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Loading... Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Betterby Clive Thompson
   No current Talk conversations about this book.   ) MylesKesten | Jan 23, 2024 |   ) ohheybrian | Dec 29, 2023 | Thompson on the other hand draws the more logical conclusion that the internet does cause us to think differently, but it allows us to do some powerful things that are good. He tempers this optimism with acknowledgement that the internet isn't good for everything and sometimes you need to disconnect in order to get something done, but that is how new tools work--you pick and choose how and why you use them. He then goes on to provide interesting anecdotes on what areas the internet and the power of group-think excel and where they struggle. Overall I found that I related very well to what he said about using computers as an extra place to store memories. I often find myself storing information in my head as search terms, versus the specific facts themselves. Another example is that I am good at math, but have a very difficult time doing math in my head. I just can't seem to hold more than a couple numbers in my head at a time. If I hadn't been allowed to use a calculator throughout school I probably would not have ended up as a computer programmer. (  ) bangerlm | Jan 17, 2023 |  ) Paul_S | Dec 23, 2020 | And there are others that love it, and feel that the extra benefits that you gain are worth it. In this book Thompson writes about the innovative and creative ways that people and organisations are using technologies for all manner of things. In it he uses lots of positive examples; there are detail of how video games are being used in education to teach pupils how societies need as many farmers as warriors to function. He covers the battles between the grand masters and the chess computers. There is a chapter on a university professor who recorded every single moment of his child’s formative years by having a series of cameras all around the home. He captured the moment his son took his first steps, and the first words he uttered, and how they have used this data in developing a deeper understanding of speech development. Politics creep in to it too, politicians are great are skewing the electoral boundaries so they are guaranteed a safe seat, but people are fighting back using electoral data and a mapping tool. With this mere amateurs could bring the districts back to a fair balance of voters and give the public back democracy. Search is a big thing too, rather than remember things people just use Google (other search engines are available...), which is great until you have no internet connection. He considers those early adopters who have used wearable tech to record their memories and their daily events, and the methods that they use to find moments of significance. As search technology improves, locating a specific memory or event is becoming easier, but no matter how much you want it to, Google will never find your keys. Games are now much more complex than the early point and shoot ones; some modern games have layers and layers of detail and many online ones are collaborative too; to reach the end of a quest means that you have to share information and skills. Collabaration too can playa part in trawling massive amounts of data; when the parliamentary expenses scandal happened, the Guardian didn’t have enough journalists and researchers to read all 170,000 receipts, so they release them and 20,000 people went through the entire lot in four day, finding gems like the moat and the duck house. There are many other examples too, and it is written in a similar manner to Gladwell’s books, packed full of interesting and inspirational stories of people who are using modern digital tools, and makes for a very enjoyable and readable book. ( ) PDCRead | Apr 6, 2020 | no reviews | add a review
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" It's undeniable-technology is changing the way we think. But is it for the better? Amid a chorus of doomsayers, Clive Thompson delivers a resounding "yes." The Internet age has produced a radical new style of human intelligence, worthy of both celebration and analysis. We learn more and retain it longer, write and think with global audiences, and even gain an ESP-like awareness of the world around us. Modern technology is making us smarter, better connected, and often deeper-both as individuals and as a society. In Smarter Than You Think Thompson shows that every technological innovation-from the written word to the printing press to the telegraph-has provoked the very same anxieties that plague us today. We panic that life will never be the same, that our attentions are eroding, that culture is being trivialized. But as in the past, we adapt-learning to use the new and retaining what's good of the old. Thompson introduces us to a cast of extraordinary characters who augment their minds in inventive ways. There's the seventy-six-year old millionaire who digitally records his every waking moment-giving him instant recall of the events and ideas of his life, even going back decades. There's a group of courageous Chinese students who mounted an online movement that shut down a $1.6 billion toxic copper plant. There are experts and there are amateurs, including a global set of gamers who took a puzzle that had baffled HIV scientists for a decade-and solved it collaboratively in only one month. Smarter Than You Think isn't just about pioneers. It's about everyday users of technology and how our digital tools-from Google to Twitter to Facebook and smartphones-are giving us new ways to learn, talk, and share our ideas. Thompson harnesses the latest discoveries in social science to explore how digital technology taps into our long-standing habits of mind-pushing them in powerful new directions. Our thinking will continue to evolve as newer tools enter our lives. Smarter Than You Think embraces and extols this transformation, presenting an exciting vision of the present and the future. "--
"In Smarter Than You Think Thompson shows that every technological innovation--from the written word to the printing press to the telegraph--has provoked the very same anxieties that plague us today. We panic that life will never be the same, that our attentions are eroding, that culture is being trivialized. But as in the past, we adapt--learning to use the new and retaining what's good of the old. Thompson introduces us to a cast of extraordinary characters who augment their minds in inventive ways. There's the seventy-six-year old millionaire who digitally records his every waking moment--giving him instant recall of the events and ideas of his life, even going back decades. There's a group of courageous Chinese students who mounted an online movement that shut down a $1.6 billion toxic copper plant. There are experts and there are amateurs, including a global set of gamers who took a puzzle that had baffled HIV scientists for a decade--and solved it collaboratively in only one month. Smarter Than You Think isn't just about pioneers. It's about everyday users of technology and how our digital tools--from Google to Twitter to Facebook and smartphones--are giving us new ways to learn, talk, and share our ideas. Thompson harnesses the latest discoveries in social science to explore how digital technology taps into our long-standing habits of mind--pushing them in powerful new directions. Our thinking will continue to evolve as newer tools enter our lives. Smarter Than You Think embraces and extols this transformation, presenting an exciting vision of the present and the future"-- No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)303.48Social sciences Social Sciences; Sociology and anthropology Social Processes Social change Causes of changeLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.96)
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