Over the last five years, have you noticed a change in the way you read? Is it possible that we’re all getting dumber?
I was recently reading a well-known and somewhat disturbing article entitled “Is Google Making Us Stupid“. In the article, author Nicholas Carr argues that Internet has changed the way we read, and in turn, the way we think. I think he’s on to something. He says:
…what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.
How true this is. Much of my reading is now done in bite-sized, easily digestible chunks. If a blog post is longer than a few paragraphs I skim it. Twitter posts are limited to 140 characters. If an email gets too long I skim to the end.
Later in the article, Carr quotes author and pyschologist Maryanne Wolf, who says:
When we read online, she says, we tend to become “mere decoders of information.” Our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged.
This bothers me. Why? Because as a Christian, my spiritual life is directly linked to a book. God has given His words to me in a long, detailed book – a book that requires deep reading and even deeper thinking. In scripture, the man who is blessed is the man who meditates on God’s law day and night. What a foreign concept in our text-message world.
My concern is that my net reading habits, combined with my easily distracted sinful nature, could detract from my ability to go deep into God’s word.
I don’t plan on cutting out blog reading or email, but I may reevaluate my habits. I want to ensure that nothing is hindering my pursuit of God through his word. More on this later.
What about you? Do you think the Internet is changing the way you read?
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Since I had also read that article, I found myself skimming your entry…right up to “If a blog post is longer than a few paragraphs I skim it.” Thanks for pointing this out…I shall have to pay more attention to my reading habits. For example, when reading a book, when an author quotes another author, I have already caught myself skimming it. However, the author of the book is quoting the other author (or worse yet to skim, scripture!) because they thought it was really important and says it better than they could have in the first place.
I have found that I do this as well. If I start to read something, realize that it is pretty long, I will then decide whether or not I care enough about what I’m reading to take the time. How easy it is to carry this attitude over into reading God’s Word!! I hope I never decided that I don’t care enough about the word of God to take the time. Thank you for pointing out something that is happening unconciously. Our culture has become so “drive-thru fast food” that it is easy for us to become too busy to take time to enrich our minds, our hearts, and our souls.
thanks for pointing this out. i also tend to do this. though i read many books, i find myself reading in bite-sized pieces, not in chunks of time. thanks for this challenge to not waste my time but to really dig deeper into God’s Word (and other great books).
This explains alot for me. I used to be able to read and retain so much more. Now my attention span is shoddy. This entry causes me to need to examine and evaluate. Thanks, brother.
I can not remember a single book that I’ve read in its entirety since I entered college close to five years ago. I used to read a ton.
Something drastic might be in order….
Brian – Yeah, I can totally relate. I tend to skim authors as well. I’m trying to slow down.
Wendy – Yep, it’s so easy to import our reading habits into the word of God, which is something I so much want to avoid.
Emily – I need to push myself to read longer as well. It’s something I need to grow in.
Jenn – I was trying to remember what my attention span was like in earlier years as well. I couldn’t remember.
Mike – Go for it. Drastic!
Stephen,
I suspect there is too much truth to this speculation. I’m 52, and I ‘m sure your generation is feeling the effects of this more than most folks in mine.
I love your reasoning on why this is a bad thing: God has revealed himself to us in a Book. I’m burdened for younger generations, that they would know this, and that their parents and other teachers would take steps to prevent their being unable to read comprehensively and meditatively.
Thanks, very good thoughts. I look forward to hearing more from you on it…what steps will you take to ensure Google doesn’t make you (or your children) stupid?
I use blogs and internet to “supplement” the reading of “real” books. As long as it is secondary, I think we are fine. It bothers me that so many Christians read magazines these days rather than books.
I like the way my reading has changed… so far. Down the road, I’m sure it’s a possible for me to lose the ability to focus.
For now, I think Internet reading has forced me to take in meaning rather than words. When I come away from a passage of Scripture, what do I remember from it? Do I remember the details or the entire message the God is trying to present?
I’m not saying details aren’t important.
Say you read every word of a book a year ago. How much do you remember? How much do you actually put into practice?
What if you had instead skimmed the book, getting 80% value for only 20% of the time, and had instead lived those few principles?
We’re on information overload as it is. We don’t need any deeper reading… we need to start applying what we’ve already read.
I hope a few years from now, I was right. :>)
The way I read has definitely been affected by google/the internet, but some of it may actually be good.
In the past I think I was more caught up in trying to catch every word, and was terrible at speed-reading, even when I wanted to. The information overload on the internet has helped me to focus on getting the gist when I need to.
Now I just read differently depending on the medium. I jump around and skim all the time on the internet, but love taking time to sit and read good books.
Still, it’s definitely a danger.
I don’t do text messaging at all, though, partly b/c i dont want 2 start this style
(Save the English language!)
Jeri – I think you’re right. I think this may affect my generation more than previous ones. I’ll definitely have to do some thinking on how to fight Google. Watch for a future post.
Jon – I agree. Blogs and the net seem to function best in a secondary way.
Marshall – I think you’re right that we’re on information overload, but I think that’s why we need deeper reading. We need to take in less info, read deeper, and apply what we read.
Jason – I appreciate how you read differently for different mediums. That takes real effort for me.
I’ve found that my time in college has led to more of a skimming than truly reading. I found myself reading to get the information that I would need to write an essay or take a test, and so I didn’t really take in everything I read.
Unfortunately, I find myself doing that sometimes when I’m reading the word, particularly if I’m just trying to get in a few minutes at a time. It’s like if I don’t ready myself and enter into His presence as I’m reading, I enter into collegiate reading mode and just look to find the jist of everything. It’s something I’m definitely trying to improve so that I don’t just ‘get the jist’ of God’s word, but really seek to absorb it.
Stephen,
I just noticed that your title reads “Don’t Let Make Google Make You Stupid.” Was this a clever insertion on your part to prove your point, or an accidental omission on your part that serves to prove your point? Either way… it proves your point!
Jeri – that’s hilarious. That was a total accident. I rest my case…
Yes.
it would have been great if you didn’t include religion in this post. apart of that nice post
sorry only after posting I realized this is a religious blog… my sincere apologies.
Just a possibility… At Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry and AW Tozer Theological Seminary the teachers use a book called….wait for it….."How to Read a Book" at odds with the the kind of instruction that seems to be prevalent. This book shines light into reading at all levels and for all things. What you are talking about is the kind of reading that one does. It shifts and changes to accomidate all situations. Just thought you might want to know about this resource.
I read Carr's book "The Shallows", and it made me think more deeply about how I approach the Bible. I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with the hyperlink approach to things, however, I think the danger comes in not being aware that that's our default approach these days. Case in point: Logos Bible Software, which is a heavily hyperlinked piece of Bible Study software that I, and many others from Christian geek laypeople to pastors use on a regular basis, is neck-deep in this kind of information transfer, nevertheless, I find that using something like that has helped me to plumb the depths of certain portions of Scripture, and has helped me to greater understand it.
That being said, there's an article on the New York Times that was just posted today (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/technology/25brain.html?_r=1&ref=technology), talking about the value of unplugging as far as it relates to our brain. It basically states that unplugging is good for our brains, as it helps to stimulate creativity, and turn short-term memories into long-term ones. I wholeheartedly agree with this. There's a time to use the internet, and there's a time not to, and at times, I still prefer the good old pen and paper approach to the Scriptures.
In either case, we can't be having much prayerful communion with God, if we're constantly barraged by outside information to which we set up no boundaries or filters. I think if there's one huge negative to our constant access to information, it's that our prayer lives have suffered. And that can't be a good thing.
Looks like the link attached itself to the parenthesis. Here it is unencumbered. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/technology/25br...
If your devotional life is hurting, it's probably not Google's fault. Shifting the blame won't shift the culture.
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