An example is being on the phone with someone and trying to email at the same time. He say that you lose concentration and the person on the other end of the phone with be able to tell. Hallowell quotes, “You cannot divide your attention like that. It’s a big illusion. You can shift back forth” (Tugend 715).
In her essay, Multitasking or Mass ADD, Ellen Goodman discusses how people that have busy life 's "believe that multitasking makes them more efficient and successful". She explains that she is a terrible multitasker and believes that her "inability to simultaneously YouTube and IM make her a technological dinosaur". In her essay, Goodman mentions Clifford Nass ' research. Clifford Nass does a research experiment that tests high and low-level multitaskers. Nass believes that "we are breeding generations of kids whose ability to pay attention may be destroyed".
According to the prominent pathologist Bruce Friedman, admitted, “I’ve lost the ability to do that. Even a blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb. I skim it.” Carr cites a few studies of internet behavior that is influencing our brain to lack concentration. He proves
I have discovered that I am most distracted when there are multiple tabs irrelevant to my work open on my computer. Normally this occurs when I have shopping and social media windows open, which is a big red flag for me when I am trying to do work. What happens is I get the urge to check in on everyone’s lives on Facebook
Hovhan refers to the internet as “electronic cocaine” which she uses to support her research and reasoning behind why multitasking causes alterations to neurological productivity pathways. As an internet user and multitasker myself, I felt the need to connect the research of these three sources. Although they all argue that internet multitasking is negative and has hindering implications, they each provide different unique evidence to highlight their claim. Through the culmination of these articles, it becomes clear that internet multitasking not only lowers our productivity, but also hurts our brains on a neurological level. Productivity research that utilizes systematic benchmark tests, is an easier way to measure the consequences of multitasking as brain scans are not needed to show results.
Learning is fun, but it is also hard work. It’s so extraordinarily well documented as to be almost a truism at this point, but multitasking and particularly technology (e.g., cell phones, email) can make the deep concentration needed for real learning difficult or impossible. Set aside dedicated time for learning and minimize interruptions. When you read, find a quiet place, and leave your phone behind. If you’re taking a class or participating in a reading group, take handwritten notes, which improve retention and understanding, and leave laptops, mobiles devices, and other disrupting technologies in your car or bag far out of reach.
With an abundant amount of internet usage, studies show the development of implications in our brain such as short-term attention spans and scattered thinking. When we work online, our brains are constantly pressured to take in vast amounts of information. Think about when you are reading an article on the internet and then all of the sudden that really interesting ad pops up, you just totally forgot about what you're reading. “We are becoming mere signal-processing units, quickly shepherding disjointed bits of information into and then out of short-term memory” Carr explains that the internet is considerably reducing our ability to concentrate which is developing scattered thinking. Continually being exposed to these things are negatively affecting the way we process and interpret the information we are obtaining through the
Johnson, Teddi Dineley. " Distracted Driving: Stay Focused on the Road." American Public Health Association, Feb. 2012. Web. 06 July 2016.
Socially, we may feel connected to our peers, but when it comes to reality there is a strong disconnection between human interactions. Looking out at the public, you may notice people looking directly at screens, losing eye contact within one another. Sometimes we may become so lost into our virtual
Sometimes people use television to forget about a hard time at work, others using phones in public, causing lack of communication with people nearby. “Little by little, technology has become an integral part of the way that people communicate with one another and has increasingly taken the place of face-to-face communication. Due to the rapid expansion of technology, many individuals fear that people may be too immersed in this digital world and not present enough in the real world,”. People, especially in the United States, spend so much time on the internet they get separated from their real life and don't know what’s going on around them. Not only does Technology take away from everyone's real life, but it also distances people from family and friends.
We can talk to the person sitting at any corner of the world. Smartphones have dramatically changed the way we communicate today. But, what about the face to face communication? Are we paying close enough attention to the people around us? People these days are so attached to their cell phones that they don’t realize what is going on around them.
This was more apparent when I would go get my daily iced passion tea lemonade from Starbucks after a long day of work in a cool summer evening. Starbucks, a place where friends meet to catch up, couples go to talk about their day, a place where new relationships start, but when I walked in to order my drink, it didn’t seem as alive than what I have always thought a coffee shop should be. Friends would be on their phones while talking out loud, not seeming interested at all in the conversation, someone would be texting on their phone while ordering a cup of coffee, and most importantly, no one would make eye contact while talking to each other. A study done by Andrew Przybylski and Nett Weinstein at the University of Essex found that “the presence of mobile phones can interfere with human relationships” (1). I looked around once again and saw an older generation of friends.
Let’s Talk.” by Sherry Turkle, it talks about how the impact of phones and technology has on our conversations and interactions with people. Turkle talks about how now a days people divide their attention between multiple things, but the main two examples she uses are phones and conversations. By diving their attention, people rarely dive into deep conversations. They tend to have shallow conversations with people because they are constantly checking their phones at every vibrate or ring, which, in shallow conversations allows them to go in and out of the conversation without missing any important details.
Technology definitely is affecting how humans communicate and interact, but that does necessarily have to be a negative thing. For instance, the popular social media application Skype, has kept over 74 million people from around the globe connected with one another. Despite humans spending much more time with their devices, like in “The Pedestrian”, many are not using this time to mindlessly stare at the television. Skype is just one example that connects people who may be a long distance apart, but will still spend an average of 100 minutes a month (“Skype Company Statistics”) still keeping in touch with one another. While some do use their their screens to block out the people around them, a majority use their smart phones and computers to keep connected with their
I get very distracted, I often have to stop whatever I’m doing and just day dream or I get lost in my phone. I also learned I shouldn't write multiple essays at once with the television on, that only blocks my creativity. The brain, like any other muscle, can get taxed due to multitasking switching between tasks and making multiple decisions might tire your brain to an expanse that a person might end up being a poor or less-effective decision maker. Multitasking can be a waste of time, and multitasking increases one stress levels, and anxiety.
