Shiloh Rousseau: Reading Connection #1

I can remember a very long time ago when I used to love to read. I read for fun. In elementary school, before I had a computer, I used to read books just for the sake of reading books. Then something happened; my mom got my sister and I a computer. Then, instead of reading when I came home, I would immerse myself in the World Wide Web. Games, chatting, and just surfing the net become more fun than sitting down, relaxing, and reading the pages of all those fluffy fiction books that were available in the library of my school. They were obsolete. They didn't matter. Now I could go to Neopets or whatever other website ten year old girls went to and actually interact with the computer. It was fun. But after years of surfing the net and only reading when told to by a teacher, can it be that it has actually taken a toll on my brain?
"Is Google Making us Stupid?" brought up some very interesting points that have made me question whether or not the internet is more hurtful than helpful. I'm not ashamed to admit that I have the attention span of a four year old. I find it hard to focus on anything for more than a few minutes and I often get bored when at the same task for a long period of time. Especially reading. I find it nearly impossible to sit down and read anything of great length (unless it's in the latest issue of Cosmo.) And I think this is horrible! Human beings have been reading for millions of years. The printing press is one of the most revolutionary inventions of all time, and yet three quarters of our generation can't sit down for more than ten minutes to read the newspaper.
Over the past few years, we have had amazing technological advances. And we're supposed to praise them and welcome them. They are supposed to make life easier. But how easy does life actually have to be? When will it come to the point that technology actually overpowers humans? At this point, the majority of students do research on the internet. They type in one or two words, search for five or ten minutes, and boom! They have what they need. This certainly may be easier in the short run, but in the long run, we're not giving our brains the exercise that it needs. People need to be able to sit down and actually absorb information or we'll never evolve any further.
In an article for the American Psychological Association, Bridgett Murray states that our brains simply are not wired to multi task like computers are. Murray states that with such an influx of information, people are more likely to make mistakes and get distracted. I feel like this is what happens to me when I sit down and try to read a lengthy article or a book.
Now that people are starting to realize the damaging effects that using only the internet can have on our brains, maybe people will start taking the initiative to reverse it. If we start reading more books and newspapers maybe people will have longer attention spans and be able to retain information more easily. We know there's a problem, now let's do what we can to try to fix it. Read books. Look through the newspaper. Use the internet when you have to not just because you want to.

Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" The Atlantic. 2007. http://www.theatlantic.com/
doc/200807/google
Murray, Bridget. "Data Smog: Newest Culprit in Brain Drain." APA Online. 2008. American Psychology Association. 2 Oct. 2008 .