http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/09/16/internet.brain.carr/index.html
I found this article that talks about how the Internet may make it hard for people to keep a long attention span. Nicholas Carr has writtten a book on teh subject. The book is called, The Shallows: What the Interent is doing to our brains. Carr explains, "I fear that we have been too quick to assume that computers and the 'net are good for students." This made me reflect on my INterent use and it makes sense to me. When I was constantly going online I could only write short stories. However, whenever I work on my longer stories I have to stop gping online completely. This may be in part to my need to stay focused on my story but it may also be because breaking away from the Internet is the only way for my brain to get in the right frame of mind. When we are on the Internet we process small bits of information really fast. Carr believes that most people don't see a problem with this because it reflects the way they live their life. However, if you are a person who values things like creativity and attentiveness then the Internet may be doing more harm than good.
They are in the process of doing a study that is going to research the effects that the Intenrnet has. It will either prove Carr's hypothesis right or wrong. From a personal point of view I already agree with him. Most people don't really care about what the Internet does to them. They value things like fast and readliy available information.
I super like this article! It’s weird because I was just talking about something similar to this with one of my friends last night. I have to send her this article. We were talking about our theories of the smart phone and the internet. I know this article refers to Google instant and other things, but our point of our conversation last night was losing the ability to take in our surroundings and be able to have a long attention span. The topic started because me and the girl I was talking to both do not have a smart phone, and decided that maybe it’s a good thing we haven’t joined that revolution. We argued with the rest of our friends that by not having a smart phone, we are more connected with the world around us even though they are the ones with the world wide web in the palm of their hand. If you take the time to notice, many people with smart phones are looking at their phone when they walk around, and when they stand around waiting for something. This takes times away from learning what is currently and concretely around you. Smart phones also, just like this article argues, may shorten the attention span of humans faster. Pretty interesting huh?
ReplyDeleteHmm does the internet give you ADD? I would have to say if it doesn't, it'll give you something close to it! Haha I think working online does offer too many distractions and that is why we can't concentrate. It is almost like studying with the TV, radio, and someone talking or vacuuming all at the same time. Well, it can be since there are all these options right at the tip of your finger. But many argued that TV was causing short attention spans too, and I also think it does while the internet only encourages the pattern. And as far as smart phones go, I don't have one either so it is good to know someone else is fighting the good fight! Ha But the way our culture is we are continuing to go down this road of shorter, faster and accessible. These are all convenient but as the saying goes, good things don't always come that easy.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting article. I never really stopped to think what the internet might be doing to my attention span. I hardly watch television anymore but I do spend alot of time on the internet and Facebook via my iPhone. After taking a two year break from school I'm finding it hard to work in long bursts of time and find that I have to work in shorter, more productive bursts (like 30 minutes at a time). After taking a short break I can work for another 30 minutes, but I hardly ever work for an hour at a time. I would be very interested to see how the results of this study turn out.
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