While delving into reading about the impacts of technology on our lives and in our brains, one of the ideas that’s sparked my interest is the revisionist history that gets used to explain why the internet is evil. In the more insightful texts I’ve explored, authors trace the many times throughout history that a new technology has been considered suspicious or harmful. In today’s New York Times Book Review, several authors describe the way that the Internet has changed storytelling. You would think that printed-word authors would unilaterally condemn the connected world – but many of the authors actually reflect on the way that these “new” challenges are not new at all. Throughout history, technology of all kinds has influenced writing. In particular, I appreciated this sentiment from Tom McCarthy: 

The argument that the advent of the Internet somehow marks a Telecom Year Zero after which nothing will ever be the same can be made only by ignoring the actual history of literature. 

To check out his full piece as well as the others, go here.  Margaret Atwood’s is another favorite and provides a practical exercise for writers to reimagine a classic piece using modern tech.