Should I avoid Google, to be smart?

That’s a stupid title. I was just trying to come up with one that’s different from the title of the article I’m linking to.

I read an article today, Is Google Making Us Stupid? (by Nicholas Carr), which talks about the fact that our thought processes might be changing, because of the way that we use the internet. One of the things I took away from it is that I should keep making my blog posts long-winded and verbose, because it will help you battle the effects of the internet. (I doubt that would have been Carr’s intended outcome of the article…)

It’s definitely something to think about. We already know that people don’t read blog entries that are longer than a couple of paragraphs long; I’ve gotten that feedback—although it hasn’t changed my writing style at all—and other people have gotten similar feedback on their blogs, as well. I don’t think I’ve suffered the full effects of the internet-alization of the brain, though, because I can still sit down and read a lengthy book. Or even—gasp!—a lengthy blog entry.

But that doesn’t mean I disagree with Mr. Carr. In fact, I should warn you that if you click the link to his article, it’s a long read. Try and make yourself go through the whole thing. It can be your self-improvement exercise for the day.