英语四级阅读我们的脑袋正在被网络影响

　　网络已经深入我们的生活，我们经常会在网上搜索资料，跟远方的朋友联系，很多人觉得网络早已改变了我们的生活，但是很多人却说咱们的脑袋也被网络影响了，会变成什么样呢?

　　iPhones, Twitter, Youku, Blue Tooth.

　　Neurologist Gary Small says they may not change the brains structure, but certainly its function.

　　Its not surprising to me because our brains are very sensitive to stimuli, and if we keep stimulating the brain, its going to change how it functions.

　　But he says that constant connectivity has its upsand downs.

　　Its almost like were a colony of ants or bees thats constantly communicating. And weve become kind of one communal mind! And its actually interfering with our ability to think outside the box and be creative.

　　Small is a neurologist at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience Human Behavior.

　　He is the author of iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind.

　　When you have a new idea, youve got to explore it. Youve got to think about it. If you tell your friend online or on a text message theyre going to immediately vet it and say oh, thats a stupid idea, and you dont have a chance to develop it.

　　Small is not the only one fascinated by this phenomenon.

　　Nicholas Carr is the author of The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains.

　　The big danger with the internet is it puts all the emphasis on skimming and scanning and fast processing, and puts very little emphasis on contemplation and reflection and introspection.

　　Like Small, Carr argues that a certain kind of creativity is lost there.

　　The type of creativity that allows us to think in new ways, original ways, that allows us to go against the grain of the common wisdom and what everybody else is saying, that does require a deep kind of personal attentiveness. And thats what the internet and other modern technologies seem to be stealing from us.

　　Old stick-in-the-mud thinking or legitimate concern?

　　Whatever the case, Carr and Smalls ideas seem to have hit a nerve, so to speak.

　　The blogosphere has the full spectrum of opinions about the internet and creative thought.

　　But Gary Small says we dont need to throw out the baby with the bath water.

　　Its not all good and its not all bad. In fact, we could argue that the new technology allows us to be more creative, to collaborate with people who we wouldnt ordinarily collaborate with, and come up with new ideas, and use the technology to accelerate those new discoveries.

　　Small says the key is not to let your neurons get addicted to techno stimulation.

　　You know, we need a balance, because we can get lost in all the information.

　　But Nicholas Carr has slightly more cautionary advice.

　　If you as an individual person wish to maintain your full capabilities as a human being, youre going to need to rebel a little bit against the social expectation that youre always connected, always processing messages, and spend some more time with your own thoughts. Because if you dont, your skills in those areas are going to wither away.

　　If you feel your neurons are hooked on cyber stimulus

　　If you feel youre losing your ability for quiet, creative thought

　　Well, you can always look for help online.

　　Theres a solution there for everythingisnt there?

　　For CRI, Im Allie Johnson.