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So you are reading an article online when[br]you get an instant message with a link to

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a funny photo, which of course you have to[br]share. And now you are reading your Facebook

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News Wall, which sends you to a video of a[br]panda bear attacking a kid. And now you are

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reading wikipedia to learn everything you[br]can about the violent behavior of panda bears.

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And this is what 3 minutes on the internet[br]can be like.

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We live like this all the time, and it has[br]to have some kind of effect on us.

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The 'net is making us more superficial as[br]thinkers.

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That is Nicholas Carr. He is the author of,[br]"The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing

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to our Brains."

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To understand this whole thing better we need[br]to go way back in time, to say, like, the

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prehistoric age.

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You wanted to know everything was going on[br]around you because the more you knew about

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your surroundings the less likely you were[br]to get attacked by a predator. And there's

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even evidence that our brains release some[br]dopamine - a pleasure inducing neurotransmitter

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chemical - to reward us for seeking out and[br]finding new information.

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So, getting distracted felt good and helped[br]us stay alive. But the problem is that nowadays,

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predators aren't much of an issue, but we[br]still have the same brains. And also, there's

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the internet, which is...

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It's an incredibly information rich environment,[br]uh, that the 'net creates for us. And that's

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why we use it so much. I mean, sounds, pictures,[br]words, texts. And what this tends to do is

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promote a sort of compulsive behavior in which[br]we are constantly checking your smart phone,

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constantly glancing at our email inbox. We're[br]kind of living in this perpetual state of

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distraction and interruption.

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Which is dangerous because...

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That mode of thinking crowds out the more[br]contemplative calmer modes of thinking.

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And that focused, calm thinking is actually[br]how we learn. It's a process called memory

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consolidation.

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And that means the transfer of information[br]from our short term working memory, to our

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long term memory. And it's through moving[br]information from your working memory to your

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long term memory that you create connections[br]between that information and everything else

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you know.

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So you've got this awesome, life changing[br]piece of information in your short term memory,

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but then you hear that email ding, and poof,[br]there it goes. That email takes its place,

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and you never get a chance to learn anything,[br]all because of one distraction.

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So attention is the key. And if we lose control[br]of our attention, or are constantly dividing

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our attention, uh, then we don't really enjoy[br]that consolidation process.

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But I can hear it now, someone is out there[br]saying, "Uh, what does learning matter if

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all of the information in the world is just[br]a Google search away?" Well...

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Um, that is is kind of short-changing our,[br]our intellects. If that's the way you're using

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your mind, just kind of searching very quickly[br]and finding information and then forgetting

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it very quickly, you're never building knowledge.[br]You're simply, you're, you're kind of thinking

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like a computer.

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Which means that our very humanity is at stake.[br]And it would be a shame if we all got assimilated,

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because, well, humanity is pretty neat.

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I really believe that if you look at the great[br]monuments of culture, they come from people

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who are able to pay attention, who control[br]their mind. That's what allows us to think

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in the highest terms and think conceptually,[br]think critically, uh, think in some very creative

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ways.

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And it's this kind of thinking that's at risk:[br]being eroded one cute cat video at a time.

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Don't get us wrong: The internet is good for[br]lots of things, and it should be celebrated.

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But the best thing we can do for our minds[br]is to find some time every day to unplug,

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calm down, and focus on one thing at a time.

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Your email -- and those cats -- will be here[br]when you get back.