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| Mara Jade Skywalker wrote: |
So an interesting, though disturbing, thought on reading. I've found that I haven't been able to read like I used to. I thought it was a waning interest in Star Wars (though that is reason in part), but I'm reading just as slowly with other genres. My sister mentioned yesterday that she'd heard that increased internet time dimished one's ability to read, simply in that you no longer possess the attention span for such a thing. This sounded silly to me, as I've been using the internet since I was 12, and this reading disability has only begun in the last year or so.
However...! Last night I noticed a bit of truth to the claim. I was trying to read Mercy Kill, which I'm really enjoying, but I noticed my mind kept wandering. I couldn't read more than a page without my gaze drifting off as my mind raced somewhere else. I couldn't get it to slow down and just focus on the story. And when I stopped to think about it, this is the problem that has been plaguing me with every book I've tried to read in the last year or so. My attention span has shortened to that of a small child, and I cannot focus on reading a story.
I assume this is related to the disturbing practice of constantly clicking on tabs while surfing the internet. I find it difficult to even watch YouTube videos without clicking around to other websites throughout the video. It's like I constantly have to click on something and keep my mind moving, because I cannot pay attention to something for more than a couple of minutes or so. This upsets me.  |
You've hit the nail right on the head, Mara.
This is quite true, and has been scientifically proven. Our surroundings, whatever they are, change our brain. This is to help us to cope better, to survive our environment. The internet is just another part of our environment, and as such it, too, changes our brain. We tend to skip a lot of things when we surf, when we peruse - searching for specific things that interest us. This, among other things, can rewire our brain so that we have shorter attention spans. However, I should point out that it's not just the internet that does this. Other things, like TV, can alter us in this way, too.
Now I've forgotten what I was going to post ...
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I am a Star Wars fan. That doesn't mean that I hate or love Jar Jar. That doesn't mean I hate or love Lucas, or agree or disagree 100% with him. That doesn't mean I prefer the PT over the OT, or vice versa. That doesn't mean I hate the EU, or even love all of it. These are not prerequisites. Being a man is not a prerequisite. Being a geek is not a prerequisite. The only prerequisite is that I love something about Star Wars. I am a Star Wars fan.
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