The internet might be changing the way we think

The Atlantic - Is Google Making Us Stupid?

see also: Facebook and Bebo risk 'infantilising' the human mind

Though not an outright op-ed or opinion article, it is short on anything other than anecdotal evidence and historical analogy. The anecdotal evidence is taken from the author himself and other various academics, writers and literature buffs-- they report having less patience with deep, sustained reading and instead find themselves 'skimming' or flitting between various texts, through hyperlinks, mainly on the internet. The internet is becoming the 'universal medium', the place where other media is going, e.g. newspapers, books, music, movies, TV. As it does, it changes those media, adapts it to the intellectual expectations (hyperlinks) and advertising models (banners, sidebars) the web already has. A recent study by a British university suggests that users on research sites infrequently read the entire article they're looking for, often skip around, looking for 'quick wins'. The article also has some excerpts from other recent books and articles that talk about this phenomenon. The historical analogy part of the article discusses the invention of writing, the printing press, the clock, the typewriter-- all technologies that changed how we interacted with the world and, also, how we did our thinking. The prognosticators were often right-on when predicting the losses of value we would incur, and often missed the great positive aspects of the various technological developments. There is also a discussion of Google's business philosophy and how it might be considered similar to Fredrick Taylor's development of a streamlined, no-wasted-movement industrial management system for factory workers. What Taylor did for physical movements within industry in the early 1900s, is the internet, led by Google, going to do for our thinking? This is considered a loss in valuable mental capabilities.