A Shortened Attention Span
I drive, a lot, for my job. I've gotten bored listening to radio so I started picking up audio book series from my local library. At first it was great. I listened to the Illiad, A Tale of Two Cities, The Brothers Karamazov, books I've had a hard time reading cover to cover. Then I noticed that many of the books I've already read and enjoyed were available on audiobook. I started checking those out. It was fun to have them read to me after having already read them.
However, now I'm noticing that when I sit down to crack a book my attention wanders very quickly. I have a more difficult time focusing on what I'm reading. I'm not reading long articles the way I used to. Complex stories or stories that don't involve lots of quick action and adventure aren't holdingy attention the way they used to. Even stories that do have that type of pace that I enjoy are more difficult to read over long stretches.
Am I harming my reading skills with things like audiobooks?
Coco posted an article to the board several months ago that argues we are hurting our ability to concentrate by using message boards and things like Wikepedia. The author argued that the Internet and other information technology of they type harms us by giving us easy access to lots of raw information. That such raw information overloads us with data making it very difficult to parse that data into useful analysis. I'm starting to think he might be right. That it is reflected in my constant desire for new information without having properly parses and procesed the old information I have already received.
Is the Internet and the fast flow of information overwhelming our brains ability to process information making us all shallower thinkers?
However, now I'm noticing that when I sit down to crack a book my attention wanders very quickly. I have a more difficult time focusing on what I'm reading. I'm not reading long articles the way I used to. Complex stories or stories that don't involve lots of quick action and adventure aren't holdingy attention the way they used to. Even stories that do have that type of pace that I enjoy are more difficult to read over long stretches.
Am I harming my reading skills with things like audiobooks?
Coco posted an article to the board several months ago that argues we are hurting our ability to concentrate by using message boards and things like Wikepedia. The author argued that the Internet and other information technology of they type harms us by giving us easy access to lots of raw information. That such raw information overloads us with data making it very difficult to parse that data into useful analysis. I'm starting to think he might be right. That it is reflected in my constant desire for new information without having properly parses and procesed the old information I have already received.
Is the Internet and the fast flow of information overwhelming our brains ability to process information making us all shallower thinkers?