The design of shallow thinking

"As many of us, I grew up online, and along with many other technological shifts, I've witnessed the internet going from being a space that inspired reflection to one that actively discourages it. This change didn't feel like a natural evolution, but among other things, I believe it was the result of design decisions that ended up fundamentally altering how billions of people now think (sounds a bit dramatic, I know, but hear me out)."

"I was born in the 90s, and a standout part of the zeitgeist of the time was how the internet felt like a place. One reason was that the internet wasn't yet ubiquitous but confined to a specific place in our lives - which in most cases meant the 'family computer'. We even had a distinctive sound associated to that place, which much like the first ring of the school bell signalled to us that we were readying ourselves to enter somewhere."

"The place metaphor was also reinforced by the language built around the internet: having a 'home' page, website 'addresses', 'going' online, and 'browsing' a page like wandering through a physical location. Some of the first mainstream browsers had names that related to travel and discovery, like 'Netscape Navigator' or 'Internet Explorer', which quite explicitly suggests there's uncharted territory to discover. Even 'Safari' (though slightly later) continued this exploration metaphor."

Many people who grew up online remember the internet as a distinct 'place' anchored by the family computer and familiar dial-up sounds. Language and interfaces reinforced a spatial, exploratory metaphor through home pages, addresses, browsing, and browser names like Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer. The web's early design borrowed physical-place affordances such as doors, rooms, and corners, shaping how users entered, explored, and left online spaces. Over time, ubiquity and subsequent design decisions shifted those affordances away from encouraging reflection toward patterns that discourage deep thought. The arrival of smartphones then accelerated changes in access and attention.

Read at Medium