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Google is attacking our brains

Looks like I'm not the only person to pick up on the whole "internet has rotted my brain" meme. Similar to what I wrote several weeks ago, the latest issue of The Atlantic has an interesting article on how Google and the internet in general have shaped the way we read and process information. It's a great article if you don't just skim through the first page.

“We are not only what we read,” says Maryanne Wolf, a developmental psychologist at Tufts University..."We are how we read.” Wolf worries that the style of reading promoted by the Net, a style that puts “efficiency” and “immediacy” above all else, may be weakening our capacity for the kind of deep reading that emerged when an earlier technology, the printing press, made long and complex works of prose commonplace. When we read online, she says, we tend to become “mere decoders of information.” Our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged.

It's inevitable that if you make information easier to find you're going to value it much less and not give it as much attention. If I had to comb through stacks of magazines and newspapers to read the daily news I'm sure I'd remember much more than what I retain clicking through Google Reader headlines. And apart from convenience, part of this has to be related to the sheer volume of information that we are now exposed to. There are things I read every day that without the internet I probably would have never come across through print or even traditional AV media.

Despite the sensationalist title of this post and my previous one on the matter, I really don't think you can blame this on the internet or even Google. Sure, there is a consumer and entertainment bend to much of the world wide web, but it is our responsibility to remain active learners and use the availability of information to our advantage. Time to stop playing the skimming game to get to salient points and really put forth effort to reason and pick up nuance.

Web 2.0: Terra Incognita - To Conquer We Must Proceed With Caution

There is a lot of discussion buzzing around the Public Relations profession about Web 2.0. In many ways, Web 2.0 seems like the holy grail of PR and Marketing. You have a captive, connected audience, capable of becoming part of a viral network instantly, all cataloged on websites that often give free access to profiles organized by demographic or keyword search terms. On facebook, you can look up entire groups that might be a natural fit for your product or service and become a part of their community. On myspace, you can view profiles of everyone from pre-teens to baby boomers and on twitter you can find an audience worldwide when you consistently write creative and clever posts. But Web 2.0 is a far cry from the traditional media outlets we are all used to using to deliver our messages, and not taking the time to learn this new world of communication can alienate that audience and cost you many opportunities.

The first thing about Web 2.0 that sets it apart from traditional media is that here, the audience is in control. Of course the audience for traditional media outlets can influence content decisions, but here, the audience is in complete control of the content. This is exciting because it creates an opportunity for Public Relations to initiate a two-way conversation about the clients they are promoting and gives end-users the opportunity to respond directly and pass along the information to their network of friends. This is great because Web 2.0 users become more loyal and involved with the brands they purchase when they feel involved in the brand. Inviting them to the discussion can be a great way to develop that brand loyalty. Even as the audience's control over the message can be an exciting and wonderful feature of this new media as far as we are concerned, our interaction with that audience can also backfire for marketing and public relations professionals who don't understand Web 2.0 - thus begins the cautionary part of my post.

Better than the CD

As far as I'm concerned here are a select few groups that sound better live in concert than on their CD (Third Day comes to mind). The Swell Season is one of these groups hands down, so if you happen across one of their concerts I highly suggest you check them out.

For those of you who don't know who they are, you might recognize their music on the soundtrack for the movie Once (if you haven't seen this movie yet, stop reading and go watch - thank me later). Check out their myspace page to hear clips and read more about them.

Julie and I saw them a couple weeks ago when they came to the Allen Theater and I'm become an even bigger fan than I was before. Julie's actually been playing their music nonstop since the show, so I figured I should do a write up about it and encourage everyone to support them on their tour.

There's something refreshing about artists who just get up on stage and pour their hearts out with music...no pretense, no glitz, no fancy lighting, just straight up soul on the stage and great music. Glen and Marketa seem so down to earth and earnest that you get sucked into their world and you never want to leave. It's like when you hear a lullaby from your childhood and you get that comfortable warm feeling - that's the closest I can compare it to. 

There's something for everyone to connect to when it comes to their music. Whether its feelings of lost love, personal growth, or getting older they have something poignant to say through their art. Check out their tour page and look for a date near you, seeing them live is like sitting with them in your living room and sharing life stories.

It's lonely on the social technology fringe

Social networking web 2.0 goodness just isn't as fun when you don't have all of your real life friends playing along.

That's the problem I've encountered time after time when new service after new service has popped up. Most of the people I'm friends with (in real life that is, admittedly not a huge number) don't keep up with web technology trends in the compulsive manner that I do and are content to stay with their old Friendster and Myspace accounts (with the occassional person who's moved over to Facebook). Meanstwhile I'm joining something new all the time, whether it be Twitter, FriendFeed, Vimeo, or Disqus. If it has some cool social function and a shiny looking page I'm sold.

Most of the time what happens is that I'll join and then realize that I can't use most of the neater parts of the service because I don't know anyone else who's joined. I'll look for new friends the first couple of days and just explore the site, but then I get burned out trying to get started and I end up just going back to visit every couple of days because I'm sick of putting in all of the groundwork. I've been able to wrangle the wife to join a few of these (she twitters way more than I do now), but she's usually fed up with me signing up for "another stupid internet site" and she's not as big of a internet dork as I am.

There's got to be other people out there like me, especially with all of the new web startups that are sprouting up. Do you guys have friends that are "connected" on the internet or do you just go out and make a whole new batch of internet friends on each new service that you join?

The internet gave me ADHD

First Google Reader, then Gmail. Then it's alltop and maybe a little random searching on YouTube or Funny or Die. Those books in my bookshelf collect more and more dust because the internet and TiVo have taken over my entertainment leisure time. I think Steve Jobs hit it right on the head when he was talking about the Amazon Kindle e-book reader.

"It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore...Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore."

I used to read all the time. Hell, half of my childhood was spent in the library with my nose buried behind a book (may explain the pasty whiteness). Now I have an entire shelf of half-read paperbacks that I don't see finishing any time soon. I've gotten so used to processing small chunks of information and moving images that I find it almost impossible to sit and read the same thing for an extending period of time. Scanning headlines through RSS feeds has rotted out the concentration centers of my brain to the point where even studying is difficult. I used to be able to knock out 5-6 hour study sessions. Now I go 30 minutes and my brain starts to short circuit. A good New Yorker article is now a bore because I can't make it past page 3.

I'm considering going to audiobooks because I don't see things improving anytime soon. I would have moved to them earlier but I can't help shake the feeling that I'm cheating if I listened to a book in the car on my iPod.

Ah Spring

I'm out for a stroll, and after a vigorous walk yesterday (that may have caused a few blisters), I'm taking it easy. In the midst of my walk a stranger stopped me to tell me that there was a beautiful blue heron a few minutes walk down the path.

Up for an adventure, I strode down the path to see if she was still there. Along the way, I turned down my iPod in case there was any sound leaking from my headphones. To my surprise I heard a menagarie of birds including the distinctive pecking of a woodpecker. Near dusk, I also heard some frog songs.

I saw the heron moments later. It was a majestic bird, and at the sound of my creeping footsteps in the grass, it spread its graceful wings and flew downstream near another footbridge.

On my walk back to the main trail I saw a ruby red cardinal and his mousey brown mate sitting on a branch. I also began to notice rustlings that sounded, at first, like a snake or other scary critter moving through the brush. Then, I thought, could it be raindrops? The little rustles were so frequent. Finally I spied the culprits. A whole family of robins were hopping in the brush, looking for a snack.

I saw these little violets and snapped a shot in the dimming dusk light with my camera phone. They are yet another sign that the cold winter has passed. I am looking forward to more walks like this as the park fills with families and couples out for a walk on a lovely spring afternoon.

Why people dislike pre-med students

The top five reasons to dislike pre-med students are listed in a recent Wired article. The most interesting part to me, however, were all the comments generated in the discussion. This was apparently the author's intent:

These are sweeping generalizations that are intended to provoke a heated debate, so try not to get too offended.

Ya think? Why in the world would any former pre-med student (including myself) get offended when we're globally accused of not having intellectual curiosity and running organizations into the ground.

I'm not going to lie and say I never came across pre-med people who fit these characterizations, but I think you could substitute any highly-competitive student here (engineering, law, poli-sci) and get the same result. While I agree that the medical student admissions process is a broken system, being a dilweed isn't something that's unique to those going into the medical profession.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention this little gem:

Perhaps, instead of separating the brightest students from the rest, pre-med programs weed out all but the few who are willing to give everything up -- hobbies, athletics, even their curiosity -- for the sake of a high-paying job as a body mechanic.

I've heard that "body mechanic" line quite a few times and every time it's gotten under my skin. Nothing against mechanics, but to simplify the art of medicine like this is just ignorant. I would challenge anyone with this belief to follow a local physician around for a day or two, then let's see you honestly say this.