Though we are constantly bombarded by attention occupiers competing against one another, the resulting reduced attention spans are not untreatable. Especially if it's a late onset reduced attention span, set in after your initial developmental years.
I've found, personally, that spending time in nature, disconnected is the single best way to treat a reduced attention span. Go on a hike and put your phone where it isn't easily accessible, perhaps in a plastic bag in the bottom of your backpack. Being disconnected in general helps, of course, but something about being immersed in nature takes that even further. Something about the serenity of it all, being surrounded by something natural, not artifical, really eases the constantly firing neurons.
It is a conscious effort, and it must be consistent, but it's worth it. Humans aren't meant for constant instant dopamine dumps. You will feel much more at ease, be able to concentrate, become more perceptive, you will just feel better in general.
The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr is a good book that talks about this, that I highly recommend you read. The internet, by it's inherent design, is shortening people's attention spans and changing how we think.
I've recently watched a video from Bishop Barron that discussed, like here, how constant engagement has been so strongly prioritized under the current order of the Internet. He referenced Pascal (ironically enough, a pioneer in computational technology), who himself stated that one could only reach satisfaction if they could be merely satisfied by "sitting still in a blank room" with only our thoughts apparent to us. But plebs love escapism. Like you said, reflection is reviled: analyzing purpose, existence, truth, whatever, IS often intriguing, but to them, it lends itself to the inevitable puzzlement over trying to put the pieces together. CONSOOMing uses less mental energy and doesn't invoke anything that could upset my inner equilibrium (a connection to your last piece btw) anyway.
I thought of this exact video when making this post. He talked about the pitfall of endless scrolling and I was like "damb!!! Nigga really hit dat doe!!! nah he ate forreal!!" and then promptly began twerking in ecstasy
Basically SMG4 is this youtuber whom made absurdist comedy skits in mario 64. That was until 2017 when he abandoned sm64 for gmod and the videos took a nosedive in quality, and while he still has mario & luigi the rest of the channel is unfunny reddit corposlop & unrecognizable from how it was from 2011-2015
Great article Layne, I skimmed it and took your 3 bolded points at face value while scrolling YouTube shorts.
I jest, because frankly everything you’ve written resonated with me and just saddens me a bit for the future. I notice it with my 17 year old brother who talks like a black and repeats himself constantly fishing for sound bites. I notice it with my brown coworker who spends an 8 hour shift talking with AirPods in, with the scores of college students who can’t hold a conversation about anything deeper than last week.
I’d share this with my parents tbh but I feel like they would take so much offence to the word ‘sheboon’ (they haven’t interacted with a single AAVE spouting Bl🏳️⚧️ person in the past 30 years btw) they would completely ignore your point.
Vincent’s potential longing for human connection really struck a chord—he’s cultured, even empathetic, yet chained to his alienating job. It makes me wonder, is he truly a villain or a lost soul trapped by his own skill set? Your essay pushes me to see him less as a monster and more as a tragedy.
Fascinating article, unfortunately makes it clear how my own attention span has suffered.
lisnin music, tldr?
On the actual though, really great stuff. Feels like it articulates some of the things I feel but don't think while scrolling for 30+ hours a day.
Huh?
Though we are constantly bombarded by attention occupiers competing against one another, the resulting reduced attention spans are not untreatable. Especially if it's a late onset reduced attention span, set in after your initial developmental years.
I've found, personally, that spending time in nature, disconnected is the single best way to treat a reduced attention span. Go on a hike and put your phone where it isn't easily accessible, perhaps in a plastic bag in the bottom of your backpack. Being disconnected in general helps, of course, but something about being immersed in nature takes that even further. Something about the serenity of it all, being surrounded by something natural, not artifical, really eases the constantly firing neurons.
It is a conscious effort, and it must be consistent, but it's worth it. Humans aren't meant for constant instant dopamine dumps. You will feel much more at ease, be able to concentrate, become more perceptive, you will just feel better in general.
The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr is a good book that talks about this, that I highly recommend you read. The internet, by it's inherent design, is shortening people's attention spans and changing how we think.
Nick Kerr lol
Close friend of Nate Higgers
I heard he was actually going to write a sequel to The Shallows with Bill Klacks and Theodore Nathaniel Doofenshmirtz
I've recently watched a video from Bishop Barron that discussed, like here, how constant engagement has been so strongly prioritized under the current order of the Internet. He referenced Pascal (ironically enough, a pioneer in computational technology), who himself stated that one could only reach satisfaction if they could be merely satisfied by "sitting still in a blank room" with only our thoughts apparent to us. But plebs love escapism. Like you said, reflection is reviled: analyzing purpose, existence, truth, whatever, IS often intriguing, but to them, it lends itself to the inevitable puzzlement over trying to put the pieces together. CONSOOMing uses less mental energy and doesn't invoke anything that could upset my inner equilibrium (a connection to your last piece btw) anyway.
I thought of this exact video when making this post. He talked about the pitfall of endless scrolling and I was like "damb!!! Nigga really hit dat doe!!! nah he ate forreal!!" and then promptly began twerking in ecstasy
So much of this is just painfully true :(
I'm going to bring back old SMG4 but with RW messages so zoomers turn into chuds
This is the second time you've mentioend SMG4 and I still don't know what it is
Basically SMG4 is this youtuber whom made absurdist comedy skits in mario 64. That was until 2017 when he abandoned sm64 for gmod and the videos took a nosedive in quality, and while he still has mario & luigi the rest of the channel is unfunny reddit corposlop & unrecognizable from how it was from 2011-2015
esoteric reference
Great article Layne, I skimmed it and took your 3 bolded points at face value while scrolling YouTube shorts.
I jest, because frankly everything you’ve written resonated with me and just saddens me a bit for the future. I notice it with my 17 year old brother who talks like a black and repeats himself constantly fishing for sound bites. I notice it with my brown coworker who spends an 8 hour shift talking with AirPods in, with the scores of college students who can’t hold a conversation about anything deeper than last week.
Have you tried smoking weed?
I’d share this with my parents tbh but I feel like they would take so much offence to the word ‘sheboon’ (they haven’t interacted with a single AAVE spouting Bl🏳️⚧️ person in the past 30 years btw) they would completely ignore your point.
Vincent’s potential longing for human connection really struck a chord—he’s cultured, even empathetic, yet chained to his alienating job. It makes me wonder, is he truly a villain or a lost soul trapped by his own skill set? Your essay pushes me to see him less as a monster and more as a tragedy.