Regaining Perspective in Our Cluttered Minds
Today’s posting follows on from yesterday’s thoughts on shallow thinking and the effect technology is having on our minds and brains. The first part of this post is clipped from Our Cluttered Minds (via NY Times – http://nyti.ms/dnGo1t), By Jonah Lehrer, Published: May 27, 2010: it is, in essence, a review of Nicholas Carr’s book: The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains.
Illustration by Patrick Thomas
Secondly, I found an interesting quote from Jim Taylor, Ph.D., an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco (http://bit.ly/9Sg1Ti) and although the quote is referring to ‘Popular Culture’, I believe the advice can be broadly applied to the topic of Internet usage.
In the final part of the post I’ve found some useful quotes from Dr. Kern, a leading behavioural addiction specialist; listening to his advice via the link offers a range of practical solutions.
NY Times Article – Our Cluttered Minds
Socrates started what may have been the first technology scare. In the “Phaedrus,” he lamented the invention of books, which “create forgetfulness” in the soul.
In the 17th century, Robert Burton complained, in “The Anatomy of Melancholy,” of the “vast chaos and confusion of books” that make the eyes and fingers ache.
By 1890, the problem was the speed of transmission: one eminent physician blamed “the pelting of telegrams” for triggering an outbreak of mental illness. And then came radio and television, which poisoned the mind with passive pleasure.
In “The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains,” the technology writer Nicholas Carr extends this anxiety to the 21st century.
Carr argues that we are sabotaging ourselves, trading away the seriousness of sustained attention for the frantic superficiality of the Internet.
“Once I was a scuba diver in a sea of words, now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.”
This is a measured manifesto. Even as Carr bemoans his vanishing attention span, he’s careful to note the usefulness of the Internet, which provides us with access to a near infinitude of information. We might be consigned to the intellectual shallows, but these shallows are as wide as a vast ocean.
Carr insists that the negative side effects of the Internet outweigh its efficiencies.
Consider, for instance, the search engine, which Carr believes has fragmented our knowledge.
“We don’t see the forest when we search the Web, we don’t even see the trees. We see twigs and leaves.”
Why is it that in a world in which everything is available we all end up reading the same thing?
…he’s horrified by the way computers are destroying our powers of concentration.
And so we lurch from site to site, if only because we constantly crave the fleeting pleasure of new information. But this isn’t really the fault of the Internet. The online world has merely exposed the feebleness of human attention, which is so weak that even the most minor temptations are all but impossible to resist.
He argues that our mental malleability has turned us into servants of technology, our circuits reprogrammed by our gadgets.
The incessant noise of the Internet, Carr concludes, has turned the difficult text into an obsolete relic.
Psychology Today Article - Popular Culture: Too Much Time On Our Hands. What is with our obsession with celebrities? Published on September 9, 2009 by Jim Taylor, Ph.D., an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco.
So what do we do? I think it’s safe to say that our culture isn’t going to help us to make changes. Ultimately, our culture doesn’t care about us, only about making money and accumulating power. Instead, it is up to each of us individually to decide that a different road is necessary if we wish to find what we seek.
We must start by regaining perspective on the role that popular culture plays in our lives. Our worship of popular culture has caused many in America to search for meaning and connectedness in all the wrong places. The only place to find real meaning is by immersing ourselves in our own lives and the people and activities that actually mean something to us, rather than turning to the contrived-and ultimately unsatisfying-meaning that popular culture tries to sell us. We need to rediscover connectedness with real people instead of accepting the virtual connections that are readily available with modern technology. But for this to happen, we must first admit how truly unimportant popular culture is, reject its allure, and recommit our time and energy to the search for real meaning and connectedness.
My personal opinion is not quite as dramatic as Jim’s final sentences and I would suggest methods in developing a health balance of virtual and face to face communication.
Yesterday I was reading and listening to Dr. Kern’s (http://bit.ly/aCOVkN) take on Behavioural Addictions using Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and what I particular found interesting was the idea of harm reduction and not abstinence. The link above leads to a series of short video’s, I can highly recommend taking the time to listen to Dr Kern inspiring answers.
To conclude: in my view, it is essential we begin developing guidelines for Internet usage that can be segmented for different parts of society; start with Kindergarden age and working through school, college, university, work and leisure groups. As is often read, but perhaps not fully understood, a balanced lifestyle is one key to health and happiness ~ Dr. Kern. This, for me, underlines the overall principle on this topic.
I have to confess that the part of this article that struck home to me..AGAIN was" We need to rediscover connectedness with real people instead of accepting the virtual connections that are readily available with modern technology. But for this to happen, we must first admit how truly unimportant popular culture is, reject its allure, and recommit our time and energy to the search for real meaning and connectedness."
While we are in transition and I believe that is what is happening to so many of us, society is forgetting to connect to what is important us as human beings. It is not just our" addictive natures" we have to worry about or the fast pace of technology it is the losing our ability to think on our own, reading people via body language, our sense of smell or the ability to touch. All of these things are being lost to us and I am fearful for the next generation.
Please don't get me wrong - I love searching for things and doing things on the net, but I also prize touching a real person, talking with my voice to a real person and being able to think beyond 140 characters.
Excellent information, thank you. I work with a young woman who is truly disorganized and unfocused. She said her doctor said she has AADD and prescribed tranquilizers. I wonder if she told her doctor that she spends the entire day internet surfing, emailing and texting rather than focusing on the task at hand. Even with the meds, she is unable to spend more than a couple of minutes on something before drifting off - and yet she said her strongest point is multitasking. She is one of our next generation of parents. If she cannot focus, I wonder how her kids will turn out. We are getting into Summer - I hope parents turn off the electronics and send the kids outside to play. Use their imaginations, build forts, play soccer and baseball, see animals in the clouds....
RT simbeckhampson Regaining Perspective in Our Cluttered Minds....Looking to gain balance in all things http://bit.ly/bFsXLW
Regaining Perspective in Our Cluttered Minds http://bit.ly/bFsXLW (repost)
I will definitely recommend that she see behavioural cognitive therapist - that's a wonderful suggestion. I've never heard of this sort of therapy - this is where the internet comes into good use.
Diane - Wow! You are right - our senses can be dulled by all our electronic gizmos (including our intuitive self). Computers give us scenes of such intensity that we can have a sense of involvement - but is looking at a picture of a beautiful ocean vista as good as actually being there to hear the surf, the gulls, and to breathe in the smell of the ocean? The feel the crunch of the sand as you walk along the beach? To turn and see the tracks you left? I think I need a vacation
I can recommend a vacation... just came back from sand and sea - the sound of the waves was very soothing :-)
I have to confess that the part of this article that struck home to me..AGAIN was" We need to rediscover connectedness with real people instead of accepting the virtual connections that are readily available with modern technology. But for this to happen, we must first admit how truly unimportant popular culture is, reject its allure, and recommit our time and energy to the search for real meaning and connectedness."
While we are in transition and I believe that is what is happening to so many of us, society is forgetting to connect to what is important us as human beings. It is not just our" addictive natures" we have to worry about or the fast pace of technology it is the losing our ability to think on our own, reading people via body language, our sense of smell or the ability to touch. All of these things are being lost to us and I am fearful for the next generation.
Please don't get me wrong - I love searching for things and doing things on the net, but I also prize touching a real person, talking with my voice to a real person and being able to think beyond 140 characters.
Hi Diane... I'm also fearful. I guess having spent some weeks now delving into this topic and surrounding topics, I'm left with a new feeling, that is, it's time to raise positivity levels and not let the overwhelming bad news take over... now all I've got to do is figure out the best way to do that ;-)
Re: Regaining Perspective in Our Cluttered Minds http://bit.ly/bFsXLW simbeckhampson - Thanks Kelika - I love making cloud animals and faces too. It's funny, that's what I remember doing on summer days, just lying around in the long grass pondering and making shapes, I still do it now :-)
Regarding your work colleague, I'm dismayed by the doctors reaction. A behavioural cognitive therapist would start by asking the person questions like "where are you at?" and "how do you see your problem" pretty quickly, once they realise the extent of computer use they would then be able to help prepare an appropriate remedy - it's very sad to think that this person has been given tranquillizers for what appears to be a form of behavioural addiction.
As in my recent articles and research, it does appear that multi-tasking is the reward for shallower thinking and speed skimming through information. Your concern for the development of the children is also relevant - children mimic their parents and if they watch a distracted mum on a daily basis, well, you can imagine the likely outcome. My advice would be for her to search for a local behavioural addiction therapist - their main aim is to cultivate the patients willingness to change and not simply to dope her deeper into confusion.
Excellent information, thank you. I work with a young woman who is truly disorganized and unfocused. She said her doctor said she has AADD and prescribed tranquilizers. I wonder if she told her doctor that she spends the entire day internet surfing, emailing and texting rather than focusing on the task at hand. Even with the meds, she is unable to spend more than a couple of minutes on something before drifting off - and yet she said her strongest point is multitasking. She is one of our next generation of parents. If she cannot focus, I wonder how her kids will turn out. We are getting into Summer - I hope parents turn off the electronics and send the kids outside to play. Use their imaginations, build forts, play soccer and baseball, see animals in the clouds....
Re: Regaining Perspective in Our Cluttered Minds - http://bit.ly/bFsXLW @Joeineire Thanks for your comment. I like your simplified take on it: if only it were that easy. My concern is that "what's important in life" may be dramatically changing for young people who are still cognitively developing and for whom technology is becoming a daily necessity, beyond habit direction 'addictive' behaviour. Your term "being distracted by floods of information engulfing us through technology" is a big part of the problem, that's for sure - but it does not stop there.
Serious issues arise as parental control reduces or is non-existent, normally through lack of understanding, not lack of love; teachers find themselves struggling to adopt new technologies and cannot therefore be expected to provide the care required; peer pressure to adopt and remain connected is deeply worrying as is the tidal wave of targeted marketing campaigns aimed at young people. It's a growing concern for many and I'd like to see some real attention brought to this topic before it amounts to scenarios that already exist currently in Korea and China, for example; it's time to speak out and not sweep this conversation under the carpet any longer.
I agree its time to speak out, unfortunately do to a rather serious stroke I had a couple of years ago I ofttimes get this feeling of being overwhelmed such as right at this moment. The upside is that I have become acutely aware of the downside of the ongoing barrage of minutia and a rather keen observer of how this relatively new technological phenomenon is affecting our children.
I'm well aware of the wonders the internet has wrought, however we must not give it a unqualified stamp of approval, as is the case with most media
I will do my best to contribute more to this discussion, so please bear with me if my participation appears to be a series of starts and stops.
In the intervals I will be reading your very important posts on this subject with great interest.
Sending you a big Bavarian Hug :-))
I agree its time to speak out, unfortunately do to a rather serious stroke I had a couple of years ago I ofttimes get this feeling of being overwhelmed such as right at this moment. The upside is that I have become acutely aware of the downside of the ongoing barrage of minutia and a rather keen observer of how this relatively new technological phenomenon is affecting our children.
I'm well aware of the wonders the internet has wrought, however we must not give it a unqualified stamp of approval, as is the case with most media
I will do my best to contribute more to this discussion, so please bear with me if my participation appears to be a series of starts and stops.
In the intervals I will be reading your very important posts on this subject with great interest.
basically its about keeping a perspective on whats important in life and not being distracted by the floods of information enguilfing us through technology these days
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I will definitely recommend that she see behavioural cognitive therapist - that's a wonderful suggestion. I've never heard of this sort of therapy - this is where the internet comes into good use.
Diane - Wow! You are right - our senses can be dulled by all our electronic gizmos (including our intuitive self). Computers give us scenes of such intensity that we can have a sense of involvement - but is looking at a picture of a beautiful ocean vista as good as actually being there to hear the surf, the gulls, and to breathe in the smell of the ocean? The feel the crunch of the sand as you walk along the beach? To turn and see the tracks you left? I think I need a vacation
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