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Ask Slashdot: Dealing With Electronics-Induced Inattentiveness?

Posted by Soulskill on from the your-attention-is-the-currency-of-the-future dept.

An anonymous reader writes: I am a graduate student in his twenties who used to be able to read dozens and dozens of lengthy books in his childhood. Over the years, I have noticed that my attention span and ability to concentrate has decreased noticeably, seemingly in synchronization with society's increased connectedness with the Internet and constant stimulation from computers and mobile devices alike. I have noticed that myself and others seem to have a difficult time really sitting down to read anything or focus on anything relatively boring for even more than ten seconds (the "TL;DR Generation," as I sometimes call it).

I see it when socializing with others or even during a professor's lecture. I have tried leaving my mobile phone at home and limiting myself to fewer browser tabs in an effort to regain concentration that I believe has been lost in recent years. Nonetheless, this is an issue that has begun to adversely affect my academic studies and may only get worse in time. What advice do fellow Slashdot users have with regard to reclaiming what has been lost? Should such behaviors simply be accepted as a sign of the times?

10 of 312 comments (clear)

  1. tl;dr by Ecuador · · Score: 4, Funny

    I can't handle summaries more than 3-4 lines long, can someone sum it up for me?

    --
    Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
    1. Re: tl;dr by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Maybe Bennett can provide a summary and share his thoughts?

    2. Re:tl;dr by quantaman · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm too busy but we can crowdsource it.

      The first sentence says he's a young guy who used to read books.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    3. Re:tl;dr by RenderSeven · · Score: 3, Funny

      He started Slashdot. He wrote:

      I dont like Beta cant you tell?
      The clowns at Dice can go to Hell!

      I do not like it in a post
      I will not read it from your host
      I do not read it from the tubes
      No one likes it! ('cept the n00bs)

      When MyCleanPc's over done
      It leaves more room for Haselton
      Dont talk of Hitler, please just stop it
      As Godwin said "Hey! Step 4 - Profit!"

      I do not care for Beowulf, see?
      In Soviet Russia they cluster ME!
      Reading TFA's unthinkable
      And karma whores post things unlinkable

      Until you mod me +5 Troll
      This 'global warming' wont get old
      Lets talk of Darwin and of God
      (If you're game, you insensitive clod)

      So mode them down, it makes them stronger
      The flames will only get much longer
      I wont reply and I wont bore you
      But if I do say FTFY

      - D. Seuss, (Nuked from orbit 'just to be sure' - 1998)

    4. Re:tl;dr by koalemos · · Score: 4, Funny

      Too verbose... FTFY I young. No read books now. Net too fun. IRL boring. Addicted? Problem?

  2. A related concern by Marginal+Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've only recently gotten a smartphone, after being a holdout for a long time. Before that, one of my beefs with smartphone users was that they were always reaching for their phones whenever they might otherwise have been bored. It seemed to me that they had lost something valuable: time to contemplate.

    However, now that I have a smartphone, I no longer think about that.

    1. Re:A related concern by Marginal+Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      In my own case, now that I've given in and become one of the Borg, I've decided to embrace it wholeheartedly. I now do things I used to look down on others for doing - and I do them knowingly and with gusto. For example, while waiting for a table at a restaurant, why bother talking to the people you came with? And when watching a sport on TV, why not play a phone game during the commercials? Heck, I enjoy that so much that I sometimes continue when the game comes back on. And here's one that _really_ used to bug me: I used to hate it when

      (Sorry, gotta go - my phone just buzzed.)

  3. Remove temptations by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ditch the electronics, and the temptations.

    Seriously. I am a programmer working on games for smartphones, but... I don't own a smartphone, I make do with a five-year-old flip-phone that does nothing other than make phone calls.

    I don't have a facebook account, or a twitter account.

    I've unsubscribed from most of the mailing lists I used to be on, and dropped most of the forums I used to frequent.

    And you know what? I don't miss any of it. I have time to read books. I have time to play long video games.

  4. Re:Focus by csnydermvpsoft · · Score: 3, Funny

    The Bridge Inspector's Reference Manual does sound like a good way to avoid masturbation.

  5. Re:Focus by drkim · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...being flogged around by feminists...

    I found this strangely arousing.