Tech Tips for Catholics

This past weekend, a friend and I went to Borders bookstore to browse around. As I skimmed the magazine isles, a cover of a particular magazine jumped out at me. I had never heard of Atlantic magazine, but Nicholas Carr wrote an interesting article where he asks the question “Is Google Making Us Stoopid?” Not just Google, but the internet in general. Are our minds being reprogrammed, so to speak?

“My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle…And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski…” - (Nicholas Carr, the author of the article).

As he explores the facts and philosophies behind this question, Nicholas brings up some pretty interesting things. I would encourage you to print out this article and really read it (not just skim a couple of paragraphs like your newly reprogrammed mind will want to do ; )

In my own life, I too have seen how my mind is being effected by the new technologies of today. For instance, when I am reading a book, I keep forgetting that I don’t have the Ctrl+F feature built into my brain. Then I get sidetracked for minutes, thinking about how cool it would be to have this power to search the text in a book by just thinking of a key word or phrase. By the time I realize that I have drifted off, I have forgotten where I left off. So I can totally realate to this article, “Is Google Making Us Stoopid?”.

How is the internet effecting your mind, habits, or lifestyle? Post a comment.

For the past few months, I’ve enjoyed using Twitter.com to stay in touch with friends. A few times a day (ok, more than a few), I take a break from what I’m doing and pop over to Twitter to see what my online buddies are up to. Since I work from home, Twitter has made my workday feel a bit less isolated. But those of you who use Twitter know that, as of late, it’s been down more than it’s been up, with repeated service outages.

So today, I finally took the leap and followed a few of my friends over to Plurk.com to check it out. Since I’m a type A personality, Plurk’s funky timeline approach is a bit chaotic for me. I’ve started posting, but will admit to feeling a bit more at home in the “mobile” view which replicates Twitter’s more linear approach.

The big question for a Personal Productivity blogger is this - does use of either of these social networking applications contribute to or detract from getting things done? I think the answer lies in a person’s self discipline - if you can master your ability to use these types of sites as tools to communicate and occasionally socialize, then sign up and get started using them. If, however, you find yourself distracted by the constant barrage of cross-chat to the extent that you can’t get your work done, you’re better off not venturing anywhere near them. The more “friends” you connect with in these sites, the more information there is to keep up with. Another important thing to note is that these communities flourish and do well as communication tools only if you play your part. Use them to share information that is helpful for your contacts and don’t abuse their intent.

For me, the jury’s still out on which quick update site will win my vote - for now, I’m going to try to update both a few times a day and watch what happens. More importantly, I’m going to see which site - Twitter or Plurk - ultimately adds to my ability to get things done.

Do you have a preference? Chime in - I’d love to hear from you! And if you’re on either site, feel free to follow/friend me:

Twitter / LisaHendey
Lisa on Plurk

This post is courtesy of the Productivity @ Home Blog.

“The Orthodoxy Centennial”
June 12-14, 2008

A Chapter-by-Chapter Look at Chesterton’s masterpiece, Orthodoxy. Plus Chesterton and Shakespeare, Chesterton and Pascal, Chesterton and Jane Austen!

O’Shaughnessy Education Center
University of St. Thomas
St. Paul, Minnesota

Register online here! or print out this registration form and mail it to them.

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