Nicholas Carr in his new book, Shallows, argues that our brains are "plastic," that is they are modified by the tasks we undertake. "When we're constantly distracted and interrupted, as we tend to be online, our brains are unable to forge the strong and expansive neural connections that give depth and distinctiveness to our thinking. We become mere signal-processing units, quickly shepherding disjointed bits of information into and then out of short-term memory."
This is another facet of 21st Century living affecting who we are: how we live, how we write, how we do art? This is what this blog is about: how to get out of the shallows.
"The stone is given its existence; it need not fight for being what it is -- a stone in the field. Man [sic] has to be himself in spite of unfavorable circumstance; that means he has to make his own existence at every single moment. He is given the abstract possibility of existing, but not the reality. This he has to conquer hour by hour. Man [sic] must earn his life, not only economically but metaphysically.” Jose Ortega y Gasset from History as a System.
To check out Ortega y Gasset's book, click here: History as a System and Other Essays Toward a Philosophy of History
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