According to Amusing Ourselves to Death, citizens of America were capable of listening intently to debates by political figures that lasted for hours upon hours a long time ago. These people were able to interact with the debators, cheer for their person, and absorb every detail that they were saying, all while staying seated without having to get up for a 5-minute break. What happened to that attention span that our ancestors had?
In my opinion, as the media slowly changed, it sucked up the publics attention spans and capability of sitting still, even through little 30-minute long television shows. Think about it, as things got more convinient to watch or listen to, the time limits of those programs dwindled down. From debates to the radio to television, things are having to get simpler and shorter to keep up with the dwindling of the American mind. For example, the people who watched debates slowly got accustomed to the radio shows, making hours at a debate seem insane. Following, the radio shows soon became too long as well, so they became filled with commercials, a break in time where the people didn't need to pay attention.
Then came the television, where half the shows are now commercials in which people can take breaks; and even now people can fast-forward through commercials for lack of patience to watch them. I don't know how things could get worse, but with media going in this downcast direction, it'll find a way. Do you agree that the media is one of the biggest reasons Americans are now always in a rush?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I would have to say I agree with you, Lenora. Everything you said makes sense. I too, was reading that part of the book, and I thought to myself, "Wow, 5 hours of hearing people argue against one another!" I know I don't have that type of attention span; most of us here probably don't, right?
ReplyDeleteI think that the main reason for this is that back in those days, it was all about books, newspapers, and political debates. Now, it's all about television, computers, and cell phones. As you had said, our ancestors had larger attention spans than we have today. Why? Because they were interested in intelligent arguments. They were fascinated by this form of entertainment- for them it really was entertaining. Nowadays, we are doing everything possible to make things 'easier', but really (I think) it is because we have other interests. I have a DVR on my T.V., so I can record shows and fast forward commercials. Why? So I don't have to sit through a three minute commercial break (I'm being honest here). Now that I think about it, it is sort of ridiculous. We can partially blame technology, but not entirely. We CHOOSE to use these advances. Imagine a world without technology... Would we be more intelligent? More intellectual? What about healthier? People have become very lazy nowadays, it is kind of scary.
So to answer your closing question, I would have to say yes, but not entirely. But that is just my opinion.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLike Joey, I agree with you Lenora to an extent.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that came to mind when I read your parting question was New York City; compared to Greenwich Village, Time Square is an absoulte mad house! People scurry around like if the sky was falling, but the peculiar thing is that Time Square is PACKED with flashing, colorful commercials, while Greenwich Village is a quaint little area with emerald pocket-parks and brownhouses with little advertising.
Well, long story short, the heavily media-packed Times Sqaure is worlds away from the peaceful Greenwich Village based not only on their environments but also on how these affect New Yorkers.
This is my answer to your question; I think it's pretty self-explainatory once you base it off that New York example. Humans did not technically go through an attention-span 'evolution' per say, because if you placed an ancient Greek philosipher on a couch next to a present-day American, both would probably show the same symtoms of "attention deficiency" to their surroundings.
As a culture we are wired to have a love affair with our technology, so it would make sense for other generations to view oral debates and long novels as we think of our televisions and computers. Any form of entertainment or a way to be "better informed" is considered our soma. It does not matter if it's spoken, read, or viewed as long as it keeps us happy and docile. [insert sarcastic tone here.]
I have noticed how we are so used to that speed with internet, drive-ins, communications, and more, that if something makes us wait for longer that usual, we become frustrated and think the world sucks. The technology that allows the users to fastforward through the commercials is, I have to admit, pretty amazing, but it does show our impatiences.
ReplyDeleteJust as we turned from, "time-keepers, and then time-savers, and now time-servers," I think we are now trying to be time-controllers. How far can the humans, we, go? Only the time will tell.