American
Nicholas Carr is an American technology writer whose work examines the cognitive and cultural effects of digital technology.
Nicholas Carr came to wide attention with a 2008 Atlantic essay, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” — a question about whether constant internet use was changing how people think, shortening attention spans, and undermining the capacity for deep reading. The essay generated more response than almost any piece the magazine published that decade, and The Shallows (2010) was his book-length answer.
The Shallows was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and won the Davos World Economic Forum Award. Its argument — that neuroplasticity means heavy internet use physically reshapes cognitive pathways toward breadth and skimming at the expense of depth and concentration — was serious, well-sourced, and prescient. Subsequent developments in social media, smartphone addiction, and attention fragmentation have made the book look considerably more conservative than alarming.
His earlier book, The Big Switch (2008), analysed the shift to cloud computing, and The Glass Cage (2014) extended his critique to automation and the cognitive effects of relying on algorithms for tasks previously requiring human judgment. Carr is one of the most consistently serious technology critics writing in English.
by Nicholas Carr
Nicholas Carr's Pulitzer Prize finalist argues that the internet is reshaping human cognition — training brains for distraction, skimming, and rapid switching at the expense of deep reading and sustained thought.
Check Price on Amazon (paid link)Disclosure: Amazon links on this page are affiliate links. If you purchase through them we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.