Learning how to deal with the effects of technology, the instant gratification and the multi-sensory stimulation it provides is, indeed, one of the great challe

Learning how to deal with the effects of technology, the instant gratification and the multi-sensory stimulation it provides is, indeed, one of the great challenges of the modern age. The writer's specific examples grate on me. I do not think that most of them are supportable - they seem to originate from a mono-cultural understanding of the world which muddles influences from non-Western cultures with the effects of technology. His description of life in rural America is important, not because of the similarities to life in other historical cultures, but because of the differences. Take the music. There are more cultures in human history than merely rural America. Many of them have historically relied on drum-heavy music. Not just African music, either. Rhythm based music (often with spoken words) has been important to many cultures and is not some sort of new demon fostered by technology. I would "blame" multi-culturalism on its popularity, not iTunes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxk7c38Q-lQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxk7c38Q-lQ I do not believe in the slightest that intelligence is going down - not unless you compare the elite of the past to the failing students of the present. After all, the vast majority of people either didn't have access to much reading material or have the time to peruse it. We now have access to an always-on research library through the Internet. Does everyone use it to its full potential? No, but there are a surprisingly high number of people who go out and read research studies and long-form articles of their own volition. I do not think books are innately superior. Does his suggestion that Indians and Chinese are writing the software, which Westerners merely consume, really jive with your experiences? The drug war saved our country? I do not want to fall prey to middlebrow dismissal, but these arguments unnerve me and I think the point could have been made in a better way.