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How Is The Internet Changing The Way You Think? (2011)

by John Brockman(Favorite Author)

3.41 of 5 Votes: 5

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Atlantic Books Ltd.

review 1: I picked up this book in a discount bin at The Works, which just goes to show that there’s no justice – even four years after its publication, this is still a fascinating collection of insights by some of the world’s sharpest minds, and it hasn’t aged like so many other books about the internet have. In fact, if you’re curious about the answer to the book’s titular question, there’s no better place to look.John Brockman is actually the editor of the book as well as the organiser of the Edge, a loose collection of prominent thinkers which was created “to arrive at the edge of the world’s knowledge, seek out the most complex and sophisticated minds, put them in a room together and have them ask each other the questions they are asking themselves.” These p... morerominent thinkers include such well-established names as Marissa Meyer, Richard Dawkins and Brian Eno to name just a few, and while not all of them are technically qualified to give you an answer, it’s still interesting to see what they think.There are over 150 individual responses in this collection and so there’s no shortage of answers to be had, and while not all of the respondents could agree on any one thing (they couldn’t even agree on whether the internet actually does change the way you think or not), they do all argue their opinions with some eloquence. For the record, I’m on the side of those who argued that the internet doesn’t change the way you think, but it does change what you think about and what you do with those thoughts once you arrive at them.There were a couple of minor typos here and there, and so I had to mark my score down accordingly – it seems as though Brockman didn’t have as much time as he would have liked to iron out any flaws, and you’re bound to have a strange collection of formatting to deal with as is when you’re asking over a hundred different contributors for their thoughts.But despite all that, this is actually a cracking collection and well-worth reading, especially if you’re interested in the internet. Keep an eye out for it in bargain bins and you might get a deal!
review 2: The relevant question was posed to 150 of the world's most influential people and biggest thinkers.Essays on the destruction of precise knowledge, the consequences of infinite information, the hive mind, wired brain, and the future of Deep Thought.From Martin Rees to Alan Alda, serious thinkers pose both startling answers and puzzling questions to the dilemma of the Net.Quote: "The Internet is the infinite oscillation of our collective consciousness interacting with itself."Alda's short essay "Speed Plus Mobs," posits that the internet gives us those two assets, which reduce the accuracy of information and our thoughtfulness in using it. It makes him think that the phone is not such a bad communication device after all!Pros and cons of the web, from "The Web Helps us see what isn't there" to "The Greatest Detractor to Serious Thinking Since Television."Some other interesting titles: "I have Outsourced my Memory," "The Rise of Internet Prosthetic Brains and Soliton Personhood," and "It's Not what you Know, but what you can find out."An extremely thought-provoking book, written as I type this into the all-encompassing WWW! less

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