University Offers Course In "Wasting Time On The Internet"

Simply by reading this sentence, you could be inching closer to academic glory.

Motherboard is reporting that the University of Pennsylvania is preparing to run a new course titled 'Wasting Time On The Internet'.

Run by Kenneth Goldsmith, an artist and poet who tried to print the internet in 2013, the Creative Writing module aims to distract and divide its students' attention with aimless web-surfing. The idea is that being distracted will free their sub-conscious minds to craft great works of litera-- oh look, a dog on a skateboard! 

Goldsmith tells Motherboard: "I am very tired of reading articles in The New York Times every week that make us feel bad about spending so much time on the internet, about dividing our attention so many times. I think it's complete bullshit that the internet is making us dumber. I think the internet is making us smarter. There's this new morality built around guilt and shame in the digital age."

The University website describes the course thusly: "This class will focus on the alchemical recuperation of aimless surfing into substantial works of literature."

Should your fingers now be poised to Google the meaning of the word "alchemical", an act that will actually result in you spending 45 minutes looking at clothes you can't afford on ASOS, we reckon you're on course for an A+.

[Via: Motherboard]