4 ms·

>The Internet and social media have trained my brain to read a paragraph or two, and then start looking around. I can certainly relate. What's the solution?

digi_owl 9y ago
I fine myself wondering if the problem is not so much the source, but the presentation. I played around with a Firefox extension that would paginate(?) an article for me, and found I could then much better tolerate reading long ones where I before would jump ahead for "the meat". But I also find that way too many "technical" articles these days try to turn what is being written about into a "social" piece. This by adding a whole bunch of back story on the people involved, and many even back story on their parents and grandparents...
loblollyboy 9y ago
Move to Alaska and get eaten by a bear
prostoalex 9y ago
The Shallows http://www.nicholascarr.com/?page_id=16 http://www.nicholascarr.com/?page_id=16 is a pretty good read on the subject - there are neurological effects related to over-development of frontal core (responsible for quick decision-making, but also anxiety and depression) at the expense of hippocampus (responsible for concentration). In a nutshell, the solutions involve mindfulness, making deliberate choices in regards to checking e-mails, Instagram, etc., meditation or just concentration practice, exercising the hippocampus by reading longer books.
chadcmulligan 9y ago
I find my attention span
allemagne 9y ago
If you're asking for yourself, then you could just frequently force yourself to read for longer periods of time. I found that this retrained my distraction-prone brain pretty quickly. As for people in general who largely would never force themselves to do anything on their own I doubt there's a quick solution that isn't based on shame and social pressure.
ktRolster 9y ago
Take the bus to the library and sit there. Leave your phone at home.
atemerev 9y ago
Look around, think, and read the next paragraph or two. Not a big deal, if you still finish the damn book.

digi_owl 9y ago

I fine myself wondering if the problem is not so much the source, but the presentation. I played around with a Firefox extension that would paginate(?) an article for me, and found I could then much better tolerate reading long ones where I before would jump ahead for "the meat". But I also find that way too many "technical" articles these days try to turn what is being written about into a "social" piece. This by adding a whole bunch of back story on the people involved, and many even back story on their parents and grandparents...

loblollyboy 9y ago

Move to Alaska and get eaten by a bear

prostoalex 9y ago

The Shallows http://www.nicholascarr.com/?page_id=16 http://www.nicholascarr.com/?page_id=16 is a pretty good read on the subject - there are neurological effects related to over-development of frontal core (responsible for quick decision-making, but also anxiety and depression) at the expense of hippocampus (responsible for concentration). In a nutshell, the solutions involve mindfulness, making deliberate choices in regards to checking e-mails, Instagram, etc., meditation or just concentration practice, exercising the hippocampus by reading longer books.

chadcmulligan 9y ago

I find my attention span

allemagne 9y ago

If you're asking for yourself, then you could just frequently force yourself to read for longer periods of time. I found that this retrained my distraction-prone brain pretty quickly. As for people in general who largely would never force themselves to do anything on their own I doubt there's a quick solution that isn't based on shame and social pressure.

ktRolster 9y ago

Take the bus to the library and sit there. Leave your phone at home.

atemerev 9y ago

Look around, think, and read the next paragraph or two. Not a big deal, if you still finish the damn book.