“Descartes may have been wrong about dualism, but he appears to have been correct in believing that our thoughts can exert a physical influence on, or at least cause a physical reaction in, our brains, We become, neurologically, what we think” (33).

This might sound extraordinarily profound at first, or at least that’s what I thought until I thought about it for a moment, but it is stating something very obvious. Of course we can become what we think; our thoughts define us as who we are. The neurological aspect, however, is quite apparent without very complex tools to map our brain activities. It is interesting to understand that our brains can be restructured by the way and things we think of. So all the meditation and mental training those monks or other religious members go through isn’t at all a waste of time. That said, putting religion into perspective, I can see why some people can become extremely devoted to a religion. The more they think about it, the more it becomes their truth – a part of themselves.

“Our essential role is to produce ever more sophisticated tools-to “fecundate” machines as bees fecundate plants-until technology has developed the capacity to reproduce itself on its own. At that point, we become dispensable” (46).

This is the determinists’ viewpoint on technology: it would eventually become sophisticated enough to become the controller of humans. This viewpoint reminds me of the dystopian books, 1984 and Brave New World, where technology is used as a means to control – only the control is not as extreme as the determinists’ views. Even though this is not Nicholas Carr’s views as he goes on to discuss the opposite groups’ views, the instrumentalists. The title of the book and the way it introduces the internet, however, implies differently. Carr seems to be leaning towards determinists’ and is probably going to suggest the negative effects that internet has on our brains and what we can do about it. As our brains are always ready to adapt to new environments and thinking, it should possible to change what the internet is doing to our brains. What peak my interest in this quote is in the last line, “we become dispensable.” I wonder how far technology must advance in order for that to happen. From a previous TED talk video that we all watched, MIT is currently researching to improve a machine’s capability to interact with humans, giving them possible process of logical thought and perhaps the reactions that emotions create. Personally, I want that to happen, a machine with its own thoughts and personality.