Shirky v. Carr: The Steel Cage Match Edition.

In previous posts, I've noticed the publication of new books by Nicholas Carr, The Shallows and Clay Shirky, Cognitive Surplus.  The Big Press is starting to notice this books too and how they are shaping how we think about and understand the impact of the internet on us and society.  A huge wave of ink about these books is breaking over us.  Carr is receiving more attention than Shirky because he's more mainstream, better connected and has the more dire and colorful thesis.  (We can always count on the cameras to focus on the bigger fire.)

The Wall Street Journal spilled a ton of ink on Saturday, June 5, on both books and set up byline duel between Shirky and Carr on the front page of the Weekend section.  I found this interesting because I find the two books to be more complementary than competitive (and I want to put Jaron Lanier's book, You Are Not a Gadget, in the same bin just for the sake of completeness).  Leave it to the media, including my beloved Wall Street Journal, to find or create unnecessary dualities.  

Here are two extracts from the face-off:

Shirky

The response to distraction, then as now, was social structure. Reading is an unnatural act; we are no more evolved to read books than we are to use computers. Literate societies become literate by investing extraordinary resources, every year, training children to read. Now it's our turn to figure out what response we need to shape our use of digital tools. [more]

Carr

What we seem to be sacrificing in all our surfing and searching is our capacity to engage in the quieter, attentive modes of thought that underpin contemplation, reflection and introspection. The Web never encourages us to slow down. It keeps us in a state of perpetual mental locomotion.  [more]   

Please read and discuss.