Check out the New York Times for an eye-opening discussion about the impact of our love affair with electronic devices and the online world on how we think and live – First Steps to Digital Detox.
I was struck by this comment from Gary Small, professor of psychology and behavioral sciences at UCLA:
[W]e’re constantly scanning the environment for the next exciting bit of information — the next text message, IM, email, or even land-line phone call. That next ping or buzz or ring interrupts our focus and charges up the dopamine reward system as we anticipate something new and more exciting than the task at hand.
This results in our paying “partial continuous attention,” Small writes, and this tends to put our brains in a heightened state of stress and constant tension. “Once people get used to it, they tend to thrive on the perpetual connectivity. It becomes irresistible.”
One frightening result: We lose our ability to focus and to think deeply.
Small recommends 2 simple tactics:
- Practice focusing on one task at a time.
- Take regular breaks from the online world and tech gadgets.
Among others who weigh in on the topic are Nicholas Carr, author of the new book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to My Brain, and William Powers, author of Hamlet’s BlackBerry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age, due out this month.
