Do people think deeply about anything anymore? I’m not sure if I do and it’s scary. The internet has whittled my attention span down to that of a fruit fly. It’s hard for me to read to the end of a 800 word op-ed, much less a 500 page book. Even podcasts drone on for far too long—quit yapping and get to the point. I’m already losing my focus writing this blog post, so I’ll keep it short.
On social media, I’m fed a constant stream of things I already know. Distractions are everywhere—I play Wordle and shop for neck firming cream while binge-watching Netflix. I react to the ding of an incoming text as if I’m being paged to perform lifesaving brain surgery. I can go down a random rabbit hole in an instant, because answers to my most idle questions (are kaftans in again?) are instantly available. (Thanks to White Lotus, yes they are).
I am perpetually upset about the abhorrent conditions in our country but I never have conversations with people who disagree with my views. I don’t read opposing political positions either—ew, yucky. I know way too much about things that don’t matter and can’t fully wrap my mind around the things that do.
I’m getting stupider!
I know I’m not alone here. According to this well researched article (which I found via google and didn’t read to the end) humans now have an attention span of 8.25 seconds—down from 12 seconds in 2000. We have less focus than a goldfish.
This is a bad development and I’m going to do something about it. I’m going to investigate practices to get smarter and to talk to brilliant people and find out what they do to stay that way.
I can’t commit to how soon I’ll accomplish this task, because, you know. But if you subscribe to my blog and you’ll be notified of all new posts via email.
And one last thing,
Fully Fabulous 
I thought my short attention span was because I’m 81 years old!
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Your age is probably an asset — not as dependent on the tech endorphins! 😁
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well I’m stupid, stupid…stupider these days!! So I’ll catch up with laterrr🤣
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Haha can’t wait!
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I love reading about this. As a Gen Z, most people assume that I enjoy technology and social media but personally, I share the same sentiment as you. I hate that with just a few scrolls on social media, I am bombarded with information that I necessarily need. As much as I want to stay intentional with social media, the algorithm is way smarter for me. I would pick up my phone to do something and before I knew it, I’m already scrolling on social media and I already forgot the very reason why I needed to use my phone in the first place. Plus, there’s just the constant ads and consumer contents that ultimately manufacture our inadequacy. Contents nowadays are mostly about “There’s something wrong about you and unless you do this or buy this and that”. It is also a personal choice for me not to be on some social media platforms but apparently most people nowadays think follower count is some sort of a currency. I don’t agree. In this age, what I consider currency is attention and focus, that privacy and intentional consumerism are luxury.
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Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts Clodette. It’s hard to cut back on the scrolling, even for this Boomer. But it can be such a negative, numbing experience, it’s worth the effort for sure.
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