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Have attention spans been declining?

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Re: Have attention spans been declining?

#21

Post by bizzleDawg »

I may be reading this incorrectly, but in the article, the 65% appears to be authors confidence in the statement that attention spans appear to be declining, as denoted by the sub-script. Whereas in the HN title it reads as if it's saying a "65% decline in attention span".

Various other assertions in the post also have sub-script confidences associated e.g. "my guess: yes90%".

I could totally believe that there has been a 65% decline in attention span. "Stolen Focus" by Johann Hari certainly makes 65% seem conservative!

Re: Have attention spans been declining?

#22

Post by skilled »

People hack themselves to find the quickest release of feel-good chemicals in their brain but most do it at the expense of not realizing that it numbs their entire existence.

And now it’s more prevalent than it ever has been. Grabbing a phone is a nice way to stay in the shell that you have built around yourself and pretend like you have control over your life, but no one has control over their lives.

The more you build walls of ideas around yourself the easier it becomes to make you discombobulated with the slightest gust of wind.

It’s honestly pathetic we live this way and continue pretending it’s normal and that’s how it should be.

Re: Have attention spans been declining?

#23

Post by queuebert »

jedberg wrote: post #14
orphea wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think that has to do with excessively long movies Anecdotal experience but we (n=2) didn't have the urge to pull out our phones on Oppenheimer (180 minutes).

Oppenheimer is not an action flick. :) Movies with a compelling story keep your attention, but with action, your brain can only take so much stimulation. Unless it has a really compelling story, your mind will wander.

Action movies try to keep your attention with ear-splitting volume levels instead.

Re: Have attention spans been declining?

#24

Post by morkalork »

OfSanguineFire wrote: post #17
lotsofpulp wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that has to do with excessively long movies and nothing to do with reduced attention spans. Very, very few action movies need to be more than 100min.

> Very, very few action movies need to be more than 100min. I’ve read somewhere that blockbuster movies are trending longer at the moment, because people are ever less willing to pay the high prices for cinema tickets, drinks and snacks, so movie studios need to offer a really big experience to make it seem worthwhile.

This is true but it's getting to be too much. I want to see Oppenheimer in theatres but 3 hours plus travel is just killing it for me.

Re: Have attention spans been declining?

#25

Post by HDThoreaun »

orphea wrote: post #11
lotsofpulp wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that has to do with excessively long movies and nothing to do with reduced attention spans. Very, very few action movies need to be more than 100min.

> I think that has to do with excessively long movies Anecdotal experience but we (n=2) didn't have the urge to pull out our phones on Oppenheimer (180 minutes).

I must admit that the fifth vibration finally got me to check my phone during Oppenheimer. Bio pics are generally accepted to have long run times compared to action flicks though.

Re: Have attention spans been declining?

#26

Post by bastardoperator »

OfSanguineFire wrote: post #17
lotsofpulp wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that has to do with excessively long movies and nothing to do with reduced attention spans. Very, very few action movies need to be more than 100min.

> Very, very few action movies need to be more than 100min. I’ve read somewhere that blockbuster movies are trending longer at the moment, because people are ever less willing to pay the high prices for cinema tickets, drinks and snacks, so movie studios need to offer a really big experience to make it seem worthwhile.

I bought a projector and a popcorn machine, haven't been to the movies since.

Re: Have attention spans been declining?

#28

Post by Swizec »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #8
cglong wrote: post #5

I went to a theater to watch Mission: Impossible last night. It has a really long runtime (2h 48m) and, toward the end of the film, I started seeing multiple people pull out their phones for a time check; I had to stop myself from doing the same.

I think that has to do with excessively long movies and nothing to do with reduced attention spans. Very, very few action movies need to be more than 100min.

> Very, very few action movies need to be more than 100min.

Not to mention an action scene gets really really boring after about 2min. Just more and more of the same. Then add the usual hyperactive editing popular in modern blockbusters and it's like "Yo can you slow down a little? I'd like to actually see a punch happen sometimes"

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