--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The only thing going on is the…" description: "\"The only thing going on is the progression of words and sentences across page after page and so suddenly we see this immersive kind of very attentive t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b6/nicholas-g-carr-18458_argument_the-only-thing-going-on-is-the-progressi_2260461.jpg" --- # The only thing going on is the progression of words and… ![“The only thing going on is the progression of words and sentences across page after page and so suddenly we see this immersive kind of very attentive thinking, whether you are paying attention to a story or to an argument, or whatever. And what we know about the brain is the brain adapts to these…” quote by Nicholas G. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b6/nicholas-g-carr-18458_argument_the-only-thing-going-on-is-the-progressi_2260461.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b6/nicholas-g-carr-18458_argument_the-only-thing-going-on-is-the-progressi_2260461.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b6/nicholas-g-carr-18458_argument_the-only-thing-going-on-is-the-progressi_2260461.jpg) > “The only thing going on is the progression of words and sentences across page after page and so suddenly we see this immersive kind of very attentive thinking, whether you are paying attention to a story or to an argument, or whatever. And what we know about the brain is the brain adapts to these types of tools.” [Nicholas G. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-g-carr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading dense text trains the brain for deep, focused thinking, unlike skimming. **In simple terms:** Deep reading builds attention. Key Takeaway Practice sustained reading. Themes attention focus brain plasticity Mood reflective analytical Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - academic study - long‑form journalism - critical analysis Key Concepts cognitive development neuroplasticity Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance deep reading with modern distractions? - What habits improve sustained attention? A Different Perspective Deep reading can be time‑consuming. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Argument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/argument/) [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [Focus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focus/) [Paying Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paying-attention/) [Progression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progression/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Tools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tools/) ## Related quotes > [The brain adapts very quickly. It is incredible how quickly we can adapt and what progress we can make in a very short time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kubica/the-brain-adapts-very-quickly-it-is-incredible-how-quickly-we-can/) [Robert Kubica](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kubica/) > [When people play action games, they're changing the brain's pathway responsible for visual processing. These games push the human visual system to the limits,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-bavelier/when-people-play-action-games-they-re-changing-the-brain-s-pathway/) [Daphne Bavelier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-bavelier/) > [I think when you sit alone with your brain too much, your own brain starts to rebel against you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-titus/i-think-when-you-sit-alone-with-your-brain-too-much-your-own-brain/) [Christopher Titus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-titus/) > [Experiences shape the brain, but the brain shapes the way we view experiences, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fisher/experiences-shape-the-brain-but-the-brain-shapes-the-way-we-view/) [Helen Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fisher/) > [I'm fortunate to have some really great people around me, my fiancee being one, my parents being another. Over the last couple of years,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-cobb/i-m-fortunate-to-have-some-really-great-people-around-me-my-fiancee/) [Randall Cobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-cobb/) > [“It is in the brain, and the brain only, that the great sins of the world take place”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/it-is-in-the-brain-and-the-brain-only-that-the-great-sins-of-the-2/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“The more you use your brain, the more brain you will have to use.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-more-you-use-your-brain-the-more-brain-you-will-have-to-use/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [This is my brain: O This is my brain after making out with Fang: \* It's very sad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/this-is-my-brain-o-this-is-my-brain-after-making-out-with-fang-it-s/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [“This your brain. This is your brain on Facebook. Any questions?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patrick-kelly/this-your-brain-this-is-your-brain-on-facebook-any-questions/) James Patrick Kelly > [“This is your brain. This is your brain on Oklahoma!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-cory/this-is-your-brain-this-is-your-brain-on-oklahoma/) Cheryl Cory > [Keep your brain active. Engage your brain. 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Without my brain, I don't think the rest of me would be too hot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mamie-van-doren/my-best-asset-is-my-brain-without-my-brain-i-don-t-think-the-rest-of/) [Mamie Van Doren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mamie-van-doren/) > [The difference between mind and brain is that brain deals only with memorized, subjective, special-case experiences and objective experiments, while mind extracts and employs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/the-difference-between-mind-and-brain-is-that-brain-deals-only-with/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) ## More by Nicholas G. Carr > [A lot of your mental energy goes to figuring out where does one word end and the next begin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-g-carr/a-lot-of-your-mental-energy-goes-to-figuring-out-where-does-one-word/) [Nicholas G. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-g-carr/) > [There are a whole lot of reasons to be very happy that our brains are able to adapt and adapt so readily because we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-g-carr/there-are-a-whole-lot-of-reasons-to-be-very-happy-that-our-brains-are/) [Nicholas G. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-g-carr/) > [By putting the means of production into the hands of the masses but withholding from those same masses any ownership over the product of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-g-carr/by-putting-the-means-of-production-into-the-hands-of-the-masses-but/) [Nicholas G. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-g-carr/) > [We become, after the arrival of the printing press in general, more attentive more attuned to contemplative ways of thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-g-carr/we-become-after-the-arrival-of-the-printing-press-in-general-more/) [Nicholas G. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-g-carr/) > [It's interesting to think about how the book changed us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-g-carr/it-s-interesting-to-think-about-how-the-book-changed-us/) [Nicholas G. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-g-carr/) > [I think if you look back through the intellectual history of human beings you can trace the way that intellectual technologies influence the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-g-carr/i-think-if-you-look-back-through-the-intellectual-history-of-human/) [Nicholas G. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-g-carr/) > [One of the fascinating things about early writing on slates, on papyrus, even on early handwritten books, is for instance, there were no space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-g-carr/one-of-the-fascinating-things-about-early-writing-on-slates-on/) [Nicholas G. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-g-carr/) > [Culture is sustained in our synapses...It's more than what can be reduced to binary code and uploaded onto the Net. To remain vital, culture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-g-carr/culture-is-sustained-in-our-synapses-it-s-more-than-what-can-be/) [Nicholas G. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-g-carr/) > [What the book does as a technology is shield us from distraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-g-carr/what-the-book-does-as-a-technology-is-shield-us-from-distraction/) [Nicholas G. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-g-carr/) > [In popular books and articles, information technology writer Carr has worried over the ways that algorithms like those employed by Google are reshaping the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-g-carr/in-popular-books-and-articles-information-technology-writer-carr-has/) [Nicholas G. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-g-carr/) > [The brain likes to be efficient and so even as its strengthening the pathways you're exercising, it's pulling - it's weakening the connections in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-g-carr/the-brain-likes-to-be-efficient-and-so-even-as-its-strengthening-the/) [Nicholas G. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-g-carr/) > [I think we begin to lose the ability to read in the deepest, most interpretive ways because were not kind of calming our mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-g-carr/i-think-we-begin-to-lose-the-ability-to-read-in-the-deepest-most/) [Nicholas G. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-g-carr/) > [You can take a book to the beach without worrying about sand getting in its works. You can take it to bed without being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-g-carr/you-can-take-a-book-to-the-beach-without-worrying-about-sand-getting/) [Nicholas G. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-g-carr/) > [The practicality of technology may distinguish it from art, but both spring from a similar, distinctly human yearning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-g-carr/the-practicality-of-technology-may-distinguish-it-from-art-but-both/) [Nicholas G. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-g-carr/) > [I think what the book did in addition to its practical uses, is it gave us a more attentive way of thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-g-carr/i-think-what-the-book-did-in-addition-to-its-practical-uses-is-it/) [Nicholas G. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-g-carr/) [Explore all 34 Nicholas G. Carr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-g-carr/) ## More Argument quotes > [A flourishing, morally credible media is a vital component in the maintenance of genuinely public talk, argument about common good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/a-flourishing-morally-credible-media-is-a-vital-component-in-the/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [Preaching to the choir actually arms the choir with arguments and elevates the choir's discourse. 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They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [On the stage, the characters express themselves more through words than images. So the arguments of the characters and the tension between characters -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-alda/on-the-stage-the-characters-express-themselves-more-through-words/) [Alan Alda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-alda/) > [One argument goes that recessions are good for female artists because when money flies out the window, women are allowed in the house. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/one-argument-goes-that-recessions-are-good-for-female-artists-because/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [All of the barriers to innovation in the energy sector are arguments for a big commitment to public investment. Only the public sector can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nordhaus/all-of-the-barriers-to-innovation-in-the-energy-sector-are-arguments/) [Ted Nordhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nordhaus/) > [“Arguments led by subjectivity are a waste of time. And, if they take place online, add to that, a waste of one’s keyboard.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/arguments-led-by-subjectivity-are-a-waste-of-time-and-if-they-take/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [If in the middle of an argument I suddenly fall silent it does not mean you have won... No it means you should probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hussein-nishah/if-in-the-middle-of-an-argument-i-suddenly-fall-silent-it-does-not/) [Hussein Nishah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hussein-nishah/) > [Don't get divorced after your first argument! I have a lot of friends that have one fight and that's it, they get divorced. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-ripa/don-t-get-divorced-after-your-first-argument-i-have-a-lot-of-friends/) [Kelly Ripa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-ripa/) > [“The motive behind my arguments have always been to come at truth. 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