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Reviews
Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better by Clive Thompson
knp4597's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
Probably would have been more interesting had I read it closer to publication; now it’s a bit outdated.
holley_cornetto's review against another edition
4.0
My review of this title can be found here:
https://ischoolblogs.sjsu.edu/info/hcornetto/2016/03/04/review-for-clive-thompsons-smarter-thank-you-think-info-200-book-review/
https://ischoolblogs.sjsu.edu/info/hcornetto/2016/03/04/review-for-clive-thompsons-smarter-thank-you-think-info-200-book-review/
mkesten's review against another edition
3.0
Evgeny Morozov has wisely warned us of getting too excited about the liberating aspect of the Internet. That while it has the power to help dissidents organize against brutality, it helps the brutes as well. Clive Thompson comes at many of the same issues as Morozov from a different take: what if these tools supplement learning, remembering, creating. Just as computerized chess programs can work in tandem with humans to create a Centaur, better than a computer, so computing machines can help make us better in schooling, medicine, and science. What I liked most about Thompson's book was its emphasis on collaborative action, including cyber-action. Sharing knowledge in ever new ways has the power, like a Tsunami, to change the landscape for the better.
ricm's review against another edition
3.0
Good overview of how technology and the internet are generally making us smarter. Technology is helping us stay connected, helping us collaborate (often with complete strangers), write more and even facilitating social change by crowd-sourcing info.
Like others mentioned, though, it has the feel that it's more for an older audience that's more skeptical of the good of technology. I basically grew up with the internet, and I already know all of the wonders, so it's not like I really needed convincing. I love the internet ~
Like others mentioned, though, it has the feel that it's more for an older audience that's more skeptical of the good of technology. I basically grew up with the internet, and I already know all of the wonders, so it's not like I really needed convincing. I love the internet ~
shoemaker's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not completely convinced, but I guess technology isn't all bad. This book gave me something to think about at least. Thompson's argument about "ambient proximity" is the only defense of Facebook and Twitter that I've ever encountered.
bleary's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting stuff although it has got a slightly manic undertone of "see! Look! It's not all terrible! It might be fine!"
auntblh's review against another edition
4.0
I liked the book and a lot of what was talked about but I don't know that technology is making us smarter (or dumber). The author gave great examples of people collaborating using technology and how working together provided great results that might not have been achieved individually. I could definitely see the author's point about people paying more attention to what they might post on a site if they think others will be reading it. Overall, it was a good book with interesting information.
shayneh's review against another edition
4.0
This was fairly well-written and very thought-provoking. It is good reading after "The Shallows" and provides a lot more nuanced view of some of the issues raised there.
ovvlish's review against another edition
5.0
I read this as a Library Science graduate student as part of a program the student government does every academic year to provide a common intellectual focus for those interested in being involved. Two years ago we read Nicholas Carr's "The Shallows", which I will immediately admit colored my view of this book. Carr's work painted a picture of a dystopian fearscape wrapped in a nostalgic lament for old-fashioned things.
Thompson avoided being overly pessimistic about our prospects as a world with exponentially-growing technological capabilities. His was a warmly realistic take. Extolling the virtues and the possibilities, while noting some setbacks and some bad scenarios both real and imagined. His ultimate message was one that I myself have been really trying to formulate eloquently and push on those I interact with and teach in my own professional capacity. It's one of constant learning and flexibility. The internet and everything it brings with it is just one more in a long series of innovations that have left traditionalists bemoaning the state of the future. Granted, it has the potential for so much more than many previous innovations, but it can be treated as many others before it as well. It's all about how we use things, not the fact that we have them to use. And as he stated many times as well, it's all about developing the right mental processes, or literacies, in this new technology, that will allow us to make the most of it while still living good lives.
Thompson treated all of his interviewees with respect in his descriptions of them, and was a sympathetically neutral party in describing topics that leave the United States, among other nations, extremely polarized. As with all works of popular nonfiction, there could potentially be fallacies and half-truths that I am not equipped to sniff out due to the length of the work and my own lack of time to pore over the endnotes, but I sensed that Thompson had good intentions, and the things he claimed made good sense to me. Most importantly, he really seemed to grasp the culture of using the internet that I as a person firmly within the millennial generation bracket get frustrated by when those older than me don't seem to see it. It's a tough thing, accurately capturing the spirit and the potential of this thing that for many of us has become an intimate part of daily life, but I think he did it with grace, respect, and delight. The book is already a handful of years old, but if he were to publish a second edition, even just with an added chapter for the years since edition one, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
I cannot recommend this book enough to anyone interested in following the criticisms and potential of the modern, linked data world.
Thompson avoided being overly pessimistic about our prospects as a world with exponentially-growing technological capabilities. His was a warmly realistic take. Extolling the virtues and the possibilities, while noting some setbacks and some bad scenarios both real and imagined. His ultimate message was one that I myself have been really trying to formulate eloquently and push on those I interact with and teach in my own professional capacity. It's one of constant learning and flexibility. The internet and everything it brings with it is just one more in a long series of innovations that have left traditionalists bemoaning the state of the future. Granted, it has the potential for so much more than many previous innovations, but it can be treated as many others before it as well. It's all about how we use things, not the fact that we have them to use. And as he stated many times as well, it's all about developing the right mental processes, or literacies, in this new technology, that will allow us to make the most of it while still living good lives.
Thompson treated all of his interviewees with respect in his descriptions of them, and was a sympathetically neutral party in describing topics that leave the United States, among other nations, extremely polarized. As with all works of popular nonfiction, there could potentially be fallacies and half-truths that I am not equipped to sniff out due to the length of the work and my own lack of time to pore over the endnotes, but I sensed that Thompson had good intentions, and the things he claimed made good sense to me. Most importantly, he really seemed to grasp the culture of using the internet that I as a person firmly within the millennial generation bracket get frustrated by when those older than me don't seem to see it. It's a tough thing, accurately capturing the spirit and the potential of this thing that for many of us has become an intimate part of daily life, but I think he did it with grace, respect, and delight. The book is already a handful of years old, but if he were to publish a second edition, even just with an added chapter for the years since edition one, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
I cannot recommend this book enough to anyone interested in following the criticisms and potential of the modern, linked data world.