Summary of Nicholas Carr's The Shallows

By IRB Media

Get the Summary of Nicholas Carr's The Shallows in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book.Original book introduction: Nicholas Carr's bestseller The Shallows has become a foundational book in one of the most important debates of our time: As we enjoy the internet's bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply? This 10th-anniversary edition includes a new afterword that brings the story up to date, with a deep examination of the cognitive and behavioral effects of smartphones and social media.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jan 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781638151357

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

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Summary

of

Nicholas Carr’s

The Shallows

What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

Table of Contents

Overview

Key Insights

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Key Insight 8

Important People

Author’s Style

Author’s Perspective

Overview

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains (2010) by Nicholas Carr is a cautionary look at how extensive Internet use changes the human brain. While the Internet can be a useful tool, it’s riddled with distractions like hyperlinks, scrolling feeds, and pop-up windows that erode users’ attention span. The near constant use of devices like computers and smartphones is changing the way that people read, interact, and think about themselves and others.

The communication tools that a society relies on shape the way that its people think. When there was a shift from emphasis on the spoken word to printed writing, for example, the content of thoughts also changed. Vocabularies shrank and syntax simplified because people didn’t