several studies have found that even knowing there’s a wealth of (seemingly) reliable information available 24/7 at our fingertips makes us less likely to store new knowledge in our own memory since we can just ‘look it up’ when needed. This is the so-called ‘Google Effect.’

What the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. Whether I’m online or not, 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.