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A Side Effect of Digital Devices: Brain Fatigue
- zeteo 16y agoAnd yet another point for Aldous Huxley, who clearly saw as early as 70 years ago that "...it is upon fashion, cars, and gadgets, upon news and the advertising for which news exists, that our present industrial and economic system depends for its proper functioning. For, as ex-President Hoover pointed out not long ago, this system cannot work unless the demand for non-necessaries is not merely kept up, but continually expanded; and of course it cannot be kept up and expanded except by incessant appeals to greed, competitiveness, and love of aimless stimulation. Men have always been prey to distractions, which are the original sin of the mind; but never before today has an attempt been made to organize and exploit distractions, to make of them, because of their economic importance, the core and vital center of human life, to idealize them as the highest manifestations of mental activity. Ours is an age of systematized irrelevancies, and the imbecile within us has become one of the Titans, upon whose shoulders rests the weight of the social and economic system. Recollectedness, or the overcoming of distractions, has never been more necessary than now; it has also, we may guess, never been more difficult."
- awakeasleep 16y agohttp://thinkingreed.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/huxley-on-distractions http://thinkingreed.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/huxley-on-distr... [Further reading](http://books.google.com/books?id=dt8TBNyJpEkC&pg=PA129&lpg=PA129&dq=incessant+appeals+to+greed,+competitiveness,+and+love+of+aimless+stimulation.+Men+have+always+been+prey+to+distractions,+which+are+the+original&source=bl&ots=evGXtbfBXa&sig=45FPkJsbPDqJ8inGdqMWJMdioG4&hl=en http://books.google.com/books?id=dt8TBNyJpEkC&pg=PA129&#...) I don't know if I buy that line of reasoning. Distractions only distract in context, and I believe if your goals are firm 'distractions' hold no appeal. That is, distractions only distract is I'd we desire or care about them, in which case they're actually our true objectives, regardless of how unflattering that may be to accept. But I could be wrong!
- mildweed 16y agoUnfortunately, there is no tech start-up we could conceive that would solve this societal problem.
- powrtoch 16y agoI think you're a bit quick to declare something impossible just because it seems unlikely or counter-intuitive.
- astrofinch 16y agoYeah. For example, how about some sort of monitoring device that tells you when it's optimal to chill out in the woods.
- mansilla 16y agoA tech start-up that would encourage a balanced lifestyle and create more digital downtime? It does sound paradoxical.. however, I am currently developing a start-up right now that will literally move (physically and emotionally) you offline. Never say never. :)
- cmurphycode 16y agoWe used to think that the performance gap between people was completely accounted for by their innate intelligence. Now, we know that working hard is often even more important. Do you think there's an innate ability to process information that some people are superior at? It would make sense that if some people could practice their craft more (without hitting the wall of diminishing returns) they would be better at what they do.
- astrofinch 16y agoIt's useful to know that brain researchers think this. It's not useful to hear a lot of random anecdotes about multitaskers! And to think that it's you attention-span folks who make me feel guilty when I don't read all the way through this sort of article!
- GeneralMaximus 16y agoI still haven't figured out how people who multitask manage to stay sane. I, for one, feel physical discomfort if I'm overloaded with information. Researching a single topic for a few hours is fine, but jumping from topic to topic leaves my brain so exhausted I have to think hard to frame simple sentences. Conversely, a good workout or a walk in the park is exhilirating.