1. Intro. to The Shallows
English B53

2. The Author
Nicholas Carr, born 1959, is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard University.
An American author, he publishes texts on technology and culture.
He published “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” in The Atlantic in It argues that the internet has detrimental effects on cognition that diminish the capacity for concentration and contemplation.

3. Wikipedia
Carr’s article, “The Amorality of Web 2.0,” published on his blog “Rough Type,” criticizes the quality of volunteer web 2.0 information projects such as Wikipedia.
Wikipedia co-founder, Jimmy Walls, admitted that the quality of the specific articles Carr mentioned was “embarrassing.”

4. The Shallows His 2010 book The Shallows develops this idea further.
It was nominated for a Pulitzer prize and was a New York Times bestseller.

5. Our Umbrella Topic
Through Carr’s book and a variety of other texts, we are going to be exploring the effects that technology, specifically the internet, have on our minds.
All of our readings and assignments will deal with this topic.
We’ll be exploring questions like
What are the negative effects of the technological boom on our culture?
Are the benefits of technology worth the risks?
How can we mitigate these effects?
How can we become better users of technology.