These two studies feed into the debate that is now surrounding Nicholas Carr\u2019s book, \u201cThe Shallows.\u201d\u009d Carr argues that the Internet is leading to a short-attention-span culture. He cites a pile of research showing that the multidistraction, hyperlink world degrades people\u2019s abilities to engage in deep thought or serious contemplation.<\/p>\n
Carr\u2019s argument has been challenged. His critics point to evidence that suggests that playing computer games and performing Internet searches actually improves a person\u2019s ability to process information and focus attention. The Internet, they say, is a boon to schooling, not a threat.<\/p>\n
But there was one interesting observation made by a philanthropist who gives books to disadvantaged kids. It\u2019s not the physical presence of the books that produces the biggest impact, she suggested. It\u2019s the change in the way the students see themselves as they build a home library. They see themselves as readers, as members of a different group.<\/p>\n
The Internet-versus-books debate is conducted on the supposition that the medium is the message. But sometimes the medium is just the medium. What matters is the way people think about themselves while engaged in the two activities. A person who becomes a citizen of the literary world enters a hierarchical universe. There are classic works of literature at the top and beach reading at the bottom.<\/p>\n