Megan Alvarez December 3, 2013 ENGL 137H The Cost of Not Paying Attention As I started writing this research

paper on a paradigm shift in our society, I was dreading going to the library. Why do I need print resources when I have so many articles and websites online I can look at? Reading through books just takes so long; whereas I can quickly skim through a couple pages of online articles to find information I need. Even within the online resources, Im guilty of utilizing the command-F combo to find exactly what key words I am looking for within sections of articles. The reluctance I was experiencing exemplifies a major paradigm shift in our society: a decreased attention span. Modern society no longer values lengthy, descriptive writings or presentations as much as they did in the past. We dont have the time or attention span to read every piece of information we come across word for word. We care about the gist of things, the summaries, the conclusions, the things we actually need to know. We just cant seem to devote our attention to any one thing for an extended period of time. This decrease in attention span can be seen in the commonplace habit of multitasking, which seems to be constantly surrounding us. People are on the road while using their cell phones, putting on make-up, or fiddling with the radio, or theyre at work with all of their documents for a project open at once and are signed into all their social media accounts in their countless Internet tabs, or even are out to dinner with friends and checking their email or texting the whole time. No matter what people are doing, theyre almost always doing something else as well. In general, our society doesnt possess the attention span needed to concentrate on just one thing. Of course, anyone can guess the major catalyst in this shift: technology. Technological advances allow us to do amazing things. We can communicate faster than ever before, be

Megan Alvarez December 3, 2013 ENGL 137H entertained for hours at a time browsing the Internet, and find any information we could ever imagine with a quick Google search. The amount of information we have access to today is actually mind-boggling. In fact, there are over 644 million active websites full of music, TV shows, blogs, online shopping sites, and educational information out there for us to see any time we wish (Bort). With so many informational sources readily available, people are drawn into looking at as many as possible so they dont miss out on anything. Being constantly surrounded by stimuli attempting to gain our attention has caused this decrease in attention span. Since people are bombarded with electronic alerts, ads, television shows, and articles all day long, we dont spend a significant amount of time on any one thing. Even though we look at posts and articles and news clips all day long, we rarely really read them. As a result of this surplus of information, we no longer have the ability to devote extended amounts of time and concentration to long or complex writings or explanations and thus have somewhat lost the ability to understand these complex ideas, processes, or theories. It appears as though our knowledge base has grown to be a mile wide, but is now only an inch deep. Technology has also affected the way we communicate. There has been a major rise in short, informal texts, emails, and phone calls to replace formal letters that were sent in the past. Being able to communicate faster and more often but with less detail than before has affected our attention spans. The average email user gets 147 messages a day, but deletes 71 of them (Vanderkam). I can guarantee that this is a lot more than the amount of letters than people would receive per day in the past. Although we communicate a lot more than in the past, each of these interactions are fleeting. With so many emails to attend to, we dont have time to read long descriptive messages. We would rather be able to quickly identify the point of the email and get to work on the task or question at hand so we can move on to all the other

Megan Alvarez December 3, 2013 ENGL 137H things we want to look at. This relates to our overall understanding of information; people generally send emails to get quick answers to questions, not extended explanations to better their understanding of the given issue. Technology has changed our society in terms of entertainment as well. In the past, people would spend hours at a time getting lost in a great novel. Now, people sit down to watch a half-hour or hour-long TV show to relax. While novels are still enjoyable, time spent reading has decreased over the years as people spend time with other leisure activities such as watching TV. Watching TV consumes 2.8 hours of a persons day on average, making it the most time spent on any leisure activity (Table 1); but even within our entertainment habits, things are getting shorter and shorter. Since 1965, the average news story on a broadcast television program has shrunk from 42 seconds to just 8, and the average network TV ad has shrunk from 53 seconds to 25 (Does America Have ADD?). While we still value hearing information about the breaking news and latest products just as much, if not more, we are not willing to spend as much time on every unit as before. People would rather find out the information they need to know in a condensed format in order receive information on as many topics as possible in a given time period. Studies have shown that the constant, fast-paced information we are constantly exposed to not only has the ability to change our habits, but also affect our attention spans on the neurological level. Constant electronic stimulus has the ability to rewire the way the brain receives signals. As a persons brain begins to expect fast-paced, engaging signals on a regular basis, the real-world seems slow and boring and loses their attention almost immediately. One way this shortened attention span is exemplified is in the 41% increase in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (Schwarz and Cohen). Although ADHD has a biological

Megan Alvarez December 3, 2013 ENGL 137H basis, experts say environment has an effect as well (Elias). Dr. John Ratey, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, described this increase in ADHD diagnoses in response to an increase in technology and information as acquired attention deficit disorder (qtd. in Anderson). With constant, fast-paced signals resulting from multitasking and electronic devices, the brain switches from processing information in the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory, to the striatum, which is responsible for rote tasks (Anderson). Even if we believe were being productive thinkers and viewing many things at once, the brain is physically incapable of perceiving meaningful information in that manner. As Microsoft researcher puts it, we simply give continuous partial attention to a variety of subjects (Does America Have ADD?). We were designed to focus on one thing at a time, and while skimming through information may allow us to complete more tasks throughout the day, it leaves us with a shallow outcome with no mental development or learning. The more efficient, quick and easy society we live in has the ability to affect the way our brain receives signals, potentially causing a shortened attention span in a person who would otherwise be biologically unaffected. While it is true that people are reading more than ever before, the quality of attention we give to each piece has decreased significantly. With more information available to the average person, we can read more and learn more than ever before. However, as we read more and more, the quality of each reading goes down since we still are limited to the same amount of time. As a society, weve adapted a sort of skimming habit. We read the headlines of articles, and jump down pages looking for key words and topics. The University College London conducted a five-year research program on this topic, examining computer logs of visitors on popular research sites. The two sites, operated by the British Library and a U.K

Megan Alvarez December 3, 2013 ENGL 137H educational consortium, provide academic journal articles, e-books, and other information. The results of the study showed that people tend to hop from source to source on the Internet, rarely reading a page or two of an article or book before moving onto the next one. Our society has adapted a horizontal power browse style of reading that allows a person to cover the basic information of many topics, instead of looking deeply into just a couple (Carr). People have learned to value quantity often at the expense of quality by giving only limited attention to one individual topic. With the extensive amount of information at our fingertips provided by the emergence of technology as an everyday resource, efficiency and immediacy lie above understanding and mental connections in value. In the 1970s and 1980s the main rise in technology was in TV, but as electronic print sources came into the picture, the way we perceive information was affected. People began reading more and more every day, from interactions with other people through email or text messages to looking up different facts or articles. However, there was a significant change in our habits of obtaining information. Tufts University developmental psychologist, Maryanne Wolfs, recognized that we are not only what we read. We are how we read. With more and more time spent reading, people simply set out on a goal to decode the information instead of make deep, mental connections with the works. It was affecting the overall experience of reading and how we perceive the information given to us (qtd. in Carr). A decreased attention span did, in fact, allow us to read through more and more information on a daily basis, but this shift in habit shifted the values as well. People no longer strive to create meaningful connections with the shows they watch or the books they read, they just try to get through each piece as quickly as possible and retain the information as they move on to the next source. This shift in habits is seen in the way we read and the way we think. Since

Megan Alvarez December 3, 2013 ENGL 137H people have access to so many resources, they no longer value the details of a situation or development of a thought, theyd rather skim for the information theyre looking for. The Internet is a key factor in the devolution of detailed information and learning. While some may think it is societys fault for devaluing depth of information, the Internet is actually designed to cause us to think this way. The development of the Internet was based off the goal to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful (Carr). Online companies want us to be able to find information quickly and easily, and they even set out with hyperlinked ads and pop-ups in hopes of drawing us to their sites. Certain companies have actually taken advantage of this easy access to information and shortened attention spans. By creating a search engine capable of giving us personally relevant results, Google gets people to click on more and more things. The more things people click on, the more information Google can collect about that person and cater advertisements to. While online companies claim to hope to create more productive thinkers in the world by providing fast and easy information, Im sure its convenient that our short attention spans are cash cows for those companies that benefit from the new desire to have information that is readily accessible, easily digested, and simply stated. One possible side effect of an accepted decreased attention span in society is an increased reliance on artificial substances to provide our brains with the willpower to focus more than our habits allow it to. Of course, there are many substances said to enhance concentration, such as caffeine or tobacco, but with ever-decreasing attention spans, people are moving on to more extreme measures. On some college campuses in the United States, up to 25% of students have admitted to taking illegal, prescription neuroenhancers at some point or another (Anderson). Even with just a few people with access on campus, thousands are

Megan Alvarez December 3, 2013 ENGL 137H getting their hands on prescription drugs used to enhance focus and treat conditions such as ADHD, Alzheimers, and narcolepsy. While drugs such as Ritalin, Adderall, Aricept, and Provigil substantially help people challenged with these conditions, they produce a superhuman state of focus in the average person (Anderson). Obviously, taking drugs not considered medically necessary can have many detrimental side effects on the given person, but workers or students may feel the pressure to enhance their attention spans to get more work done. Another effect this decrease in attention span produces is within the education sector. Media psychologist Stuart Fischoff realized that it is getting harder and harder for teachers to capture students attention for extended periods of time. Lessons in school just dont seem to be as exciting or engaging as the video games they are playing or shows they are watching at home. The children expect everything to be quick and simple, which is not always how the teachers are presenting the curriculum. Fischoff responded to this issue stating, rather than seeing the kids as pathological, maybe we should see them as adaptive. Brains may be changing, and we dont know if its going to be bad or not (qtd. in Elias). Just as Fischoff stated, this shift in attention span is definitely happening in our society; but rather than punishing students for not paying attention in class or thinking students are just getting less intelligent over the years, were going to have to adapt our teaching styles to fit the students. Teachers will have to find a way to incorporate technology or be as engaging as the things the students are experiencing outside of class if they want the students to both pay attention to and retain the information presented to them. Who knows, maybe this shift in attention spans and teaching styles will be beneficial for our society?

Megan Alvarez December 3, 2013 ENGL 137H As with any major paradigm shift in society, there are both pros and cons to decreased attention spans. Some say the ability to only spend a limited amount of time on any given piece of information is a good thing. We are an output-based society and value efficiency in the workplace. With direct communication, we know exactly what the task at hand is without having to think about what a person is actually trying to say. With concise information, we can easily skim through readings and only obtain the information we actually need and quickly put it to use. On the other hand, a person giving partial attention can only perceive a limited amount of complexity. As a society, we expect everything to have a summary or a condensed main point, but not everything can be communicated that way. Sometimes lengthy descriptions are needed to convey the complex thought process a person went through. Sometimes a business plan is going to be complicated, and employees need to carefully read through the entire report, not just skim through, to understand just what is going on. Through this skimming habit and focus on the provided summaries of information, people have somewhat lost the ability to read through information and arrive at their own informed and reasoned conclusions. As Michelle Weil, coauthor of TechnoStress: Coping With Technology @Work @Home @Play, advises, "to get the most from technology, we must choose between what we actually need and want, what we think we need and want, and what we are told we should want (qtd. in Does America Have ADD?). Technology affects our society in ways we could have never predicted, and its important to create a balance between utilizing technological advancements to become more productive as a society and retaining the ability to think critically, reason in depth, and arrive logically at our own conclusions.

Megan Alvarez December 3, 2013 ENGL 137H Works Cited

Anderson, Sam. "In Defense of Distraction." NYMag.com. New York Media, 17 May 2009. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. <http://nymag.com/news/features/56793/index7.html>. Bort, Julie. "How Many Web Sites Are There?" Business Insider. Business Insider, 8 Mar. 2012. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. <http://www.businessinsider.com/how-many-web-sites-are-arethere-2012-3>. Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" Editorial. The Atlantic July-Aug. 2008: n. pag. The Atlantic. The Atlantic, 1 July 2008. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-usstupid/306868/>. "Does America Have ADD?" U.S. News & World Report 26 Mar. 2001: 14. Print. Elias, Marilyn. "Frequent TV Watching Shortens Kids' Attention Spans." USA Today, 05 Apr. 2004. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. <http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-0405-tv-kids-attention-usat_x.htm>. Schwarz, Alan, and Sarah Cohen. "A.D.H.D. Seen in 11% of U.S. Children as Diagnoses Rise." Editorial. The New York Times 1 Apr. 2013: A1. The New York Times. 31 Mar. 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/01/health/more-diagnosesof-hyperactivity-causing-concern.html?_r=0>. "Table 1. Time Spent in Primary Activities (1) and Percent of the Civilian Population Engaging in Each Activity, Averages per Day by Sex, 2012 Annual Averages." Bureau of Labor Statistics. United States Department of Labor, 20 June 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. <http://www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.t01.htm>.

Megan Alvarez December 3, 2013 ENGL 137H Vanderkam, Laura. "Stop Checking Your Email, Now." Fortune Management Career Blog RSS. CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. <http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/10/08/stop-checking-your-email-now/>.