Distractions
In the twenty-first century, everyone is so addicted to the easy-access of media. I know I find it hard to sit through a commercial break during my favorite television show without taking out my smartphone and checking my newsfeed.
We don’t need to remember anything because the answer is at the push of a button. Boyfriends don’t need to remember girlfriends’ birthdays because social networking sites offer notifications of when it’s nearing; the number of teaspoons in a cup can be found in an online search engine.
While evidence proves that learning about a subject that interests you offers easy memorization, the worry is how to get the youth of today interested in learning other topics. I love all of my literature courses because I find literature to be extremely fascinating. And remembering what literary themes and techniques appear where sticks with me. But learning about biology and enzymes is so much more of a task because sciences don’t catch my interests.
Thompson does acknowledge that the “demon” of this accessibility is distraction (“Each app is fighting for you to spend more time with it”). Today, everyone jumps from page to page and gets caught up in social networking. Starting a research paper can take some time because I get caught up with my e-mail or Instagram feed. Multitasking does prove efficiency; but absorbing knowledge requires time to deep think and process, thus producing inefficiency.
That being said, Thompson argues that controlling the mind can offer individuals that ability to function without getting caught up in the distractions.
Overall, if well used, the Internet can prove efficiency and usefulness. But with all of the negativity that clouds the name of today’s generation, it’s scary to think about if the mind is strong enough to resist the distractions.
We don’t need to remember anything because the answer is at the push of a button. Boyfriends don’t need to remember girlfriends’ birthdays because social networking sites offer notifications of when it’s nearing; the number of teaspoons in a cup can be found in an online search engine.
While evidence proves that learning about a subject that interests you offers easy memorization, the worry is how to get the youth of today interested in learning other topics. I love all of my literature courses because I find literature to be extremely fascinating. And remembering what literary themes and techniques appear where sticks with me. But learning about biology and enzymes is so much more of a task because sciences don’t catch my interests.
Thompson does acknowledge that the “demon” of this accessibility is distraction (“Each app is fighting for you to spend more time with it”). Today, everyone jumps from page to page and gets caught up in social networking. Starting a research paper can take some time because I get caught up with my e-mail or Instagram feed. Multitasking does prove efficiency; but absorbing knowledge requires time to deep think and process, thus producing inefficiency.
That being said, Thompson argues that controlling the mind can offer individuals that ability to function without getting caught up in the distractions.
Overall, if well used, the Internet can prove efficiency and usefulness. But with all of the negativity that clouds the name of today’s generation, it’s scary to think about if the mind is strong enough to resist the distractions.
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