When contemplating the benefits opposed to disadvantages of the Internet, i would have to agree with Steven Johnson in that the pros definitely out weigh the cons. Even though some people, such as Nicholas Carr argue that the Internet is causing society to change its ways of thinking and gathering new information in a negative way, i believe that its benefits overwhelm its ability to shorten our attention spans.
The Internet offers an enormous amount of information and the ability of the Internet to so quickly gather up this info for our eyes to see within a few seconds notice is extremely beneficial to us. Even though we might not be staying in one spot longer than we would while watching TV or reading a book, we are able to get more information within the time that we are given. I disagree with the theory that claims this adaptation changes our ability to concentrate or length of our attention spans.
Personally i don't have a problem switching back and forth between skimming the web pages on a computer and later watching a two hour biography on TV or reading a lengthy article in the newspaper. i think it all depends on the amount of information I'm wanting on one particular subject and the amount of time i am allowed to find that information. As long as you are engaged and interested about the info that you are learning about then it doesn't matter how you are finding it.
Sometimes the information on the Internet can be misleading, which many of us should know, so usually depending on what occasion the information is being gathered and the importance of its content a person will back it up with details from other resources anyways. Also, because of the Internets ability to bring information to us so directly and quickly we are given the opportunity to find out the latest and most important news and ideas sooner rather than waiting to hear about something on TV, or for it to be published in the paper. This makes us much more aware of our environment.
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