Altering the modern mind

A recently published book claims that the amount of time we spend on the Internet is changing the very structure of our brains. Its thesis is simple enough: not only that the modern world's relentless informational overload is killing our capacity for reflection, contemplation and patience, but that our online habits are also altering the way our brains are wired.

In the book, the author looks back on such human inventions as the map and the clock and the extent to which they influenced our essential models of thought. He argues that the Internet's multiplicity of stimuli and mass of information have given rise to hurried and distracted thinking. Without putting too fine a point on it, the author concludes that our ability to learn anything at all worthwhile has become superficial. Surprisingly very little research has looked into the Internet's effects on the brain, but further research is in hand and is investigating whether deep-thinking processes really are in danger of diappearing.