Yeah, as much as I agree that it's important to be aware of the negative effects of having so much information readily accessible, I also think it's important not to forget the positive ones. Sure, it's bad when I find myself checking myself checking my RSS feeds every five minutes instead of working, but when I think about all the interesting, entertaining, and truly useful things I know now that I didn't know about a year ago, I realize I learned a lot of them from reading my RSS feeds.
On the other hand, here's a thought about why checking his Google Reader RSS feeds constantly might be rotting his brain: intermittent rewards. Here are some links:
>One of Skinner's most important discoveries is that behavior reinforced intermittently (as opposed to consistently) is the most difficult to extinguish. In other words, intermittent rewards beat predictable rewards. It's the basis of most animal training, but applies to humans as well... which is why slot machines are so appealing, and one needn't be addicted to feel it.
