Caroline Starr Rose

picture book and middle-grade author

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THE SHALLOWS: Food for Thought

9 Comments

When we go online, we enter an environment that promotes cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking, and superficial learning…
– pg 116

The Net…also turns us into lab rats constantly pressing levers to get tiny pellets of social or intellectual nourishment.
– pg 117

The Net seizes our attention only to scatter it… [it] presents us with an incredibly seductive blur.
– pg 118

The more we use the web, the more we train our brains to be distracted — to process information very quickly and very efficiently but without sustained attention.
– pg 194

Of all the sacrifices we make when we devote ourselves to the Internet as our universal medium, the greatest is likely to be the wealth of connections within our own minds.
– pg 195

We shouldn’t allow the glories of technology to blind our inner watch dog to the possibility that we’ve numbed an essential part of ourself.
– pg 212

As I said earlier this week, I don’t believe the Internet is bad. This book has pushed me to intentionally think about the time I spend online, what I want to get from it and how it often pulls me from the work and living I want to do.

My blogging will remain firmly in place: here I am able to process things I’m learning, talk about books I love, promote literacy in the classroom, and connect with readers and writers alike. The rest of my online time — aimlessly searching, social media — will take a backseat. I’m also considering signing off Goodreads next year. A piece of me is craving privacy, and my reading life feels like a wonderful place to start.

What are your impressions of the quotes above? How do you feel about the choices you make about your time online?

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Filed Under: books and reading

Comments

  1. pmn says

    September 12, 2012 at 1:11 pm

    I’ve been thinking about this too… I have tried to be more intentional with my use of the internet, finding content that inspires and encourages. I read and reread, listen and re-listen… instead of moving along to the the next thing. My new intention is to move from information consumption to wisdom integration.
    Thanks for the great post.

    Reply
    • Caroline Starr Rose says

      September 12, 2012 at 4:36 pm

      It all starts with being aware, doesn’t it?

      Reply
  2. Michelle Davidson Argyle says

    September 12, 2012 at 8:20 pm

    I “signed off” Goodreads last year. I still have an account there that feeds my blog through, but I don’t review books. I have no books on my shelves, etc. I do have a private profile on there to keep track of my books, but I don’t have any friends connected to it, and it’s under a fake name. I like my reading life to be private, so I completely understand what you mean.

    I’d like to look further into that book. It sounds fantastic, and a great way to shake some sense into anyone addicted to being online. I seem to go through cycles …

    Reply
    • Caroline Starr Rose says

      September 12, 2012 at 8:24 pm

      It really is a compelling read!

      Reply
  3. Joanne Fritz says

    September 14, 2012 at 1:49 am

    Great quotes, Caroline! Yes, we are all being driven to distraction. And unfortunately most online interaction is superficial; this is true. I’m definitely going to have to buy this book.

    I never really signed on to Goodreads to begin with. Have an account, just never did anything with it. I keep a list of books I’ve read the old-fashioned way: in a notebook! And even though I’m on LinkedIn, I never go there. Or Google+ — there are just too many things trying to grab our attention. I stick to facebook for friends and family and blogging for the children’s book community. Even that is too much when I’m trying to get some real writing done.

    Does anyone remember what life was like before the internet? I read more. Walked more. Went outside more. Talked to my family more. We actually used to play board games or create treasure hunts through the house when the boys were growing up. Seems so long ago and it was only about ten years.

    Reply
    • Caroline Starr Rose says

      September 14, 2012 at 1:59 am

      I’ve kept a notebook of my reading since 2003. It’s a real treasure, something I’m anxious to make my exclusive form of reading record keeping soon (I do want to see out this year, though).

      You are so right about all the ways life was different and we behaved differently before the Internet was around. It’s both sad and fascinating.

      Reply
  4. Liesl Shurtliff says

    September 17, 2012 at 9:25 pm

    I think about this all the time. I always feel more scattered and disconnected when I’ve spent a lot of time online. Not that I think it’s bad. Technology is so amazing and I believe it improves quality of life in many ways, but sometimes I need to just shut it down and spend some time in the real world. I feel different when I do that, in a good way.

    Reply
    • Caroline Starr Rose says

      September 17, 2012 at 9:27 pm

      I agree with everything you’ve said here.

      Reply

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