The Internet has grown into a social network, political forum, marketplace and entertainment source. In a series of essays, some noted thinkers opine on the Web’s effect from the neck up.
“The Internet has become an extension of my memory,” writes Daniel Everett, a college dean. “It combats the occasional senior moment, helping me to find names, facts, and places nearly instantly. It gives me a second, bigger brain.”
But the addition of bloggers makes the Internet more than a library, says computer scientist Jon Kleinberg. “The online world is one where human beings and computational creations commingle,” he writes. The result is like a Lewis Carroll character, “the giant creature who has memorized everything ever written and will repeat excerpts back to you (mainly out of context) in response to your questions.”
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