Nick Carr responds to RU Sirius

>The idea that only an individual can have an idea... it seems tautological.

Yes, I agree wholeheartedly. If not tautological, then at least obvious. Certainly not profound. (And nothing to do with my book, by the way.) But be that as it may:

>In other words, I think generations that did not grow up embedded in
>connective media instinctively require a private place inside their heads
>to construct a thought, and the thought is then tightly binded to a sense
>of identity ... and that is no longer the case.

I don't see this in as sharply generational terms as you do - I think the whole distinction between "digital natives" and "digital immigrants" to be pretty facile, frankly - but I do think you're right that there are different styles of thinking, or habits of mind, and that the environment of the Net gives privilege to a certain style (quick, broad, fiercely "interactive," and, as you say, less tightly bound to a sense of personal identity). The type of thinking that is tied to, and gives rise to, a deep personal identity - that underpins the literate and, yes, the Romantic side of human endeavor - gains little or no purchase on the Net. The medium is almost completely blind to that type of thinking. As we move, or are pushed, away from the literate, Romantic style of thinking, upon which the arts and sciences of Western civilization are largely based, and toward a more "tribal" form of intelligence, do we gain something important? I'm sure we do. Do we lose something important? I'm sure we do. Is a degree of "intellectual panic" justified? I would say so, at least for those uncomfortable with the idea of lying back and simply going with the flow.

And, to pick up on the important point that Sherry made and Amy expanded upon, I think this shift in thinking promoted by the Net is a matter of changing the emphasis of our minds' workings, of relocating ourselves on a spectrum. It's not a binary shift between two opposite poles. I haven't read the paper that Amy cites, but "Manichean, presentist, and parochial" do seem like the right adjectives to describe the style of thinking that the Net promotes.