Nicholas Carr
American journalist and writer on technology, business and culture (born 1959); his book The Shallows (2010) was a finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction; wrote the blog Rough Type to 2024, then the newsletter New Cartographies.
Nicholas Carr did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
What they believe
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More information did not open minds or inform people better; it can mean less understanding
We now know the answer: It was going to widen the gap between the pseudo-environments in which people think and feel and the real environment in which they live and act. It was going to reveal a fundamental paradox of modern communication systems: More information can mean less understanding.
newcartographies.comSaid 6 May 2026This on korrents
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Online companies have an economic interest in distraction and do not want leisurely reading or concentrated thought
The last thing these companies want is to encourage leisurely reading or slow, concentrated thought. It’s in their economic interest to drive us to distraction.
newcartographies.comSaid 31 Aug 2025This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 8 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
More information did not open minds or inform people better; it can mean less understanding
We now know the answer: It was going to widen the gap between the pseudo-environments in which people think and feel and the real environment in which they live and act. It was going to reveal a fundamental paradox of modern communication systems: More information can mean less understanding.
The Myth of the Informed Citizen Said 6 May 2026
The vision of a Great Community built on communication has been shattered, leaving us overwhelmed by information
Although it inspires still, much as Whitman’s verse does, Dewey’s vision of a Great Community, in which the machinery and the art of communication come into perfect, living harmony, has been shattered. We live in its ruins, overwhelmed by the information that was meant to enlighten us, imprisoned by the data that describe us.
The Myth of the Informed Citizen Said 6 May 2026
Online companies have an economic interest in distraction and do not want leisurely reading or concentrated thought
The last thing these companies want is to encourage leisurely reading or slow, concentrated thought. It’s in their economic interest to drive us to distraction.
Is Google Making Us Stupid? (The Atlantic, 2008; republished on New Cartographies) Said 31 Aug 2025
Show 5 more
Google applies to the work of the mind what Taylorism did to the work of the hand
What Taylor did for the work of the hand, Google is doing for the work of the mind.
Is Google Making Us Stupid? (The Atlantic, 2008; republished on New Cartographies) Said 31 Aug 2025
Deep reading is valuable for the thoughts it sets off in the reader, not only for the knowledge it gives
The kind of deep reading that a sequence of printed pages promotes is valuable not just for the knowledge we acquire from the author’s words but for the intellectual vibrations those words set off within our own minds.
Is Google Making Us Stupid? (The Atlantic, 2008; republished on New Cartographies) Said 31 Aug 2025
Losing the quiet spaces of contemplation would sacrifice something important in ourselves and our culture
If we lose those quiet spaces, or fill them up with “content,” we will sacrifice something important not only in our selves but in our culture.
Is Google Making Us Stupid? (The Atlantic, 2008; republished on New Cartographies) Said 31 Aug 2025
A widely adopted technology's ultimate effects never match the early expectations
It’s always good to be reminded that the ultimate effects of a broadly adopted new technology never match the early expectations.
Is Google Making Us Stupid? (The Atlantic, 2008; republished on New Cartographies) Said 31 Aug 2025
Large language models bring industrial efficiency into the creation of the very content of our speech
With LLMs, the industrialization ethic moves at last into the creation of the very content of our speech.
Large Language Manglers Said 10 Sept 2024
What is a korrent?
A korrent is a belief a person has stated in their own words: one sentence stating the claim, backed by a quote and a source, kept at korrents.com.
Under a name here, the quoted block is what they actually said. The korrent beneath it is the claim those words support, in korrents' wording — tap it to see the record, its source, and who else holds it.
Nobody here wrote their own korrents. They are compiled from public statements, and a person can change their mind, which is recorded too.
Where they publish
Site nicholascarr.com Author site
His books, articles and bio, with links to his blog and newsletter.
Link verified 3 Oct 2026.
Blog roughtype.com His blog, closed in October 2024
Archive of his blog posts on technology and culture; the last post, 10 October 2024, points readers to New Cartographies.
Link verified 3 Oct 2026.
Newsletter newcartographies.com His current newsletter, on Substack
Essays on technology, media and culture, including 'Sunday Rerun' republications of his older essays.
Link verified 3 Oct 2026.
About the English under a post
Some people here publish in a language other than English. Where they do, this site shows a machine translation beneath the post, in this typeface — the site's own, not theirs.
The post itself is never changed, moved or hidden: what is set in the serif above is exactly what the person published, and it is what to quote them on. A translation can be wrong in ways that matter, especially about tone.
Only the post's own words are translated. A quoted post, a linked article and a belief on korrents.com are left in their original language.