Is the internet making us dumber?

AM: 10C, wind E6, drizzle, 54 minutes. Slow because I had a big breakfast after an early call. Won't do that again!

The NPR On Point show was a debate between two guys who argued about the effect of the web, SMS, Twitter etc. on our ability to consume and process large amounts of material, such as reading an educational text or history book. Our brains are being trained to demand stimulation and sound bites, because of hyperlinks in web pages, etc. The contrary point is that it develops more nimble thinking. As always, I think a balance is required, but without doubt we're all getting more peripheral info about many things, and not the reverse. I'm glad I did an MBA and have written research based reports that require organization and consistency. It helps me remember that processing and creating a large, focused amount of material requires time and revisions. Whereas blogging for example can be done purely as a stream of thought, without care for a real theme, perfect style, etc.