"Is Google making us stupid?" I think the Internet is driving me crazy

When I first moved into my current apartment, the estate manager asked me why don't I subscribe to cable TV. I told him that the Internet is enough to keep me busy. I was serious - I do not have time to watch television nowadays. The internet, is a time-sucker.

Ok, to be fair, with internet banking, its ability for us to book things online, register for classes and communicate etc, the Internet allows us to save time and the hassle of having to get out there physically to get things done. However, as much as it has helped, it is also a huge source of distraction (to me). Look at how our life is entrenched in the computer these days - we will be flittering between hyperlinks, checking our emails, chatting, MSN-ing, checking facebook, and now we have one more new addition to the list - the blackboard. Yes, luckily I refused to allow facebook and twitter to dominate my life. But as it is now, it's already bad enough. I long to savor what it is like to be able to do ONE thing at a time... in PEACE...

In any case, I do prefer reading over watching television (if we don't consider the content). In a way, television is a more passive mode of receiving information. We are just "fed" with the information. Reading is supposed to be a more engaging activity than watching television. It allows me to stop any time, think and process the information read. So I like it better. But the problem is, I can hardly read in peace especially when I read online, let alone engage in any deep thinking.

I read an article sometime ago, "Is Google making us stupid?" by Nicholas Carr. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/
It resonates well with me. The author argues that we are no longer "engaged or "making rich mental connections" when we read online as compared to when we read in the past. What Carr says is, when we read online, we "remain largely disengaged", unlike reading a tactile book. But with our lifestyle today, we hardly have the luxury to hold any book in peace anyway, so I guess it makes no difference anymore...