PDF Summary:The Shallows, by Nicholas Carr

In the 21st century, the internet has vastly reshaped the world’s information landscape, but what’s less obvious is how the internet is changing us. In The Shallows, journalist Nicholas Carr warns that the internet is reshaping our thoughts and behaviors—actively rewiring the nerves in our brains—leaving us with dwindling attention spans and unable to engage in deep concentration.

In this guide, we'll explain how internet use is literally reconfiguring our brains. We’ll look at how new forms of media impact the way we think and learn about the world, as well as the societal consequences of these changes in human cognition. We’ll also explore research from neuroscientists on the internet’s effects, investigate whether current trends in reading and comprehension are the fault of online media, and consider the other challenges excessive internet use may bring about.

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(Shortform note: The damage Carr describes may not be limited to individual information consumers. In Stolen Focus, Johann Hari writes that information technology can harm society as a whole. Today, we’re constantly bombarded with personalized content designed to grip our attention. Much of it is targeted at us via algorithms that exploit our evolutionary survival instinct to focus on whatever scares us the most. Spread across millions of internet users, these algorithms perpetuate a cycle of fear and anger that creates a false impression of widespread public rage. At the same time, the spread of misinformation across social media fuels animosity and mistrust, halting productive dialogue and stopping us from solving problems as a society.)

Carr also writes that the rise of electronic texts and e-books adds another layer to how we consume written content due to the hyperlinks and interactive elements that are often embedded in these formats—features that introduce the internet’s infinite distractions into a long-form document. Digital text allows for easy navigation through a document without requiring a reader to absorb its entirety, which encourages readers to cherry-pick what interests them without giving attention to the document’s context or overall arguments—essentially reducing textual works into bite-sized chunks for easy consumption.

(Shortform note: The shift to condensing information into the smallest consumable units began long before the internet. In Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman argues that it actually started in the early 1800s with the telegraph, which communicated short bursts of information not unlike the disjointed writing style that’s optimal for modern social media. Soon after the telegraph came the invention of film photography, which also delivers information in a quick, easily digestible format. Postman writes that for the last 200 years, the world has been evolving from the slow, print-centered culture which Carr holds up as an intellectual ideal to one that values information’s speed and quantity over the depth of long-form reading.)

The internet is even rewiring how our brains process information. The design of websites and other online tools encourages repeated behaviors, such as clicking links, which are coupled with audiovisual cues such as pictures, music, and videos. In essence, Carr suggests that the internet conditions us to crave quick gratification through rapid stimulus-and-reward cycles. Social media platforms further exploit this reward cycle by leveraging our innate desire for social approval—for instance, by counting how many “likes” we get when we repost attention-grabbing headlines. Internet use brings some benefits, such as enhanced hand-eye coordination, but the cost seems significant—a diminished ability for focused thought that stifles human creativity.

(Shortform note: The neurochemical driver of the process Carr describes is dopamine, which is often characterized as the brain’s “pleasure chemical.” In Dopamine Detox, Thibaut Meurisse says that social media platforms hijack your body’s dopamine response as a tool to steal your attention. Receiving likes, comments, and social validation activates the brain’s reward centers, reinforcing your desire to seek out more. This cycle not only becomes addictive, but it also leads to sensory overload, which prevents you from focusing on what matters most. Meurisse writes that when you're constantly looking for the next jolt of dopamine online, you’re easily bored by low-stimulation activities such as creative projects or deep, focused reading.)

Loss of Deep Reading

Carr argues that in addition to undermining our concentration, the internet’s instant rewards have hampered the practice of deep reading that printed books encourage. There's an ongoing battle between deep and shallow reading—immersive engagement versus skimming—with evidence suggesting that our digital lives promote the latter. The evolution of the written word has introduced us to deep concentration and enhanced our abstract thinking skills, but the shift toward skimming information online is reshaping not just our reading habits but also our media consumption as a whole.

While this may sound like a dire warning, Carr points out that new information media don’t completely supplant whatever came before. When the written word was invented, it didn't replace oral culture—instead, it added another layer to our communication methods. Silent reading wasn’t common, Carr says, until written languages developed features like word breaks and punctuation to make reading easier. Once this happened, reading reshaped our brains to focus deeply on a single task, in contrast to our inherent nature of being easily distracted. Because of this, reading books not only improved our concentration but also enhanced our abstract thinking skills.

(Shortform note: Beyond the benefits Carr lists above, research shows that reading rewires the brain in a way that builds empathy, understanding, and broader perspectives on complex ideas. For instance, reading fiction triggers a mirroring effect in the brain in which readers empathize with characters and even simulate their actions and feelings. Because we can’t affect the outcome of the story we’re reading, our brains don’t engage the neural processes that would spur us to doubt the story in question. Instead, they respond as if the fictional story we’re reading is true, letting us practice new emotional states and experience points of view that our brains can’t access in our day-to-day lives.)

However, Carr makes a distinction between "deep" and "shallow" reading. While deep reading involves immersive engagement, shallow reading is used in tasks like skimming an index or reading street signs. Evidence suggests that internet use promotes skimming text over deep reading, even when we interact with printed text offline. While browsing online content, our eyes hunt around for relevant bits of information instead of following every line of text. Research shows that this “skimming” eye movement pattern is becoming dominant among readers largely because of extensive internet usage, whereas in pre-internet times it was only a peripheral skill used on occasion depending on need.

(Shortform note: Like it or not, the habitual skimming that Carr decries may be here to stay, and authors may have to adapt their writing style to connect with a modern audience. In Writing for Busy Readers, Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink suggest that today’s authors should prioritize brevity, clarity, and relevance, breaking down complex ideas into concise language and short paragraphs. They should also clearly label sections of text to help readers quickly find the content they need. Additionally, presenting the most important points first helps busy readers grasp the general points even if they don't read the whole article or book. In other words, modern authors have a choice between clear, punchy writing and losing their readers’ attention.)

Carr describes how the shift from concentrated reading to skimming has altered the media landscape as a whole. While internet use has actually increased the amount of time we spend reading every day, that reading is now largely in the “shallow” category. Traditional publishers now tailor their content to presentation styles similar to what people experience online, either by inserting hyperlinks into e-books or by trimming lengthy news articles down to more rapidly consumable chunks. What the internet hasn't impacted is TV time, which means that it’s increased our daily screen time at the cost of printed books, magazines, and newspapers.

(Shortform note: The creeping intrusion of internet-style content into print publishing hasn’t been as sweeping as Carr originally predicted. For example, even at the time of Carr’s writing, publishers were aware that inserting hyperlinks into e-books was both distracting and detrimental to whatever point an author wanted to make. Also, over a decade after publication of The Shallows, print books remain more popular than e-books, even among younger demographics. However, the time we spend looking at screens increases every year, with 6.5 hours per day the global average as of 2023—though for US teens, the average shoots up to 9 hours per day, most of which is dedicated to looking at mobile devices.)

Loss of Retention

Skimming text by default comes with a price. Using the internet as our primary source of information doesn’t just reduce our level of engagement, it also reduces how much of it we can retain. Carr explains that the pace at which you consume information has a direct impact on how much you remember. When you read slowly, such as with a physical book, your brain has ample time to transfer information into your long-term memory. However, the internet overloads that mental process. Given the rapid pace at which the internet drives you to skim online content, your brain struggles to transfer all that data from short-term memory into long-term storage.

(Shortform note: Carr divides memory into short-term and long-term, but there are actually several types of memory that store different types of information. Carr’s argument largely relates to semantic memory of facts and information. We also have episodic memory of events and experiences and implicit memory, such as knowing how to perform tasks or how to respond to something in the present based on prior experience. These implicit memories don’t require conscious effort to store or retrieve information. In Shortform’s The Master Guides: Supercharge Your Memory, we highlight several approaches to strengthening your retention skills, but all of these require practice to apply in a distraction-filled online environment.)

The cognitive overload you feel online also hampers your ability to discern what information is worth remembering. Carr says that this issue is compounded by the constant distractions and decision-making demands that internet use entails. For instance, deciding whether to click on links embedded in text increases how much work your brain has to do. This added mental burden leads to overall loss of retention, and research backs this up. Readers who encounter hyperlinked texts, such as those included in this guide’s Shortform notes, have a harder time remembering content compared to those who read the exact same text without the links. Whether you click on a link is immaterial—what matters is the choice the link forces on you.

(Shortform note: The effects of hyperlinks on reading comprehension may be more nuanced than Carr suggests. Some research shows that people tend to re-read sentences containing hyperlinked uncommon words, suggesting that links are useful to highlight important information and they encourage re-reading for better comprehension. This can be attributed to the Von Restorff effect, in which standout items are more likely to be remembered. However, over-signaling important information, such as by using excessive links in text, reduces how effective the messaging is and dilutes the impact of information cues.)

Beyond the internet’s onslaught of hyperlinks, we’re constantly bombarded by multimedia stimuli while online—advertisements, videos, pop-ups, and the like. Carr argues that instead of enhancing your retention (as many educators at one time thought they would), these audiovisual add-ons often interrupt your train of thought, significantly reducing your ability to focus on and comprehend what you’re reading. While it's true that some multimedia content can boost learning when properly applied, such as relevant diagrams or video demonstrations, most often they do more harm than good. After all, on the internet, Carr says, multimedia’s primary design purpose is distraction rather than enhanced learning.

(Shortform note: Carr isn’t out of line to suggest that multimedia tools are designed to distract us. In Make Time, online product designers Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky admit to having been part of the Big Tech competition to grab clicks, likes, and views. They write that today’s information industry has fine-tuned its tactics to keep you checking your apps and consuming new media—and that unlike industries with slower turnaround, tech developers can determine in real time how successful their strategies are. The barrage of media is so overwhelming that you have to actively put barriers in place to keep the internet from derailing your attention.)

The Consequences of the Information Age

Beyond the effects of internet use on the individual human brain, our reliance on the internet as our primary source of information is also making sweeping changes to society at large. As with the advent of written language itself, the rapid growth of online media makes more information available to the public while redefining how that information is consumed. Carr describes how search engines control our access to information, leading to a skewed presentation of humanity’s knowledge. Furthermore, in our tech-driven era, there's an increasing trend toward speed and efficiency which overlooks the fact that deep contemplation plays a critical role, both in how we learn and how we develop essential human traits like empathy and problem-solving.

(Shortform note: Carr stops short of attributing society's increasing polarization to the internet—a common modern narrative—but while it's easy to blame search engines and social media, the truth is often more nuanced. Online platforms use machine-learning algorithms to tailor content to users' preferences, which can lead to the creation of echo chambers and confirmation bias, but it's vital to remember that internet users also bear responsibility. Even without modern algorithms, the internet would likely contain self-reinforcing communities. The challenge lies in balancing personalized recommendations with diverse perspectives.)

The Commodification of Knowledge

The internet is often described as an “information superhighway,” but it’s the people and businesses building the roads who determine where that superhighway goes. Search engines, while seemingly useful tools for rapid access to information, also create an information bottleneck by controlling both the content and the speed at which we read. They encourage fast-paced information consumption while breaking knowledge down into chunks without context, promoting only the most popular viewpoints.

Carr states that the control search engines have over information translates into power for the companies who build them, and they use this power to impact the public’s access to knowledge. These companies capitalize on the links users click on, so the design strategy behind search engine algorithms encourages rapid and repeated clicking that takes the reader from one page to another as fast as possible. While on the surface this seems to provide more information, the downside is that this tactic undermines your ability to focus on information and retain it—an issue that’s irrelevant to the business models of search engine creators.

How the Information Business Works

Carr doesn’t go into detail about the financial side of the online search industry. Basically, search engines make money through advertising. Businesses pay to appear at the top of search results, often running pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns in which they pay the search engine every time someone clicks on their promoted link. Display ads, which search engines target based on your user data and search history, also generate income.. Though some search engines have diversified their income streams through tech expansions and corporate mergers, advertising remains their key revenue source.

Since appearing near the top of a list of search results is so vital to online information providers, media outlets specifically design their content to appeal to search engine algorithms, rather than the human readers they’re trying to lure to their sites. This process, search engine optimization (SEO), works by targeting popular keywords, creating content to match current search trends, and embedding links to related websites. As search engines continue to evolve, companies using SEO techniques must now keep up with trends like voice search optimization and AI integration.

The trouble with SEO practices is that they leave little room for the aspects of reading and learning that Carr prizes most—namely depth and quality of writing. Instead of promoting authentic, valuable content, SEO tactics often prioritize commercial interests, effectively burying high-quality information beneath high-ranked yet unhelpful search results. Furthermore, the evolution of SEO—from blatant manipulation of search algorithms to AI-driven content creation—puts the survival of quality content at risk.

In addition to weakening readers’ focus and retention, the internet is also eroding meaning, warns Carr. The assumption underlying online content’s presentation is that all information can and should be dissolved into its constituent parts. Digitization turns books into databases where users can find specific ideas without engaging the whole text, thereby ignoring complexity and nuance. To an online information business, after all, books are only valuable as collections of data to mine. Additionally, search engines skew visibility toward popular viewpoints, making it hard for alternative perspectives to be seen or heard. Meanwhile, social media further contributes to breaking information into small, easily digestible nuggets.

(Shortform note: A further concern around reducing books to data that wasn’t an issue at the time of Carr’s writing is the unauthorized use of human-written content to train AI models. In addition to authors’ and publishers’ concerns that such use of their writing is copyright infringement, the use of AI to create online content derived from a database of human writing could devalue any new human-created work, resulting in less content being written from diverse perspectives and in diverse styles. Furthermore, the lack of quality control that persists in much AI-generated content leads to misinformation and the amplification of biases that exist in a model’s training data.)

The Stunting of Human Nature

Given how the internet is affecting both individual minds and how society shares information, what is the direction in which we are heading? In the digital age, Carr says we’re drifting toward a mindset that values speed and efficiency over all. This approach downplays how important deep thought is to learning, creative thinking, abstraction, and fundamental human qualities such as compassion.

Carr suggests that our increasing dependence on technology is transforming how we think about thinking. The digital world favors efficiency and speed, with search engines designed to sift through vast amounts of data. This approach values finding information quickly while sidelining the importance of slow contemplation, a practice that’s crucial to learning and creativity. We’ve even started thinking of our brains as computers, which isn’t an accurate metaphor. While computers amplify speed and efficiency, human minds have a capacity for ambiguity and abstraction that, despite attempts to make machines that think like humans, computers have proven unable to duplicate.

(Shortform note: Not everyone sees the intrusion of technology into human thought as dangerous, as Carr does. In The Design of Everyday Things, Don Norman points out that while our relationship with technology continues to evolve, human needs remain largely the same. The key lies in using technology to do the jobs technology should do, freeing up time and effort for humans to do even bigger and better things than before. In the cognitive realm, pairing human intelligence with technological tools creates what’s known as distributed cognition, which Norman says can typically outperform what people or machines could do by themselves.)

Meanwhile, the internet is increasingly impacting how we socialize, work, and educate ourselves. Carr writes that as we adapt aspects of the human experience to suit a computerized world, we risk losing something vital in the process. Just as any tool enhances our abilities while also changing our skillset over time, our excessive dependence on computers may hamper our ability to solve problems on our own or to adapt our knowledge to novel situations that computers can’t predict. Moreover, when the internet undermines slow, contemplative thought, it reduces our capacity for compassion and empathy—feelings that require time to cultivate and can't thrive amidst constant online distractions.

The Internet, for Better or Worse

Beyond the changes to our thinking skills that Carr warns about, the internet has massively transformed the way humans connect with each other. Today, people have fewer real-time interactions and rely more and more on their virtual bonds, which online platforms have turned into transactional experiences. The traditional dynamics of building and nourishing relationships have shifted, becoming more superficial as our connections are reduced to the instant gratification of a social media click.

Nevertheless, many experts believe that the internet has a net positive impact on human life and will continue to do so. At its most basic, the internet enhances communication, collaboration, and global access to information. It's improved many people’s quality of life by enabling economic progress and individual advancement. As connectivity and AI tools advance, the internet will play a pivotal role in people’s physical well-being by advancing medical research and providing increased access to quality healthcare. Looking even farther ahead, experts anticipate a future where people have greater autonomy and control of their data, with platforms emerging to more widely distribute the benefits of a data-driven society.