In Chapter Two of The Shallows, which is titled “The Vital
Paths,” Nicholas Carr presents a thesis whereby he presents an example of the
ability for our tools, or “writing equipment” to inspire the way we create.
There is almost a sense of Pathos when he discusses the suffering of Fredrich
Nietzsche, his illness and desperation that nearly drive him over the edge
until he buys a typewriter! But this typewriter wasn’t just any old
contraption. It was “A Danish made Malling-Hansen Writing Ball,” one of the
cutting edge instruments for writers of the day. “It resembled an ornate golden
pincushion. Fifty-two keys, for capital and lowercase letters as well as
numerals and punctuation marks, protruded from the top of the ball in a
noncentric arrangement scientifically designed to enable the most efficient
typing possible.” (17)
Could it be that in imagining Nietzsche sitting down for the
very first time in front of this new work of Art, the author reminisces about
the first time he himself had ever sat down in front of a computer? In contrast
to the times, although A PC or A Mac is worlds away from a typewriter, consider
that the year Nietzsche received his was 1882. So Carr,
is, I believe, meaning to convey how similar that was to his experiences with Computers,
laptops, and even smartphones in current times. Before he felt a need to write
this book, he had written articles like “Is Google making us stupid?” in a bid
to be a rare case of somebody who’s career was in Technology, yet criticizing
that very thing that was his bread and butter at the same time. He understands
the seduction of game changing technology and the allure of something that can
jump start a project or even a career. Yet it now seemed like he was
acknowledging the danger of it also.
Even Nietzsche’s close friend Heinrich Koselitz “noticed a
change in the style of his writing. Nietzsche’s prose had become tighter, more
telegraphic. There a new forcefulness to it.” It leaves questions about the
fate of Nietzsche’s work. Would he have become the literary giant that he had
become without this Malling Hansen Writing Ball? Would Nicholas Carr have
written a book criticizing technology if he hadn’t been educated backwards and
forwards on the subject? I think not.
Maybe both Nietzsche and Carr would have created works altogether
different without their tools. It reminds me of playing a guitar verses playing
a guitar through an amp, with pedals and effects. Sometimes a different tone
will inspire a whole different direction, a melody that would not have been
thought of by just playing a guitar by itself.
The tone I sense from Carr’s writing is not one of regret,
because I think he’s intelligent enough to know that he may have reached new
heights partially due to the same technology he is gently criticizing. He
presents facts about neuroplasiticity,
how even “during the twentieth century, neuroscientists and
psychologists also came to more fully appreciate the astounding complexity of
the human brain. Inside our skulls, they discovered, are some 100 billion
neurons, which take many different shapes and range in length from a few tenths
of a millimeter to A few feet.” His ethos is definitely one of a scientist
first and foremost, but one who has an omniscient sense of the cosmos. I feel
intuitively that the author is so in awe of human potential that he has decided,
at one point, to try and figure out how to strike a delicate balance between
the world of technology that he knew so well, and a more natural landscape that
he may have felt he and many of his peers had definitely been lacking. In some
ways I feel that “The Shallows” could be the instruction book for a 12 step
program of Internet addiction. Even though that sounds sarcastic of me, due to
the highly addictive nature that often comes with being in this human form, I
accept and am grateful to Nicholar Carr for this book, and the message of his which
resounds so deeply within me.
This book, and particularly to me, this chapter, succeeds in
laying foundations subtly and entertainingly. We are drawn into the stories of
Nietzsche, of Scientists, Biologists, and Psychologists discovering insights
into the brain and mind that had never been considered before. And than his
autobiographical meanderings turn what some could have seen as an anti
technology rant into A search for meaning, A nuanced, sensitive journey into
striking what may be A perfect prescription for creating peace within
ourselves, without a sense of repression.
He goes back to being
a child and watching “Marshall Mcluhan and Norman Mailer” (24) debating on the
television, and we follow his own research into neurology, and the possibility
of adapting our brains no matter what we previously had gone through. It’s sort
of a strange coincidence to me, because I am interested in everything he’s
talking about.
We are on a journey
and we all do the best we can. Nicholas Carr became an IT specialist, and then
he realized he was spending too much time in front of a computer screen. Through
his studies not only of scientists, but of philosophers as varied as Aristotle,
Hippocrates, and Descartes, he has finally come to the conclusion, after much
doubt, that “A computer, a mere tool, could alter in any deep or lasting way
what was going on inside my head.” I believe this is a man who is grateful. He
has figured out that gifts have their limits.
And that “The brain- and the mind to which it gives rise- is forever a
work in progress.” (38) At the same time, he is not disparaging. He is
fortunate, to have been able to discover, amidst his intellectual pursuits, and
his career, a philosophy that has positive implications upon the reader.
Overall, I feel Carr’s message is one of inspiration and
change. The fact that, as James Olds puts it, our brains are “very plastic,” (26) conveys that
no matter how damaged we are we can improve. “The brain has the ability to reprogram itself
on the fly, altering the way it functions.”(27) I find this magnificent! It is
riveting and thrilling to believe that we can change. For years when I was
younger I thought it would be fun to play tennis. But for some reason I was
terrible at it! When I lived in Los Angeles I played a smaller version of the
game, Paddle tennis. I was really bad at first, but for whatever reason I loved
the game. I didn’t feel the same pressure I felt growing up with three brothers
who were much more athletic than I was. I played a lot and got better and
better- for me. And than when I came to visit my family and friends in Santa
Rosa, I slowly but surely started playing regulation tennis. I can even beat my
brother once and a while, which was impossible before. I’m even taking a Tennis
class. Even though I’ll never be Andrew Agassi, I love the game and feel that it
benefits me. And I also feel like the neural pathways in my brain must be
different than they were when I could barely his the ball over the net. I didn’t
realize it, but on a certain level, I was practicing neuroplasticity. I knew I
had limits, but I also knew I could somehow improve. I didn’t know than that my
brain was so adaptable. I have heard others talk about it, but this book shines
a light on it in A way that is educational yet not so overbearing to
understand. And I’m grateful I decided to continue my educational journey so
that I can build neural pathways in other ways I abandoned because the
challenge felt too great for me at earlier. I was diagnosed many years ago with
having attention deficit disorder. I know it’s a pretty common analysis, but my
therapist recommended that I go on medication. I never went on medication but
have tried to influence myself positively through diet and exercise. A psychiatrist
had me try Omega 3, since I don’t eat a lot of meat, he thought I should try
fish oil tablets. I believe that my brain has been repairing. I have been on a
journey for a long time- one that has had peaks and valleys, and one where I
started out with a lot of promise but also with a lot of failure regarding my
academic life and other aspirations. I remember after finding out that several mercury
cavities in my mouth were dangerous to me, according to a holistic dentist I
trusted, I wondered if that could have contributed to some of the brain fog I felt
and my inability to concentrate for long periods of time. I began A journey of saving up money through
various jobs to get the fillings removed. How much did that affect my brain? How much
harder do I have to work on this paper because of brain fog? How much better
would I be at Math and Sciences if I hadn’t been poisoned? I’m not expressing
this as a victim and I understand how much are we all poisoned to a certain
degree in this society. On the flip side, maybe the poison tuned me into a
creative world where I could madly write poetry and songs for hours on end. And
maybe now that I KNOW about neuroplasticity and the brain’s ability to do heavy
lifting, I can push myself much harder than I would have if I never felt
handicapped from years of attention
deficit disorder, A complete inability to focus, and now the fog finally being
lifted. I somehow feel that if my brain had been in perfect working order all
those years, I wouldn’t still be attempting a career in the arts, as strange as
that seems.
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