Before I get into the post, I just wanted to share one thing with you: I'll being going out of town next week, so my next post (the one after this one) could be delayed. I will try my best to post before I leave, but this is a head ups. That being said, onto the post!
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Attention is a pretty broad topic, so it's best to take it in chunks. First off, what exactly is attention? Attention is the brain's ability to notice and concentrate on something in our environment. Think of attention as a spotlight: you can only focus on one thing at a time, and everything else is dark and unnoticed. This is because the brain only has the capability to process one stream of information a time.
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Multitasking
"Oh, I'm more efficient, and doing multiple things at once." This is what you think you're doing when you multitask. However, since our attention is so limited (as mentioned above), your brain switches between the tasks instead of doing them simultaneously. Your brain doesn't have the capacity to do both things at once, so you become slower and less efficient in both tasks. It's much better to focus on one thing at a time. That being said...
"Oh, I'm more efficient, and doing multiple things at once." This is what you think you're doing when you multitask. However, since our attention is so limited (as mentioned above), your brain switches between the tasks instead of doing them simultaneously. Your brain doesn't have the capacity to do both things at once, so you become slower and less efficient in both tasks. It's much better to focus on one thing at a time. That being said...
![Picture](/uploads/5/4/6/0/54602717/2320682.png?216)
A Goldfish Has a Longer Attention Span Than Us
Folks, that's just sad. The average goldfish has an attention span of nine seconds- pretty short, right? Well, we have, according to a recent study, an average attention span of eight seconds. Crazy! Goldfish could take over the world, and we wouldn't be paying attention.
Okay, I'm kidding.... about goldfish taking over the world. But we really do have a shorter attention span then them. So much use of our phones and electronics in our increasingly digital world has made it harder for us to block out irrelevant stimuli and concentrate. This is what Microsoft found when they conducted a study on the attention span of 2,000 volunteers and studied their brain activity with EEGs or electroencephalograms (wow, that's a big word).
Folks, that's just sad. The average goldfish has an attention span of nine seconds- pretty short, right? Well, we have, according to a recent study, an average attention span of eight seconds. Crazy! Goldfish could take over the world, and we wouldn't be paying attention.
Okay, I'm kidding.... about goldfish taking over the world. But we really do have a shorter attention span then them. So much use of our phones and electronics in our increasingly digital world has made it harder for us to block out irrelevant stimuli and concentrate. This is what Microsoft found when they conducted a study on the attention span of 2,000 volunteers and studied their brain activity with EEGs or electroencephalograms (wow, that's a big word).
I don't know what they're talking about, though. I have a very long attention- SQUIRREL!
(Who got that reference?)
But in all seriousness, thank you (and congratulations) for reading this entire post. I hope you enjoyed it, and I will be back with a second installment soon.
Note: All pictures used in this post (except for the attention span comic) are not to be reproduced or used in any manner without my consent. Thank you.
But in all seriousness, thank you (and congratulations) for reading this entire post. I hope you enjoyed it, and I will be back with a second installment soon.
Note: All pictures used in this post (except for the attention span comic) are not to be reproduced or used in any manner without my consent. Thank you.