Quote from ‘The Shallows’:

“Considering how much easier it is to search digital text than printed text, the common assumption has been that making journals available on the net would significantly broaden the scope of scholarly research, leading to a much more diverse set of citations. But that’s not at all what Evans [Sociologist of the University of Chicago] discovered. As more journals moved online, scholars actually cited fewer articles that they had before. And as old issues of printed journals were digitized and uploaded to the Web, scholars cited more recent articles with increasing frequency. A broadening of available information led as Evans described it to a “narrowing of science and scholarship.”. In explaining the counter intuitive findings in a 2008 ‘Science’ article, Evans noted that automated information-filtering tools, such as search engines, tend to serve as amplifiers of popularity, quickly establishing and then continually reinforcing a consensus about what information is important and what isn’t.” – The Shallows (page 217)

And you know what, it’s true. It’s happened every time. And every time, for the better.

If they think this technology is disruptive, they should take a look at 100 years ago and try to figure out what parts of our modern life would be imaginable to people in their primes at that time. Who were busy saying that something new was foolish and ruining kids (probably the new child labor laws that prevented them from working in mines).

Interesting that a claim that would make a man a liar and teller of tall tales is itself an exaggeration and a lie.