little machine is very appealing.Even though it may not be in my lifetime, books will eventually dissappear until they will simply be regarded as relics of a past age.
ReplyDeleteOn another issue, it is correct that our attention spans have been greatly dwindled. I am living out his observations as I try to read the numerous posts on this blog. I find myself simply skimming posts for important, interesting information. Sometimes I avoid entire posts simply because they are too long. This habit is difficult to break even when making a conscious effort.