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Our attention span is being robbed

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Re: Our attention span is being robbed

#61

Post by Eleison23 »

_mhr_ wrote: post #50
twstdzppr wrote: post #45

> Maybe something that I’ve learned in therapy COULD be entertained as a possibility. It’s a technique that I don’t even know HOW it’s called but it boils down to dedicating 45mins to grievance. As in – you dedicate 45mins per day when you can focus on grieving (e.g. over a failed relationship) and at any other time of the day you have to delay doing it until your 45-mins-of-grief time comes. 45min-1hr of mindfulness…

What's your favorite resource for learning mindfulness?

My favorite resources for "mindfulness": 1. Believe in Jesus 2. Explore contemplative traditions of Hesychasm, Centering Prayer, Hesychasm, Carmelite mystics, etc.

If you attempt to divorce mindfulness meditation from spirituality or even from experience of a transcendent Divinity, you're asking for trouble.

Re: Our attention span is being robbed

#62

Post by ibn_khaldun »

I think there may be typographic concerns to consider in some instances, like when reading articles on the web. I'm a novice in this area, but I feel like there are certain variations of line length + line height (measure/the space between paragraph lines) + font size + paragraph length that affect how willing I am to really read an article in depth vs. just skimming it.

Personally I find myself more likely to read articles with a tight measure, long paragraphs and an average font size (16-18px, even 14px on ScienceDaily works for me) than something with short paragraphs, a large font and lots of space in between paragraph lines. This is a recent realization.

Re: Our attention span is being robbed

#63

Post by tayo42 »

judah wrote: post #59
judah wrote: post #35

Thinking out loud here...is it possible to use the same patterns for good? Like, infinite scroll, bite-sized chunk UI, etc. that trick our minds into reading a full book?

Thinking about this a bit more, I realized that Duolingo, the language learning app, does exactly this. It breaks up a large task, learning a language, into smaller bite-sized chunks. It rewards users with coins that can be used to do power-ups. It turns learning into a rewarding game. Perhaps this principle can be applied to other domains as well.

do you really feel like you learn a language with duolingo though? everytime ive tried to learn a language i got much further doing it by studying a book.

Re: Our attention span is being robbed

#64

Post by Kaibeezy »

tomrod wrote: post #47
judah wrote: post #35

Thinking out loud here...is it possible to use the same patterns for good? Like, infinite scroll, bite-sized chunk UI, etc. that trick our minds into reading a full book?

I've always been frustrated by the Kindle App for this very reason. It should be infinite scroll!

The Kindle app’s infinite scroll is what finally made me let go of paper books. It’s that good. I get completely immersed. Can’t do it on an e-ink device, only on phone or tablet.

Don’t forget to shut off the progress indicator or location or whatever they call it. Not knowing how far along you are is the other transformative feature of ebooks. In paper books, you always see the end coming.

Re: Our attention span is being robbed

#65

Post by calvinmorrison »

tayo42 wrote: post #63
judah wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thinking about this a bit more, I realized that Duolingo, the language learning app, does exactly this. It breaks up a large task, learning a language, into smaller bite-sized chunks. It rewards users with coins that can be used to do power-ups. It turns learning into a rewarding game. Perhaps this principle can be applied to other domains as well.

do you really feel like you learn a language with duolingo though? everytime ive tried to learn a language i got much further doing it by studying a book.

so... repetition I find is very important for speaking and writing. Duolingo nails that. In the same way German class in high school did, hours of practice really helped my speaking. Now I can't really put together sentences - but I have a decent shot at deciphering my mom while she speaks to my grandomther in german, or reading an article. So I think duolingo attacks that nicely. If you want a lot of vocab and reading comprehension I think books are good for that.

Re: Our attention span is being robbed

#66

Post by ketzo »

scythe wrote: post #31
_oghd wrote: post #22

Plato said the same thing about writing/reading killing people's ability to remember/speak. > If men learn this, it will implant forgetfulness in their souls; they will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written, calling things to remembrance no longer from within themselves, but by means of external marks. What you have discovered is a recipe not for memory, but for reminder. And it is no tr…

You know what happens at the end of The Boy Who Cried "Wolf!" ? There's actually a wolf. It's fine to point out that just because some people say a thing doesn't mean it's happening, but you can't go all the way in the other direction and conclude that there are no wolves. You instead have to move towards a better way of measuring the problem. Books, photos, silent videography and lo-fi audio never reached the point…

> You know what happens at the end of The Boy Who Cried "Wolf!"? There's actually a wolf.

Dang, that’s a great little turn of phrase. And a very good point.

Re: Our attention span is being robbed

#67

Post by bhaney »

Honestly, it's articles like this that lead me to be so stingy with my attention. I wanted to close the tab a third of the way into the article not because I'm incapable of paying attention, but because the article was wasting my time by shoving the same simple point into my face over and over again with no evidence or interesting implications. I will pay attention to articles with a reasonable density of information all the way through to the end. This was not one of those articles, but I read it through to the end just because of the meta-topic. After several paragraphs of restating the title in different words, peppered with pointless prose, the author assumes that you must agree with them about this problem by the last section. So what's the solution they give? "I have no idea."

And sure, you don't need to have a solution in mind in order to present a problem to someone, but you need some content to turn a problem into an article/blogpost that I'm willing to read. And this article has basically no content of substance.

Re: Our attention span is being robbed

#68

Post by throwaway74829 »

_mhr_ wrote: post #50
twstdzppr wrote: post #45

> Maybe something that I’ve learned in therapy COULD be entertained as a possibility. It’s a technique that I don’t even know HOW it’s called but it boils down to dedicating 45mins to grievance. As in – you dedicate 45mins per day when you can focus on grieving (e.g. over a failed relationship) and at any other time of the day you have to delay doing it until your 45-mins-of-grief time comes. 45min-1hr of mindfulness…

What's your favorite resource for learning mindfulness?

Hate to be that guy (just kidding ;). This isn’t one of those things you pick up in a book. It’s like lifting or any other exercise: you just do it.

Go outside, sit down somewhere, and focus on the external world and not your thoughts. You could even do the whole “breath in, breath out, and empty your thoughts” meditation schtick — if you feel it’s necessary.

If you haven’t been able to focus in a long time, 15 minutes will be hectic. You’ll know you’re being mindful when it feels like you’ve melted into the environment — and are simply an antennae to the stimulus.

Also good for disassociative traumas — the kind that give you the “1,000 yard stare.”

Re: Our attention span is being robbed

#69

Post by [deleted] »

tayo42 wrote: post #63
judah wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thinking about this a bit more, I realized that Duolingo, the language learning app, does exactly this. It breaks up a large task, learning a language, into smaller bite-sized chunks. It rewards users with coins that can be used to do power-ups. It turns learning into a rewarding game. Perhaps this principle can be applied to other domains as well.

do you really feel like you learn a language with duolingo though? everytime ive tried to learn a language i got much further doing it by studying a book.

[deleted]

Re: Our attention span is being robbed

#70

Post by redeux »

Eleison23 wrote: post #61
_mhr_ wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's your favorite resource for learning mindfulness?

My favorite resources for "mindfulness": 1. Believe in Jesus 2. Explore contemplative traditions of Hesychasm, Centering Prayer, Hesychasm, Carmelite mystics, etc. If you attempt to divorce mindfulness meditation from spirituality or even from experience of a transcendent Divinity, you're asking for trouble.

What about Buddha, or Brahma, or Zeus? Do those work as well?
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