Digital Devices Deprive Brain of Needed Downtime 222
siliconbits writes with an excerpt from NY Times: "Technology makes the tiniest windows of time entertaining, and potentially productive. But scientists point to an unanticipated side effect: when people keep their brains busy with digital input, they are forfeiting downtime that could allow them to better learn and remember information, or come up with new ideas."
oh rly? (Score:5, Funny)
Why do you think I run Windows? ::rimshot::
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Let me check my brains uptime ... 36 hours, needs a reboot.
Re: (Score:2)
Because you are idling 99% of your time ?
I take several short naps a day (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:I take several short naps a day (Score:5, Insightful)
If only most of us could do that, rather than having shitty pointy-haired micromanager bosses who insist on minute-by-minute "productivity" scales.
The day the 'worker productivity index' was invented was the day society started going to hell.
Re:I take several short naps a day (Score:5, Funny)
I once heard a tale of someone who when faced with a boss who demanded updates every 15 minutes on what he was doing wrote a script which strung together meaningless management buzzwords in a vaguely sensible format and emailed them to his boss every 15 minutes.
a few weeks later he gets an award for being a team player and keeping his boss in the loop.
It's not like the boss ever reads them after the first day.
Re: (Score:2)
You do know that at least 20% of the folks on /. do this with our daily and weekly reports to the boss anyway, right?
Don't give away ALL our secrets!
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
That's because his boss also had a script, which tested the updates to see if they included meaningless management buzzwords in a vaguely sensible format.
Source code (Score:5, Insightful)
#include <time.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#define kase(tipo,stmt) case(tipo):{stmt;break;}
char *a[10] = {
"in particular",
"on the other hand",
"however",
"similarly",
"in this regard",
"as a resultant implication",
"based on integral subsystem considerations",
"for example",
"thus",
"in respect to specific goals"},
*b[10] = {
"a large portion of the interface coordinated communication",
"a constant flow of effective information",
"the characterization of specific criteria",
"initiation of critical subsystem development",
"the fully integrated test program",
"the product configuration baseline",
"any associated supporting element",
"the incorporation of additional mission constraints",
"the independent functional principle",
"a primary interrelationship between system and/or subsystem technologies"},
*c[10] = {
"must utilize and be functionally interwoven with",
"maximizes the probability of project success and minimizes the cost and time required for",
"adds explicit performance limits to",
"necessitates that urgent consideration be applied to",
"requires considerable systems analysis and trade off studies to arrive at",
"is further compounded when taking into account",
"presents extremely interesting challenges to",
"recognizes the importance of other systems and the necessity for",
"effects a significant implementation of",
"adds overriding performance constraints to"},
*d[10] = { /* orders: abcd, dacb, bacd, adcb */
"the sophisticated hardware",
"the anticipated next generation equipment",
"the subsystem compatibility testing",
"the structural design based on system engineering concepts",
"the preliminary qualification limits",
"the evolution of specification over a given time period",
"the philosophy of commonality and standardization",
"the top-down development method",
"any discrete configuration mode",
"the total system rationale"};
main()
{
int n, order, w, x, y, z;
srand(time(NULL));
for (n = 0; n < 1000; n++)
{
if (!(n % 10)) printf("\n");
w = rand() % 10;
x = rand() % 10;
y = rand() % 10;
z = rand() % 10;
order = rand() % 4;
switch (order)
{
case 0:
printf(" %c%s, %s %s %s.", a[w][0] & 0xDF, a[w] + 1, b[x], c[y], d[z]);
break;
case 1:
printf(" %c%s, %s, %s %s.", d[w][0] & 0xDF, d[w] + 1, a[x], c[y], b[z]);
break;
case 2:
printf(" %c%s, %s, %s %s.", b[w][0] & 0xDF, b[w] + 1, a[x], c[y], d[z]);
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, I generally just ignore those weekly/daily/whatever status report calendar events. If they want to see what I'm doing, they can look at how empty my sprint story list is getting. I'm just utterly uninterested in wasting more time telling people what I'm doing when I already do in a daily standup meeting once per day. I can't stand management types that get all uptight about junk like this.
Re:I take several short naps a day (Score:5, Insightful)
Perhaps the idea of the "seista" was right!
Re: (Score:2)
It was 100% right. If I had a 2-3 hour time period to get a nap or something in the middle of the day I'd get twice as much done in my afternoons. I currently get about half as much done in the afternoon as I get done in the morning. Leading to a trend for me of coming in early to get work done rather than staying late.
Re: (Score:2)
I suggested this at a previous place; they said it was fine as long as I made up the time at the end of the day. ;)
Re: (Score:2)
Unfortunately my timetable revolves around everyone else's. I can't take time off in the middle of the day. If I could do that I definitely would!
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I solve a lot of work & other problems when I'm driving on the way to or from work. I spend about 2 hrs in the car per day... It's amazing when your brain isn't "busy," how many solutions just "spontaneously" come to you.
Re:I take several short naps a day (Score:4, Funny)
Instant distractions (Score:2)
This is the very reason I don't have a cell phone* and haven't used an instant messenger in years. It is also the same reason that I only check personal email at most once a day (They call it mail for a reason). If I'm at home or the office than the land line works very well - if I'm not there than I'm busy anyway.
*People ask how can you manage that - I tell them it's a little secret called forethought or planning.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
This is the very reason I don't have a cell phone
I met a gentleman last night who recently purchased a Droid phone and claimed that it's the first mobile phone that he's ever owned. When I asked him why he didn't own one before, he responded:
"I thought cell phones were only useful for buying drugs."
I think he also has a 5-digit slashdot user id
Re:Instant distractions (Score:5, Funny)
"I thought cell phones were only useful for buying drugs."
There's an app for that.
Re: (Score:2)
That doesn't sound strange at all. Most people don't need cellphones. In my whole life I've owned exactly two:
An old analog phone from circa 1999 which cost me $10/month. When the battery stopped working, I upgraded to a Virgin Mobile Nokia phone at $0.00/month and 18 cents per minute or per text. I make sure not to give the number to anybody (except close friends/family), so they cannot disturb me and disrupt my calm.
Re:Instant distractions (Score:5, Funny)
*People ask how can you manage that - I tell them it's a little secret called forethought or planning.
I usually tell them it's a little secret called "no friends".
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Nah - it's real friends. They care enough to be reliable, know the contingencies, and not be offended if something crazy happens.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
I've got a cell phone but I only give the number to people I actually want to hear from.
All the pros, none of the cons.
Re:Instant distractions (Score:4, Insightful)
You know, cell phones have a very useful functionality: You can switch them off. The advantage of a switched-off cell phone vs. no cell phone is that you can quickly get a working cell phone in case you need one: Just switch it on. Moreover, you get great times between battery recharges this way.
Re:Instant distractions (Score:4, Insightful)
The problem is, I loathe telephones. Typically, when the phone rings, it's because someone expects me to drop whatever I'm doing RIGHT NOW and attend to whatever it is they need. Worse, when I'm talking to people on the telephone, they tend to feel slighted if I don't give them my full and undivided attention. So if I'm at work trying to, you know, work, and my phone rings, the expectation is that I will immediately cease work to chat/be a chimney while they vent/solve the world's problems/whatever. Maybe I'm just a curmudgeon, but I find that rather irritating.
I much prefer text messages or e-mail, since I can look at it and get back to you when I actually have the CPU cycles to devote to whatever it is you need.
Re: (Score:2)
>>>Switched off cell phones still cost money.
Not if you have a plan with Virgin Mobile (like I do) which only charges you when you make a call (18 cents per minute). And while you're correct restaurants and gas stations do let you use their wired phone, sometimes your car will break down miles away from such services. I'd rather make the call to AAA from the cool of my car rather than walk-around in the hot summer sun.
Re: (Score:2)
I generally agree with your sentiment of planning ahead, and often leave my phone behind if I've already pre-arranged plans with people, but how are phones any better than IM or email in terms of distraction?
You can't really defer a phone call without then getting into voice mail territory, which is way more annoying (and time consuming) than just reading an email. And a proper phone conversation requires input from two people simultaneously, rather than one person being able to go and do some work while th
Re: (Score:2)
How nice for you that you've found it comfortable to get by without a cell phone. It's too bad you feel the need to condescend to those who find cell phones useful. (Actually, it suggests you're probably compensating for the fact that you really aren't as happy with your choice as you'd like others to believe; but I digress.)
I plan ahead, and then I carry a cell phone in case reality interferes with my plans. This also allows me to quickly change my plans if an opportunity arises.
But then, some people do
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
I never mentioned anything about people who generally use cell phones. I'm sorry if it was taken otherwise. My "flame bait" footnote is actually only directed toward the subset of people who find it absolutely inconceivable that anyone could successfully manage one's life without a cell phone. I've been attacked by that type of person as if I had suggested something absurd such as not immunizing children. It was not my attempt (or in my text) to disparage the usefulness of cell phones. I had one for a
Re: (Score:2)
No, someone says "I don't need a cell phone because I plan ahead", implying that anyone who uses a cell phone does not plan as well as he, and I call that condescending. Nice try, though.
Re: (Score:2)
I remember a time when I lived kind of like you try to. It was called the 1980s - land lines only, had to find a pay phone if not at home. No email, Facebook, Google Calendar, Instant Mes
Re: (Score:2)
I don't have a cell phone either. It's not called a "cell" because it's short for "cellular"...
I've got a packed social schedule, two kids, and I do on-site inspections fairly often at work. (I'm an EE.) They just aren't necessary tools.
Re: (Score:2)
Communication is incredibly important to Humanity, and the more we have the more informed the common man is (huzzah). Having a cellphone doesn't mean you have to play Faceville on it the moment your day becomes idle.
Re: (Score:2)
5. Profit!
Re: (Score:2)
In denial eh?
tl;dr (Score:5, Funny)
NPR had a long thing on this the other day. Supposedly it kills our attention span. Or something, tl;dl.
Re: (Score:2)
Wow (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
We're not capable of being creative enough to think of original jokes.
Re: (Score:2)
We're not capable of being creative enough to think of original jokes.
What? I thought Commander Taco was an original joke!
HAAAAAHAHAAAHAAHARROFLLALALAOLOLOL!!11!!eleventy!!!
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Why spend all that time and energy creating new jokes when recycled jokes is so much more efficient? Think green, dammit!
People often overlook the horrible environmental effects of joke pollution. Re-using old jokes instead of letting them just litter our society could reduce that significantly, and also save many old comedians from complete extinction.
Won't someone please think of the old comedians?!
I re-use old jokes all the time. Just ask my wife. She'll tell you all about it. At length, apparently.
I'd be fine (Score:2, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
I remember that.
He'd still be there if I hadn't gotten off the board.
Going for a run or a ride... (Score:5, Interesting)
I really value my exercise time for this 'down time.' I can't stand running with headphones because I can't get lost in the moment. Going out for a nice long run (or a walk) on Sunday morning when you have a problem to mull over is just about the greatest way to find some insight and a new angle on it. I've composed term papers and had some wonderful insights into my life and relationships while on runs.
As I get older, I also find that I need to turn off more and more distractions if I really want to get anything serious done. I close the web browser, turn off the IM and silence the phone (I'd turn it off, but it takes so freaking long to reboot, it's obnoxious). I remember a time in my youth that I'd have 12 things going on at once, watching TV, playing video games and maybe even music running somewhere. I think I was being productive, but looking back, I question that. Perhaps my abilities to 'multi-task' have diminished as I've aged, but I think that I've just become more adept at recognizing shoddy work. What about you all? Have you fond that as you get older, you need more quite time to think than you did when you were younger? Do little distractions like email and IMs really cut into your productivity?
Re: (Score:2)
I can't stand running with headphones because I can't get lost in the moment.
Plus, then you can hear cars and cyclists coming.
I can't tell you how many times I've had to skirt around an idiot running or cycling on a dual-use path with their music jacked high enough they can't hear my bell...
Re: (Score:2)
I've had exactly the same experience. Used to work with music or TV shows running, now I can't concentrate with the slightest bit of noise.
Re: (Score:2)
I really value my exercise time for this 'down time.' I can't stand running with headphones because I can't get lost in the moment.
I listen to my iPod while lifting weights & also watch headline news on TV doing the elliptical. I find it helps me to keep up my pace and also makes the time go by faster, and sometimes power through the pain.
As I get older, I also find that I need to turn off more and more distractions if I really want to get anything serious done.
I'm totally with you on that one. These days during my lunch, I work on improving my computer programming skills. I go some place isolated, having only the laptop. I leave my phone at my desk, I don't surf the web or check my e-mail. I learn more during that hour than I usually do with 8 hours of
Re:Going for a run or a ride... (Score:4, Insightful)
Have you fond that as you get older, you need more quite time to think than you did when you were younger? Do little distractions like email and IMs really cut into your productivity?
I'm 24 now. As I've grown out of my college years I've noticed this to be true. I can turn out more stuff (poetry, blog updates, electronic gizmos, whatever I'm working on) if I keep the instant messengers closed. I also like to have my door closed because my roomate has a bad habit of popping into my room to show me "the funniest thing ever" on Youtube which is usually a 10 second clip of someone injuring themselves. I don't really have the problem with music though. However, I do make a point to tune my internet radio station to a type of music that would make an appropriate soundtrack for whatever I am working on (for instance, if I am writing up a short story about a swordfight, the music would be some kind of kick-ass symphonic metal, or something similar). I do notice, however, that as I get older I have more of a tendency to turn on music and just stare at a wall while sipping a nice glass of whiskey. I used to always just think of music as appropriate background noise. These days I treat it almost like T.V., where I want to take the time to get lost in it.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I sit out on my balcony a couple of nights a week with a fine single malt and a fine cigar and just watch the world go past. When I was telling one of my friends he was amazed that I could sit for so long without doing anything. I can't understand how he's so constantly doing things.
Re:Going for a run or a ride... (Score:4, Interesting)
When I was telling one of my friends he was amazed that I could sit for so long without doing anything. I can't understand how he's so constantly doing things.
He might be distracting himself from the reality of his own thoughts. If you tend to have an overly self-critical personality, or if you are generally unhappy about your present life situation, then sitting and doing nothing can afford you the opportunity to face the unpleasant thoughts that can come with such territory. Similarly, if your friend feels lonely, sitting around alone would afford him the opportunity to ponder his situation, which he may not want to do. I know I've had periods in my life where I had to keep myself distracted in order to avoid facing the pains that come along with heartbreak, a loss of a friend, etc. Watching the world go by, as you describe, tends to let reality settle in on one's self-awareness. That can be a hard thing to cope with.
Alternatively, your friend might just be the kind of person that values action above thought. There's nothing wrong with that, and I would wager that constantly doing things helps to fulfill your friend in ways nobody but himself understands. Ah well, to each their own.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm the opposite...I find that I really LOVE tunes when exercising, both with weights and aerobic (mostly walk/running). I find that it distracts me from the 'pain' aspect, and especially the boring monotonous part of walking/running. I love slinging weights, but do not enjoy the aerobic stuff, but to me...it is a very necessary evil.
Especially in my past...when doing thin
Re: (Score:2)
Instead, I get distracted by youtube/short videogames.
On the other hand, once I get ramped up and there's some amount of white noise (music, tv, etc) in the background, it's hard to get distracted by anything until whatever I'm working on is done.
Re: (Score:2)
There was a study a while back (discussed here, too) which determined that kids NEED downtime to assimilate what they've learned -- so that "time wasted" digging in the dirt, watching ants, gazing at clouds, and generally doing nothing useful, is actually the most important part of a kid's day in terms of how well that child will assimilate what he's learned in school.
I doubt it's really all that different for adults. We used to have our downtime in fairly mindless pursuits -- whether that was weeding or ru
Re:Going for a run or a ride... (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
No, it would seem just the opposite. Take time off to pass no judgments until you have been able to think things through by not distracting essential components of your "subconscious" brain by your "conscious" brain.
Re: (Score:2)
Thats why its called the SCHOOL of hard knocks.
More than that (Score:5, Interesting)
I read the article on the New York Times yesterday, but I've been thinking about this a lot lately in general, and I've come across some pretty interesting stuff. For instance, its pretty obvious that computers give off a lot of blue light. Apparently someone decided that blue LEDs meant high tech and so devices get fitted with them all over the place. Blue light in particular is linked to suppression of melatonin(source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11487664 [nih.gov]). Particularly low levels of melatonin have been observed in patients with various degrees of ASD, including slashdot's favourite asperger's (source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17505466 [nih.gov]).
So, my contention is that the "rise in autism" that seems to be so prevalent these days is probably a result of children basically being deprived of proper darkness, being surrounded by light from computers, tv, video games, etc. I've started taking melatonin supplements as since I got back into IT work about two years ago and spending much more time on computers, I've been sleeping a lot less and feeling generally less sociable. My memory has gotten shot, etc. Could just be that I'm getting older, but I'm only 26... I'm not that old. When I get a break away from computers, take some time out to sleep, and get outside in the woods then I can generally shake the effects off in a day or so, but when I was a kid the world wasn't nearly as surrounded by computer technology in all its myriad of forms as it is today, where kids are basically handed a DS right out of the womb. I didn't see a gameboy until I was about 7 or 8, and it had a monochrome screen with no backlight.
And no, I don't mean a break from work. I mean a break from computers. It's not just being at work -- when I'm at work, its light outside anyway. I mean no laptop, no fancy phone, no nothing. Go away for a few days and leave that stuff behind, because if I'm just at home on the weekend and spend a lot of time plugged up, then I don't feel any better for not having been at work.
The way kids are today, with all their gadgets and gizmos can't possibly be any better for their brains than it is for their bodies, not playing outside nearly as much as they used to.
Stories like this match up pretty well with my own anecdotal evidence, not that it means much, but when I find NIH studies that seem to point to much more extreme versions of what I've seen, even in myself. Like I said, the effects on an adult are likely to be temporary, but our brains had time to mature before being mushed up.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Maybe that is why my work gave me this nice laptop with all the blue LEDs on the touch bar...
On a more serious note though, I do have to agree with you. I spent a week on the beach in OBX with the family, didn't take my laptop, had my phone with me but left it in the house we rented, just kicked back and listened to the ocean with a beer in my hand. I felt a million times better after that, so I definitely agree that it's a good idea to just get away from technology completely ever so often.
Sometimes even
Re: (Score:2)
Well, first, the Autism curve started pitching up in the early 80s, and blue LEDs weren't invented until the late 90s.
Second, Autism presents symptoms in infancy, before the typical child has been hypnotized by Xbox.
Third, simple social ineptitude due to inexperience is not the same thing as Autism. Social retardation can be repaired fairly easily. Autism is notoriously hard to work against.
Re: (Score:2)
When the sky is blue, its because its day time. When its not, its night time. Know what people are supposed to do at night, sleep? Melatonin helps you sleep, but its production is inhibited by blue light, like when its day time. Artificial blue light tricks your brain into thinkings its still day time, so you don't produce sufficient quantities of melatonin at the right point in the day to enter into a natural sleep cycle. The effects of sleep deprivation are pretty rough, otherwise it wouldn't be used
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, I guess I just invented the whole RGB thing and the fact that blue light is mixed in with the output in CRTs and LCDs. This isn't a crackpot theory: not once did I mention how George Bush was involved.
The problem as I see it, is the constantly being surrounded by light from various sources. Computers and other electronic devices just happen to be the most prevalent of those which encourage you to sit very close to them and stare directly at their light source (the display).
Re: (Score:2)
If I had blamed my problems on WiFi, I wouldn't have been able to find research from the NIH to back me up. How am I anti-science? We sent men to the moon using slide rules; saying that I think that our current culture, influenced by a level of technology we haven't had in the past, where we are now constantly bombarded by sensory input, put off of natural sleep cycles, and generally messed with is likely to have unforseen consequences. A lot of the strange syndromes and whatnot that people are reporting
Re: (Score:2)
Well, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on being a researcher in the field and you probably do know more than me about it. I work in infosec, not medicine or research. I'm just saying that, for me, taking melatonin supplements and trying to stay away from staring at light sources such as computers, helps me sleep, keeps me more focused and lets me actually have fun once in a while, as opposed to being an exasperated crazy person like I am when I don't take the supplements. It really wouldn't surpris
Um no... not really.... (Score:4, Interesting)
It is not like before "digital devices" people would sit around doing nothing for "downtime".. Before pocket toys that look for our attention people had a list of tasks they had to do. Instead of wasting time sitting there playing plants-vs-zombies they read a book or talked.
My downtime is usually under a car or elbow deep in a motorcycle doing high level brain activity compared to what any digital device causes.
This is all bull-cockey. If anything the digital devices are making people stupid because they dont have to actually work for or retain any knowlege.. they certianly are not causing us to lose downtime, as humans by nature dont do brain downtime. Hell when we sleep we dont even have brain downtime.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not so sure. I know someone who isn't so big on technology and doesn't need it in his life (sometimes I admire him the simplicity that affords him).
Apparently, he's perfectly content to just sit quietly on his sofa for periods of time. No music, no TV, not even sure he's having any "inner dialog" -- I think he literally is content to just sit.
I've been known to sit on a rock for an hour or two, but that was usu
Re: (Score:2)
They're not talking about the couple hours at the end of the day where people do their hobbies and relax, they're talking about the minute here, minute there kind of downtime throughout the day. They're talking about leaning back in your chair and stretching out for a few minutes, waiting to hear back on a question you asked your co-worker, or just sitting on the damn toilet (we all know people who can't help but get out their phones while they're taking a crap).
Re: (Score:2)
"as humans by nature dont do brain downtime."
Funny you should say that, which leads to the obvious question, why is sleep a universal human behavior? According to you, humans don't sleep, but even limited observation suggests otherwise.
Re: (Score:2)
According to you, humans don't sleep, but even limited observation suggests otherwise.
after he says:
Hell when we sleep we dont even have brain downtime.
It's not like he wrote pages of stuff for you to sift through to get to that part.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
If anything the digital devices are making people stupid because they dont have to actually work for or retain any knowlege (sic)
Remembering things does not mean you are smart, or even non-stupid. Memorization does not imply adept thinking skills and, IMO (no science done here), I think that the way we're moving will make us much smarter in general, just in a different way than we're used to. Perhaps offloading some forms of memory to computers is allowing us to concentrate on actual thinking. Maybe our education will eventually evolve and our kids wouldn't have to waste 14 years of their life (K-12) memorizing and regurgitating gove
Eh (Score:5, Informative)
I heard an interview with the guy who wrote that book on NPR yesterday. Practically every sentence he spoke contained a "Maybe" or a "We don't know for sure" or an "It's possible that..."
His entire interview was preceded by him saying this is all theories and may not be correct at all and that there's actually no scientific proof of any of this.
So, grain of salt.
Re: (Score:2)
No, he was a guy who talked to a few scientists and wrote a book about it. I'm not saying he wasn't doing a good job, I'm saying the headline might be a biiit alarmist.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not saying not to pay attention to the guy, I'm saying not to pay that much attention to the alarmist nature of the headline.
Time spent in the bathroom? (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
I think you all know why.
Angry Birds?
Actually I've started pocketing my DS at work to get in a little DQ9 during my bathroom breaks.
Re: (Score:2)
There's a meme for that [google.com].
Note: most of those are already on T-shirts.
WTF does it have to do with digital? (Score:2)
Any device -- no, any activity -- that continuously takes up your attention is going to have the exact same effect. It's not like the brain subconsciously detects, "Hey, these inputs have discrete steps which I'm able to perceive thanks to my gold-plated Monster cables," and then the person goes nuts.
Quit saying "digital device" when you mean "any thing", quit saying iPhone when you mean any mobile computer, quit saying "digital music" when you mean any music that is downloaded instead of distributed on r
Re: (Score:2)
Plowing fields by hand or riveting buildings could be seen as brain downtime, and have largely been lost activities since the trend in technology towards requiring us to use constant thinking and processing in normal activities.
sound bites (Score:2)
Gadgets force us to communicate in sound bites. We dig the new shiny. Our attentions no longer span, but spin. Subtle phrasing replaced by clever phrasing replaced by catch phrases. "Think" is a four-letter word. Four letter words are old school. Grammar mocked as elitist. Push2Talk is DoubleSpeak. Allusions wander, lost. News at 11.
related article about rafting trip (Score:3, Informative)
I notice the same. I think about work the first day of a backcountry trip or vacation. But then stop thinking about work by the second day.
I agree! (Score:2)
When I have a really vexing programming problem, I often think of a real creative way to solve it in the moments in bed waiting to fall asleep. The ideas do not occur while I am asleep but when I am fully awake waiting to fall asleep. I am quite sure that the time when nothing is happening is very important to the creative process. Other people might be different but I find this is true for me.
Re: (Score:2)
It could be worse. I've written most of my best fiction while shovelling the daily dog shit out of the kennel. A benefit of having an everyday mindless activity that lets my brain wander off to wherever it pleases, with no restraints.
wetware downtime (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Yes. Now it's called commuting.
This is why TV is our first, best friend. (Score:2)
Television gives us so much and asks so little in return. Why must you be so tempted by hours of web surfing?
Just turn off you brain and give TV your whole day. There's probably a Deadliest Catch marathon you could be watching.
Re: (Score:2)
I have a computer set up in front of the TV.
I am often watching TV and online at the same time, and sometimes dealing with incoming data on my phone as well.
When I really want to zone out I lie back and fire up a few episodes of How It's Made.
BTW, I got tired of Deadliest Catch after about half a marathon. But I could watch Dirty Jobs 24/7/365 and not even ask for a raise.
Only if you let them (Score:2)
Re:I can daydream listening to mp3s (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You can also do this kind of thing while driving. So much so that you can often forget the details of how you got somewhere.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
So....that would be IKEA? :)
I never trusted those swedish bastards! Curse them and their delicious meatballs!
Re:Please (Score:4, Informative)
Time to change your sig again ;)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
No, I don't think it's a "large fraction" of the population, I don't think their belief is particularly misguided, and I CERTAINLY don't believe they're sponsoring biased research.