Goldfish carefully man – what have smartphones

In 1897, the journalists sounded the alarm over the increasing people’s dependence on phones. Blame smartphones in the fall of attention today? Says the editor of The Atlantic Ben Haley.

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Attention span is a hot topic, as you know, watching TV, or listening to podcasts, or read a tweet, or it just felt short in those unbearable moments when you have opened the eyes, but haven’t checked your phone.

The symbol of this genre was the report, Microsoft for the year 2015. The authors of the document argued that the time of concentration of attention has decreased from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2015 (it’s even less than that of a goldfish – it holds attention of entire 9 seconds) and is expected to reach zero.

Yes, this concern is as old as the world. In 1897, the authors of the article in The American Electrician sounded the alarm that the growing dependence on the phone, we’ll all be “transparent pile of jelly”.

But although the concept of “dependence on smartphones” (the main cause of the current crisis) is disputed, numerous studies have shown that compulsive phone use can lead to anxiety, chronic fear to miss something and painful condition of the thumb is known as de quervain’s tenosynovitis. These signs are enough for concern that we can’t avoid “gelification” of humanity.

Surprisingly, our connection with smartphones remains even when they do nothing.

Researchers from Paris noted that 37% of women and 30% men who were walking alone down the street, carrying smartphones and using them. (Note that a pair of men and women holding the phones in hand, only 18% of the time, this means that we can still attract the attention of each other.)

Photo: unsplash

But to blame the smartphones in our distracted too easily – human attention has always been fleeting. A study conducted a few years before the release of the first iPhone, revealed that workers spent an average of only 2 minutes on a particular instrument or document, and then switched to another.

In addition, breaks can be good side. Workers who had blocked foreign websites, better control of the time were able to work longer and at the same time reported higher levels of stress because of the constant attention.

Those who seek to increase control over their attention, science has something to offer. A study conducted in 2016, showed that meditation led to a short-term improvement in attention and ability to focus, and that the benefit was disproportionately greater among very multi-tasking people. Studies published this year indicate an even more long term benefits than previously thought.

Really have to ask yourself, how long do we want to keep attention? After all, too much level of focus can increase stress levels.

Thus in our days do not get enough attention as restraint in front of countless stimuli that simultaneously distract and grab. In the end, it seems the only hope for us as individuals, as a civilization, that … sorry, I lost my train of thought.

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