A little for the Aftertank
Lack of human contact!
Today, children grow up in a reality where, more than ever before in human history, they adapt to machines rather than humans.
The emotional and social circuitry of a child's brain develops through the child's contact with others over the course of a day. The interactions shape the brain circuitry, and the fewer hours spent with others and the more in front of a screen, the greater the risk of a mental deficit.
The time spent digitally goes from time spent in direct contact with other people – where we learn to read the nonverbal signals. The natives of this new digital world may be fingernails on the keyboard, but can in turn be equipped with ten thumbs when reading others face to face, here and now.
Meaningful contact requires mutual attention – shared focus – and in the sea of distractions we navigate daily, we must make even more effort to experience such moments.
This deep understanding stands in stark contrast to the ever-enticing Internet, which is characterized precisely by all the disruptive elements.
The bombardment of text, video, images and various messages we encounter online can be seen as an enemy to deeper understanding. Immersion requires maintaining focus. The more distracted we become, the more superficial our reflections become – and vice versa, the shorter our reflections, the more inconsequential they are likely to become....
Daniel Goleman - Maintained Attention
Daniel Goleman, in his book "Focus," demands "sustained attention" as one of the important abilities a human being must possess. Attention is also part of the ability that helps us feel how we feel and why, to be able to read other people's emotions and have an easy time interacting. He believes "maintained attention" is an important mental tool.
Attention research shows that it is our attention skills that determine how well we perform a task. If the skills are underdeveloped, we do poorly, if they are well developed, we do well. How easy and how effortlessly we go through life depends on this subtle part of reality. Although the connection between attention and skill is mostly hidden, it shines through everything we try to achieve.
Trinity: Inner focus, focus on others, external focus. A good life requires that we move equally easily in all three areas.
Yoda says, "Your focus is your reality."
Nobel Prize-winning economist Herbert Simon predicted this scenario way back in 1977. In his writings on the coming information-rich world, he warned that the information engulfs "the attention of the recipients. Abundance of information therefore creates a lack of attention".
