Comments on: Is teh InterWeb Making Us Stupid?

By: MoonCake

MoonCake — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:59:17 +0000

i commend the internet for having so much reading material. if it weren’t for the intertron, i wouldn’t read nearly as much as i do. i’ve always hated reading books because they’ve always been boring to me, but i’ve actually picked up more books in the last year or two because i’m eager to absorb more material. i could also give credit to my boyfriend because he has a good collection of books and he’s a reader of sorts… i’ve also gotten more into politics and worldly affairs, and nothing really compares to the novelty of a good book.

By: Rosi

Rosi — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:35:18 +0000

I think people aren’t getting more stupid because of the Internet… almost everyone (adults) I know say they used to read more when they were younger, regardless of whether they use the Internet. I think it’s just a thing that happens as you get older: you have more to worry about, more things to do, so having a book hold your attention for the same length of time requires more of an effort to step away from your normal life. I’m not saying *all* adults have issues when reading, but I’m saying that it’s harder to fit reading into the packed life of your average adult than into the life of a college student or teenager. So many people have said to me that they don’t have time to read anymore…
And I dislike reading long articles on the Internet. But not because they’re long, but because I dislike reading on a screen, plus I have a widescreen monitor so the text comes up a lot smaller…

By: thisfieldispointless

thisfieldispointless — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 05:32:50 +0000

Hmm, Dragon… If you believe those were big words you might want to rethink this article a tad.

By: That Freakin Dragon!

That Freakin Dragon! — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:54:00 +0000

I personally have noticed myself gaining intelligence, rather than losing it. See? 4 big words, in 1 sentence.

I’ve gained more vocabulary, and grammar skills.

By: gentianstar

gentianstar — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:50:56 +0000

If you use the image of a sexy woman to illustrate “dumb,” then, yes, the Internet is making you stupid.

By: Lemons

Lemons — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:28:55 +0000

@Lo: Same here, although now I add some original fic to that. I also have noted that my obsessive following of some academic blogs has certainly expanded my knowledge, and does nothing to lessen my attention span. It’s not the intarwebs’ fault that people are purposefully choosing short, snappy content to peruse– that’s simply the sort of thing very widespread now.

By: erin

erin — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 02:33:29 +0000

I have found the same thing, in that my learning style / ability to process inoformation has changed, but as I work in academia and reading and writing is my livelihood I’m finding it very problematic!

By: CheeseDuck

CheeseDuck — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:24:52 +0000

Uhm. I didn’t read the article. Or the little excerpt.

By: Tempscire

Tempscire — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:16:06 +0000

What if I forget about the web page I was looking at in favor of getting lost in a book for a while? Does that count? Either way, I have a rather long attention span.

Re: people getting more stupid– probably not. Now we just have a huge forum in which the idiots of the world may prominently display their idiocy to all the other idiots of the world.

By: Loverat

Loverat — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 23:34:38 +0000

I think its more likely attributable to advanced medical sciences allowing people to breed when they shouldn’t and live when they wouldn’t That and the fact that our processes of natural selection (eg: the stupid will fall down the big hole the smart will walk around) no longer apply = gene pool getting diluted by the moron gene!

By: rdubs

rdubs — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 23:06:47 +0000

This world. FUCKED.
Read fahrenheit 451.

By: DOJ

DOJ — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:59:33 +0000

or maybe people are now realizing that all those books the read as a “lit major” are boring and dumb. And they only read them because it takes too much effort to go get a better book off the shelf. The internet only reduced the effort in getting something worth reading.

By: kid_icarus

kid_icarus — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:30:51 +0000

i think it started way before the internet. attention spans declined dramatically with the advent of mtv. and i’m not sure the internet is making us less intelligent. we now have access to more information much faster than we ever have been able to before. as for reading. i still read on the bus to and from work, and will look up and stare out the window now and again. not because the book is bad, but between staring at a computer screen all day, tv/movie/whatever screen at night i just find it nice to watch the world for a wee bit even if it is through a bus window.

although, i agree with neatoramawontsendmeapassword too on the grammar, etc. however, i also believe that was in decline before the internet became big as well…..and texting has not helped……ah, well such is life.

By: Jimbo

Jimbo — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:37:31 +0000

Is it just me or is that woman in the picture really hot?

Maybe I just like dumb chicks?

By: Lynn

Lynn — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:12:53 +0000

I think it’s just impatience to get to the next thing online. There’s so much stuff we know we’ll never get to it all but we still try.

I feel this impatience myself but I can and do read long articles and even whole books online. It just takes a little self-discipline.

By: Neatoramawontsendmeapassword

Neatoramawontsendmeapassword — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:43:40 +0000

I’ve never liked reading long articles online, anyway. It’s not a concentration issue. It’s an eyestrain issue.

I think the Internet is making people stupider, though, in that it appears to make poor grammar, spelling, and punctuation acceptable.

By: Ali S.

Ali S. — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:19:16 +0000

I can’t say really. I think I still maintain most of my brain power, however, when I do venture to the “i can has cheezburger” site and read the comments that fans wrote I start having severe headaches just after a few minutes. LOLspeak and such drive me insane at times too.

By: Lo

Lo — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:01:25 +0000

…I read novel length fanfiction online. In fact, I’ve read a few novels themselves online. I go through webcomic archives when I first come across them and read for hours, sometimes days, to catch up on the years I never heard of the comic. So I wouldn’t say the internet has affected my ability to focus at all.

By: cooties

cooties — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:32:50 +0000

i thought something was up when i noticed lists of names - like our internal phone list - being alphabetized by first name

By: neko

neko — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:51:49 +0000

oh, god. i think i have this too. and even though i’ve been using the internet, as well as reading voraciously since i was 9 or so, this concentration thing is a recent change. i now rarely read outside my bus rides to class, even then i apparently get bored or something, since i find myself staring out the window, ignoring the open book and unable to continue.

tl;dr: i blame web2.0.

By: BBQchicken

BBQchicken — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:36:49 +0000

Very good article. I struggled through it having to drag myself away from the temptation of clicking off to other websites half-way through.

I do find my concentration is very easily broken, both with books and other things in general. Im thinking the way ive been using the internet for the last few years may well have contributed to this and has definitely given me cause to think (all be it in short unconnected bursts) about changing a few things.

By: Chica

Chica — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:16:31 +0000

This news makes me so happy! I had assumed my reading problems were because of middle age, now maybe I can blame it on my internet reading…since I’ve got in the habit of scrolling through articles for the main point, I find I do that in books, too, which doesn’t work…

By: Andrew G

Andrew G — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:14:11 +0000

Not a problem for me at all. I used to read a lot years ago, then not as much as I spent more time on the internet, but I recently started reading a lot again and I have no problem getting through a book.

By: Owen

Owen — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:10:59 +0000

I was going to say ‘it hasn’t affected me, but I wasn’t even able to read more than 1/3 of the excerpt posted here.

By: Lucky

Lucky — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:55:17 +0000

I was just thinking about this last night! I was trying to crack open “Neuromancer” but I couldn’t concentrate! I think its all the scanning I do on Google Reader that’s turning my attention span to mush.

By: Justin

Justin — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:13:16 +0000

I don’t know if it’s the internet or what, but I definitely have become less able to concentrate and absorb long books. Unless of course I douse myself with caffeine.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this is true in some respect.

By: Tanuki

Tanuki — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:32:04 +0000

I’m not having this problem, I think that’s because of the difference between reading a book and the internet. When you are with a book, you are focused on it but with the internet, you have billions other articles to read if the one you’re reading now doesn’t hold your attention immediately.

By: luvpumpkns

luvpumpkns — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:22:55 +0000

i’m not having this problem. i’ve never been able to read long articles on the internet, because i don’t like staring at the screen that long, or with that much focus. regular books though…i read them at the same rate i always have, one every week or so. i much prefer a real book to the internet, so i can’t imagine not being able to read a book.

the only thing i’ve noticed in this vein is that it’s hard for me to sit down and watch whole movies in one sitting. i just don’t have the attention span, so i watch them in bits and pieces. so i can see that the internet certainly affects that in a person, but that shouldn’t translate over to books because you can put them down whenever you want.

By: gtron

gtron — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:45:07 +0000

this pnemoena has got to be real - in the same period of time that the internet blew up, TV has gotten way stupider, and so has pop music, and so have advertisements… and I find the newscasters and radio people are dumbing down. I thought it was me getting older, but I’m not sure.
And if you are looking for work, the internet/email approach is useless - people scan your data, never even see your face and don’t even bother to let you know your application was received… and then you find lesser skilled/talented people in jobs you were after… it is true, the humans are getting stupider, and seem more content with it. Wanna go and buy some more gas at inflated prices in a completely false pricing scheme that does not match the actual supply potential? Everyone else is!

By: Sue Dunham

Sue Dunham — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:41:07 +0000

Me too. I used to read 2 or 3 books per week; now it takes 2 or 3 weeks to read 1 book.