Study: our attention span is now less than that of a goldfish

[Deleted]

Microsoft surveyed 2000 people in Canada and came to the conclusion that our attention spawn is now "less than that of a goldfish".
It appearently decreased by 4 seconds in the last 15 years (from 12 to 8 seconds) and is mostly to thank to our digital lifestyle.

"Humans have become so obsessed with portable devices and overwhelmed by content that we now have attention spans shorter than that of the previously jokingly juxtaposed goldfish."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/sc...-10247553.html

I personally see the effects alot in the workplace. Especially the interns and younger people I hire have trouble not looking at their smartphone or social media page every 30 seconds. It really destorys their productivity and I wonder how this will affect unemployment.

[Meestercat]

To be honest I'm not surpr..... *blinks* Hey, that new Mad Max film! Looks great, right?

[Deleted]

I see this around my work place alot as well, id say I look at my phone only when it flashes.. so maybe a couple of times a day, but the ladies I am sitting next to are on the damn thing the whole day :P.

[Pendulous]

Are they confusing "attention span" with "memory", which is the myth that goldfish have very short memories, but in fact they don't?

Also, they never explain the study, which really makes it look legitimate...

[RH92]

Are they confusing "attention span" with "memory", which is the myth that goldfish have very short memories, but in fact they don't.

Attention Span is how long can you concentrate on a task without being distracted.

Which on itself is very dependant on a "fun factor" and mood, but I still find it hard to believe people get distracted just after a 8 seconds. On the other side I can kind of get it, the age we live in with all the virtual life going on in the background of our lifes. People 15 years ago had only the outisde noises and daydreaming to interrupt them during work, now we have this virtual social life going non-stop. It is this twisted notion to be appreaciated that motives people to check their phones if people Liked their photo or wrote a comment.

I personally have no problem with Attention Span as I work in an environment where you can't afford getting distracted (Music). I also find it very tiring to constantly think about the social network bullshit, that's reason I don't bother with it in the first place.

[Wildtree]

To be honest I'm not surpr..... *blinks* Hey, that new Mad Max film! Looks great, right?

what mad max film?

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Are they confusing "attention span" with "memory", which is the myth that goldfish have very short memories, but in fact they don't?

Also, they never explain the study, which really makes it look legitimate...

did you just prove them right ? hehe

[draykorinee]

I;m lucky if its more than 4.

[Ryme]

Oh, an article from the independent. I'm sure this will be fact checked and scrutinised before it was published, surely they wouldn't sensationalise something they haven't looked into themselves.

[Wildtree]

Oh, an article from the independent. I'm sure this will be fact checked and scrutinised before it was published.

Well, you can always cross check, how wide spread the news bit is

Google News

[Johnkie]

Think im the only person who havent bought a smartphone yet... Satisfied with mine, can play music!... WHO NEEDS MORE!?...
Nah but in all seriousness, its kinda disturbing the amount of people just blankly stareing into their smartphones on the early morning train...
Its like 90% of every person on the train is just looking at their phone...
Thats okay, i guess because it is a kinda boring train ride afterall...
But then you get to class and its pretty much the same...
Go outside and smoke and 90% of the people is just standing with their smartphones, even checking them all the time while talking to people...

Its utterly retarded... In not long our entire economy will be digital, and phones will probably be our bank - computers - "phones"...
Yay 90% of the worlds wealth is digital numbers, lets go and make it 100% shall WE!... ITS SO MUCH EASIER.
Nevermind that it is, and will be men in suits that decide what our digital currencys is worth.

[Flutterguy]

2000 Canadians have lower attention spans than goldfish.

More accurate title.

[Aori]

I blame hockey.

[Spiral Mage]

Fun facts. If you tap the glass and 'talk' to it, yes, a goldfish pays attention longer than your average human.
Another study also suggested the loss of attention span is also related to how far too many people think they are the only important person in the world and so when you're talking to them, they lose interest in a few seconds, either to pay attention to their mobile device out of how "bored they are of your rambling" (to spite you having said 2 sentences), or they are waiting for their turn to talk and ignoring you until they can because after all .. only what they have to say matters to them anyway.

I certainly see the ego-driven reaction alot in my family. They ignore the HELL out of anyone else. My mother to me, her brother to her, her parents to either of them .. all they care about is if you heard what they said, the reverse doesn't matter .. what's funny to me is when my mother will even ASK ME A QUESTION and ignore me as I provide an answer .. then get angry at me later for "never answering the question she asked earlier .." It's like ... really .. ? You even asked me to tell you something this time ..

It's something I enjoy about a few of my friends. They do not do that. Even if what you're saying isn't really their thing, they listen politely and ask questions, and then I politely listen to them and ask a question or two if I can think of something relevant to ask. I can't stand my friend going on about these TV series's she watches but .. hey, it's important to HER so while I won't remember shit about it later .. I pay attention in the moment. It's just good manners, she's passionate about it.

[Revi]

We're bombarded with a incredibly amount of input every day compared to just a few decades ago, not to mention centuries ago - it's not surprising that it affects us at a fundamental level.

[Puremallace]

Not going to lie. Instead of calling Millenials we should be called the TL'DR generation because to be honest I do not have time to do much of anything anymore.

[Afrospinach]

We're bombarded with a incredibly amount of input every day compared to just a few decades ago, not to mention centuries ago - it's not surprising that it affects us at a fundamental level.

There was a far more interesting article in the NZ herald about it though I am not going to dig it up. It is a problem with "enriched environments". Video games and such are designed to be highly stimulating and can lead to ADD of sorts, supposedly.

Not going to lie. Instead of calling Millenials we should be called the TL'DR generation because to be honest I do not have time to do much of anything anymore.

>.>

What are you so busy with?

I thought our attention span was 8 minutes, which is incidentally the amount of run time usually found in half hour TV programming between ads.

Really depends what I am doing though I consider my attention span to be infinite. I have never been able to relate to these studies at all.

[dextersmith]

Did Microsoft admit to contributing?

[Armbre]

This is why i deleted all apps other than hearthstone off of my phone and had my wife do the same its amazing all of the conversations and things that happen when your nose isn't stuck in a dumb phone.

[haxartus]

I don't see the problem with this.
More people becoming full retard means more money for me.

[Poopymonster]

what mad max film?

This one.

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