Assignments
Here are the required assignments from class.
The Shallows homework:
“My mind isn’t going – so far as I can tell – but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I feel it most strongly when I’m reading. I used to find it easy to immerse myself in a book or a lengthy article…. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration starts to drift after a page or two.”(Carr, 5)
This was an incredible passage for me to read, because I can totally relate. When I was younger, I was a huge reader. I would sit for hours on end and read. Now, I just cant! I pick out all of these great classics that I really want to read, but after five pages, I realize that I’m staring out the window. It’s nice to be assured that I am not the only one.
“Without quite knowing what he was doing, he took a standard two pole vacuum tube, which sent an electric current from one wire to a second, and he added a third wire to it, turning the diode into a triode. … De Forest’s seemingly modest invention turned out to be a world changer.” (Carr, 79)
This is inspirational to me. Anything I put my mind to has the ability to change the world. Even if my invention is not mechanical, my input and perspective can really shape the way things turn out. Without De Forest’s work, we would not even be able to talk on the phone.
Passages I Like from The Shallows
“My mind isn’t going – so far as I can tell – but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I feel it most strongly when I’m reading. I used to find it easy to immerse myself in a book or a lengthy article…. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration starts to drift after a page or two.”(Carr, 5)
This was an incredible passage for me to read, because I can totally relate. When I was younger, I was a huge reader. I would sit for hours on end and read. Now, I just cant! I pick out all of these great classics that I really want to read, but after five pages, I realize that I’m staring out the window. It’s nice to be assured that I am not the only one.
“Without quite knowing what he was doing, he took a standard two pole vacuum tube, which sent an electric current from one wire to a second, and he added a third wire to it, turning the diode into a triode. … De Forest’s seemingly modest invention turned out to be a world changer.” (Carr, 79)
This is inspirational to me. Anything I put my mind to has the ability to change the world. Even if my invention is not mechanical, my input and perspective can really shape the way things turn out. Without De Forest’s work, we would not even be able to talk on the phone.
Nice quotes! I was trying to think about how either of them relates you your research topic. Perhaps you can use Carr’s discussion about how the brain changes and adapts to technology to explain why people fell this urge to use the web for self-diagnosis. We live in a fast-past, instant gratification society. We want results and we want them now. Our brains are wired to think like that. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that when it comes to medical issues, we want quick and easy results, too.