Why people recommend it
The Shallows by Nicholas Carr is a critically acclaimed exploration of how digital technology, the internet, and social media fundamentally alter human concentration, memory, and cognitive processing. On a 2025 episode of Breaking Points, Emily Jashinsky cited Nicholas Carr and his book to examine the modern phenomenon of outsourcing critical thinking to computers, which she argued leads to intellectual atrophy. Similarly, on a 2024 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, comedian Neal Brennan referenced The Shallows while discussing the psychological impact of digital environments on human behavior. Brennan reflected on a powerful maxim from the reading about how individuals become shaped by what they repeatedly do and think, linking the book's core warnings to the endless mental loops and internal monologues that plague daily modern life. Across these media platforms, Carr's work serves as an essential philosophical touchstone for understanding the hidden cognitive costs of living in a hyper-connected, digital-first society where constant stimulation threatens deep, contemplative thought.
Who recommended it
- Emily Jashinsky Discussed
Emily Jashinsky — 1 mention
“And Nicholas Carr started writing on this. When was the Shallows? Was like 2011. That's right. Yeah.”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker — 1
“Yeah, there's a saying that I've read—a book called The Shallows about what social media does to us—but it was: you are what you do repeatedly, you are what you think repeatedly, and we all—at least I do—and did for a long time—wake up and just start the record and the monologue that's happening in your head.”