Does thinking differently equal not thinking well?

In a recent article in the Atlantic Monthly, Nicholas Carr worries that the influence of Google - and by extension the internet and the practices of "consuming" information that it facilitates - is flattening our intelligence.

The argument is seductively put, but I wonder sometimes if it might be that old problem that things that are different from the way they used to be are hard to see in a positive light.

Further discussions on this issue are here.