A critique of digital reading: Nicholas Carr's The Shallows

The author draws on his analysis of Nicholas Carr's The Shallows to explore changes in reading practice brought about by the digital revolution. Such changes include cognitive over-stimulation that does not encourage reading as an aid to thought, which has been a constant historical and cultural construct since the twelfth century. This key issue does not only impact digital natives: rather, it concerns the intellectual life of everyone in society. However, analyses of online reading should not be limited to the analysis of those tools currently available, and more beneficial ways of combining digital reading with the key reading model of the printed word may yet emerge.
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