Skip to main content

Technology, computers, the internet and the decline of concentrated attention

If you have trouble reading this, click on the photograph of the writing and then click again to enlarge it. Happy reading!



Comments

R said…
Cake, cookies, strawberries, and broccoli,oh my. I've been online half my life now and I'm old enough that the first couple of years were a couple of dialup BBS that didn't even have internet gateways (I was geeky enough that they weren't AOL, Prodigy, or Compuserv). I think my attention span has decreased. I certinlly read fewer books and printed periodicals now. I'm not much of a writer though and defiantly don't care to write long hand though.

August 7, 2014 at 11:32 PM
David said…
This is not the traditional longhand writing, aka cursive, that I learned in grade school. The letters of a each word should all be connected (flowing) together.
August 8, 2014 at 1:44 PM
Janice Boughton said…
No, definitely not the cursive I learned in school. It went through various permutations to become more readable and still fast.
August 8, 2014 at 7:35 PM
Janice Boughton said…
This has had 4 views in 24 hours, at least according to the blogger stats. Usually there are spikes in readership after any blog goes up. There is probably something interesting going on with regard to the lack of machine readable text.
August 8, 2014 at 7:41 PM
herbert said…
I recently looked at some of my old notebooks with song/poem fragments, letters to editors, notes from classes and conferences, etc. and think that my powers of attention to a thread of a conjecture, hypothesis or argument hasn't noticeably decreased. I do 'bounce around' more than I once did... fewer dictionary & encyclopedia visits, more wiki... but that hasn't seemed to constrain my attention span. If anything, it has made possible more mental juggling.I don't have as high an opinion of my multitasking abilities (having boiled away too many pots of water, etc)... but keeping an idea on a 'back burner while pursuing something that 'just came up' seems easier than it once did.
The problem is that I have always been a curious, open, information omnivore... a generalist to the max. As I grow older and more comfortable in this sedentary setup (with a screen to the world) I'm spending far too much of my time here. That is, I have about 2 or 3 lifetime's worth of projects away from this chair that I'd like to pursue, but I'm not Doing (as i once Did). I am, however, both eternally hopeful, and divinely discontented... which should be enough, if/when I wake, to boil more water for tea... and go outside to pee and take a look around... and listen. ^..^
August 9, 2014 at 2:07 AM
herbert said…
You seem to equate "concentrated attention" to both engagement of the mind AND tactile experience (a "wood-based book" instead of a digital Kindle file), and also to the mind that's "freed" from that physical engagement (because the body is busy doing things that don't require the 'supervision' of the mind). The latter I know well... and always welcomed. My best "letters" to editors, and best analyses of 'problems' or fancies brought up by curiosity happened when I was doing a repetitive task... mopping floors, planting trees, picking berries, fishing, etc (but Not hunting!).
However, I think that you are on to something, with regard for those for whom books are becoming an 'oddity'-- people younger than a certain age-- whose iPhone "pocketful of miracles" is just a 'given'. You seem to be on a cusp, in that regard... aware of both 'worlds' (or "states of being"). I'm curious to see what conclusions you draw from your observations. ^..^
August 9, 2014 at 9:54 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to make your own ultrasound gel (which is also sterile and edible and environmentally friendly) **UPDATED--NEW RECIPE**

I have been doing lots of bedside ultrasound lately and realized how useful it would be in areas far off the beaten track like Haiti, for instance. With a bedside ultrasound (mine fits in my pocket) I could diagnose heart disease, kidney and gallbladder problems, various cancers as well as lung and intestinal diseases. Then I realized that I would have to take a whole bunch of ultrasound gel with me which would mean that I would have to check luggage, which is a real pain when traveling light to a place where luggage disappears. I heard that you can use water, or spit, in a pinch, or even lotion, though oil based coupling media apparently break down the surface of the transducer. Or, of course, you can just use ultrasound gel. Ultrasound requires an aqueous interface between the transducer and the skin or else all you see is black. Ultrasound gel is a clear goo, looks like hair gel or aloe vera, and is made by several companies out of various combinations of propylene glycol, glyce...
40 comments
Read more

Ivermectin for Covid--Does it work? We don't know.

  Lately there has been quite a heated controversy about whether to use ivermectin for Covid-19.  The FDA , a US federal agency responsible for providing unbiased information to protect people from harmful drugs, foods, even tobacco products, has said that there is not good evidence of ivermectin's safety and effectiveness in treating Covid 19, and that just about sums up what we truly know about ivermectin in the context of Covid. The CDC, Centers for Disease Control, a branch of the department of Health and Human Services, tasked with preventing and treating disease and injury, also recently warned  people not to use ivermectin to treat Covid outside of actual clinical trials. Certain highly qualified physicians, including ones who practice critical care medicine and manage many patients with severe Covid infections in the intensive care unit vocally support the use of ivermectin to treat Covid and have published dosing schedules and reviews of the literature supporting...
1 comment
Read more

Actinic Keratoses and Carac (fluorouracil) cream: why is this so expensive?

First, a disclaimer: I don't know why Carac (0.5% flourouracil cream) is so expensive. I will speculate, though, at the very end of this blog. Sun and the skin: what happens If a person reaches a certain age, has very little pigment in her skin, and has spent lots of time in the sun, bad stuff happens. The ultraviolet radiation of the sun does all kinds of great things: it makes us happy, causes us to synthesize vitamin D which strengthens our bones and it gives us this healthy glow until we get old and wrinkled and leathery. And even that can be charming. The skin cells put up with this remarkably well for a long time, partly aided by melanin pigment which absorbs the radiation, which is why we tan and freckle, if we are fair skinned. Eventually, though, we absorb enough radiation that it injures the skin and produces cells which multiply oddly. It also damages the skin's elasticity which creates wrinkles. The cells which reproduce in odd ways peel, creating dry skin or...
26 comments
Read more