Kinds of Focus
andrewbadr.com
Kinds of Focus
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Re: Kinds of Focus
#2[Reading articles online is] a shallow kind of learning.
I couldn't agree more, and often wonder if we've even begun to work out the implications of this.
Re: Kinds of Focus
#3[Reading articles online is] a shallow kind of learning. I couldn't agree more, and often wonder if we've even begun to work out the implications of this.
I also agree, and I'm also troubled by how addicted I've become to shallowly browsing dozens of such articles a day. I find that it's getting harder and harder for me to concentrate on something like a lengthy book for long periods of time, something I used to do frequently. But it's ironic that the author of that article is himself writing articles in his blog for people to read online - articles that contain some interesting opinions but have no particularly deep content.
Re: Kinds of Focus
#4Too long; Didn't Read
TL;DR
TL
We're already seeing conventions popping up to deal with this change in behavior. They just aren't formalized yet.
I think this will be another advantage that hypermedia will have over regular old print, you will be able to present your information in "layers". A TL;DR for reference, a summary, and then the full article.
Of course, that speaks nothing to the nature of the actual articles. I think theres a point where you've "read enough" and need to go do something else for a while, see what works and what doesn't. I took a two month long hiatus from HN to focus on other stuff recently. It helped. The first n articles at some point become much more helpful than the next nth articles.
Re: Kinds of Focus
#5[Reading articles online is] a shallow kind of learning. I couldn't agree more, and often wonder if we've even begun to work out the implications of this.
Yes but one should not leave it out altogether. There is always a tradeoff between exploration and exploitation. One needs to explore around for ideas but not forget to dig deep into the task at hand (or whatever it is).
If one has read Richard Hamming's "You and your research", this is what he refers to by advising one to keep his/her door open while working.
Re: Kinds of Focus
#6[Reading articles online is] a shallow kind of learning. I couldn't agree more, and often wonder if we've even begun to work out the implications of this.
Yes but one should not leave it out altogether. There is always a tradeoff between exploration and exploitation. One needs to explore around for ideas but not forget to dig deep into the task at hand (or whatever it is). If one has read Richard Hamming's "You and your research", this is what he refers to by advising one to keep his/her door open while working.
Excuse my irritability, but no one here needs to hear that "one should not leave [the internet] out altogether".
And this is obviously not what Hamming was talking about in 1986.
Re: Kinds of Focus
#7Keeping an open mind is always great. However, being unable to focus on one task and become superior at it is quickly becoming an issue. Today, if I remember correctly, the average attention span is only 8 seconds.
Remember: Jack of all trades is the master of none.
Re: Kinds of Focus
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes but one should not leave it out altogether. There is always a tradeoff between exploration and exploitation. One needs to explore around for ideas but not forget to dig deep into the task at hand (or whatever it is). If one has read Richard Hamming's "You and your research", this is what he refers to by advising one to keep his/her door open while working.
Excuse my irritability, but no one here needs to hear that "one should not leave [the internet] out altogether". And this is obviously not what Hamming was talking about in 1986.
Just to make it clear, I was agreeing with you for the most part, except that I decided to add my own viewpoint. If that offends you, sorry about that.
Re: Kinds of Focus
#9[Reading articles online is] a shallow kind of learning. I couldn't agree more, and often wonder if we've even begun to work out the implications of this.
I also agree, and I'm also troubled by how addicted I've become to shallowly browsing dozens of such articles a day. I find that it's getting harder and harder for me to concentrate on something like a lengthy book for long periods of time, something I used to do frequently. But it's ironic that the author of that article is himself writing articles in his blog for people to read online - articles that contain some i…
Working on it...
Re: Kinds of Focus
#10I disagree. When I find an article online that exposes a point of view that I haven't seen yet about some matter, I often keep thinking about it the whole day and I even discuss it with other people. That's really a contribution to my mind.
Plus, it's only exploring new things that you get interested and feel motivated to learn more about them.