Author: Google Ruins Our Brains

Does smart software make us stupid? Absolutely, says author Nicholas Carr. In an interview with the BBC, Carr says we are getting a little too much help from technology—and it's changing our wiring for the worse. We are losing our capacity to store information and our ability to concentrate, he says, and "helpful" services like Google Books and satellite navigation systems are partly to blame.

"In many ways I admire Google, but I think they have a narrow view of the way we should be using our minds," explains Carr, author of The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. "They have this view that everything's about how efficiently you can find that particular bit of information you need." Carr counters that using our brain to read an entire book or remember directions is worth the effort—consider it a workout for your mind.
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