kcet public television] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- tavis: nicolas carr is a best- selling author. his latest vote is called "the shallows -- his latest book is called "the shallows." let me start by asking the obvious. what is the internet doing to our brains? >> i think it is shifting the emphasis of our thoughts away from deep, a tentative thoughts, reflective thoughts, and more toward a scheming type of behavior, -- skimming type of behavior. we are losing the ability to slow down and think deeply about one thing for a long time. >> does that equate to a dumbing down of society, or is that an over read? >> i think of it more as a shift. i think what we do lose is our religious thinking and some of the richest parts of our intellectual lives. on the other hand, we gain access to information. it makes it much easier to communicate and send messages, but i think in that and what we stand to lose maybe greater than what we are gaining. tavis: tell me about the data that allows you to make the point you have just made. >> there have been a lot of studies a

and on "art beat," jeff talks to nicolas carr, author of "the shallows: what the internet is doing tor brains." all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. judy. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. on monday, margaret warner begins a week of reports from iraq. first up, a look at the drawdown of u.s. forces. i'm judy woodruff. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. "washington week" can be seen later this evening on most pbs stations. we'll see you online, and again here monday evening. have a nice weekend. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org