I agree with Vartan — whether or not multi-tasking (or attempting to multitask) is “productive” or not depends on the nature of the task at hand and what kind of thinking (and attention) is involved.

Thanks for this, Monica. I think we should talk about the process you describe, whereby things that used to feel easy, intuitive, and even natural, have become more complicated, siloed, and time consuming to access — and we’re not even talking about the accessibility issues that ensue.

This is such an important angle, Xin. Thank you for this discussion. I also read Sapiens with great enthusiasm and attention. While I don’t agree with all of his argument, I think he has important insights about why humans have been so successful as a species. I’m eager to read his next book, Homo Deus (http://www.ynharari.com/book/homo-deus/) — as soon as summer gets here! Let me know what you think if you end up reading it as well.

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I thought I knew where this was headed from the title (memory as social construct), but this twist is pretty important, and interesting — is a memory still a memory if it’s constructed artificially? Ouch. And I’ll give “Black Mirror” another chance — the first episode I watched creeped me out big time.

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I love the photos juxtaposing newspaper readers with screen readers. Reading a (paper) newspaper was definitely a solitary activity — you might talk to someone about an article after you read it, but I’m pretty sure everyone on the train kept their face buried in the paper until the train stopped. The people using their phones, on the other hand, are most likely doing something very social — texting or snapchatting with someone else, posting on Instagram, even trolling their Facebook feed. They are likely interacting with others.

I appreciated the quotes, Jariah. I think we all get a bit frazzled this time of the semester, and our habits of reading and communicating on our laptops and phones probably aren’t helpful in that regard. But I don’t think these new modes of reading are “bad.” They are just different — an addition to but not substitute for long form reading and sustained, focused concentration. The trick (and it isn’t easy) is to learn how to be more deliberate about which mode we’re in and why.

I think Meghan makes an important point — it’s not Google itself that’s the problem, but rather how it’s used.

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Your point about all innovations in expression and communication provoking some kind of pushback is well-taken. An intriguing issue that’s emerged in the last few years looks more closely at the adaptive nature of our cognitive structures and the algorithms that govern the software we interact with. Thank you for pointing out that length and complexity are not guarantees of quality or merit. But you really should give War and Peace a try. At least the peace parts.

Thanks for this post, Nicole, and thanks very much for the reference to that segment of Invisibilia. I agree there are crucial differences between information and intellect. The web puts an abundance of information at our immediate disposal, but we have to transform that information into something new and meaningful. I guess that puts me closer to the “full potential” camp — although I am also a huge fan of unplugging when the time is right.