Distraction Distractions
Not unlike any other technical advancement, there are trade-offs to the Internet and its effect on learning behavior. A number of studies have found that people who use the Internet become distracted frequently and quickly. This has substantial consequences for retention of information and long term knowledge. These studies find that most users hop from site to site, consuming tidbits of information from videos, pod-casts, and print. In fact, the studies find that frequent users of the Internet are more then likely to forget something they just learned and have trouble concentrating. Furthermore, the studies found certain areas of the brain in the prefrontal cortex rewired as a result of frequent web surfing. As the typical user goes online, they are inherently distracted, hurried, and thinking shallowly.
Some technology is Twinkies and some is Brussels Sprouts! You can improve concentration skills by blocking out unnecessary noise permeating on the Internet. While reading a story online, resist the temptation to click a hyperlink OR with GoFetch – open hyperlinks in the background. With the GoFetch new tab on link function enabled
, hyperlinked information is referenced AFTER you finish the original story.The gadgets delivering digital media are quickly evolving. I own a phone that contains 63 applications which deliver news, weather, stocks, or directions! As these gadgets continuously try to feed us Twinkies, we must reassert our intellectuality and choose what information to consume and when. GoFetch helps by making content filtering easier and faster.
GoFetch is the fast easy way to access and save important Internet content. The perfect tool for research, GoFetch Internet Companion improves global awareness. We bring the wealth of information available on the Internet to people who seek knowledge. Search less with GoFetch Internet Companion!
Reference:
Author Nicholas Carr: The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains
Does the Internet Make You Smarter?
The Difference Engine: Rewiring the brain
Digital Overload: Your Brain On Gadgets
I like brussel sprouts! This is an awesome article. Thanks, Will.
ReplyDeleteI question the premise that perusing massive "tidbits" of information online is dumbing us down and causing us to be more distracted.
ReplyDeleteI personally like it that my brain can quickly process what is relevant to what I'm researching online and what isn't. My brain can instantly determine what is useful information that I should explore further and what is not particularly useful at the time. I appreciate that my brain discards massive amounts of "distracting" information while searching for something on the internet. (Plus my brain knows it can instantly find more detail on the "twinkie" tidbits if necessary. Why store that information?)
In my opinion, the Internet makes your brain, and its processing of information, more efficient and focused, not more distracted!
Well put, and yes I feel the same way. Check out http://www.drgarysmall.com/videos.shtml, this is a researcher from UCLA doing brain scans on people using the Internet. He notes the activity in the brain on someone reading a book, and then someone using the Internet.
ReplyDeleteIt all makes sense to me that the distractions may have negative effects on long term retention and also contributes to distractions. Although, my feeling is that after using the Internet for 16 YEARS - I've developed the ability to weed out the low lying distracting tidbits of information that don't apply to my interests.
Thanks for the post!