The internet stimulates our brains but anesthetizes our minds. A combination of psychology, pop culture, technology, education, and myriad other fields, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains is an important book about a timely subject. Read it. But before you do, read my review of it @ the American Spectator.

I don't use the web, or computers for that matter, as entertainment and typically know what information I'm looking for and go directly to it, or am scanning news items.

But one of the things I find pleasantly distracting about the web, is that there is so much information that a person can find themselves bouncing from one item to the next, like a kid in a candy store. Because of this, it's usually the time it takes to do this that does not allow for a more thorough reading of individual items.

What I find myself doing is book marking what I consider well written and informative pieces and going back to re-read them.

I also think that the web inspires book reading. Exposure to certain books of interest and excerpts thereof via computer sometimes inspires the reading of the whole thing which prompts a visit to the local library or bookstore.