The Internet is a major part of our everyday lives. Whether you are searching the news, doing homework, reading an article, or just browsing, the internet is your lifeline. It has become the center of our generation and is shaping everything we think and do. A majority of people’s time spent on the Internet is consumed by reading. Whether it is an article, essay, blog, Facebook post, etc. your brain is analyzing, collecting, and storing information. With our constantly changing society, people no longer have time to read lengthy documents. People need information anywhere, anytime, and at the touch of a button. This means that most of our time spent reading consists of “skimming,” “scanning,” or “browsing” the contents of the page we are on. This lack of in-depth reading and analyzing causes our brain to adapt to the new method of collecting information. We have become programmed to obtain mass amounts of on the surface information and to place in-depth understanding at the back of our brain’s agenda.
This new wave of reading has led to people losing concentration while reading large texts, being unable to fully read even a few paragraphs. People who are avid readers find themselves unable to even finish a short novel. As our internet habits change, so do our reading habits. This can be viewed as both good and bad. Our brains are adapting to the new technology and nature of our generation, however, with this adaptation comes the loss of essential learning techniques and abilities. This change leads to a loss of abstract thinking, limiting our minds to the trivial information on the surface. Without this ability, we are inhibiting ourselves from new and innovative ideas, discoveries, and accomplishments. These are the qualities that make humans so unique. If we lose this ability, we are becoming no better than the high-tech machines and robots we design to do single-minded, simple jobs.
We must not let ourselves fall victim to the simplicity of the Internet, truly losing the greatness of our minds. We need to reteach ourselves to read and learn on a deeper level and to seek information that even the internet is not able to provide.