Like any technology, the Internet is a double-edged sword, but is the world wide web literally re-wiring our brains, dumbing us down by destroying our ability to think analytically and infantilizing our minds in the process?
Are we becoming a world of wireheads as the constant onslaught of new information reduces our attention span to nothing – eviscerating our ability to concentrate?
Some neuroscientists say the Internet is re-moulding brains to rely on associative thinking – which leaves us incapable of reading or writing at length.
» Infowars
When a wave of revolution crashed over the Middle East this Spring, many said what ended in the streets began with 140 characters or less—on social media like Twitter, Youtube and Facebook. Hoping to harness the people power of online communication, the US State Department is providing $2 million in grants for the "internet in a suitcase" to help dissidents circumvent repressive regimes' internet censorship with mobile web technology. But critics like John Young of Cryptome and Barrett Brown of Project PM say these "liberation technologies" could also allow governments and corporations to spy on and influence online revolutions.
