Three technologies have changed societal behavioral patterns.
We’ve seen that we have hardwired responses to information. But this means we have to recognize how the current high-tech world makes it all the more easy for us to get distracted.
Specifically, there are three technologies which deliberately accentuate interference and have significantly changed societal behavior. These are the internet, smartphones and social media.
First off, the internet provides us with an endless supply of ready information at all times. It’s also thanks to the internet that we have email, a form of free and instant communication.
Mobile computing has meant that the internet is now everywhere too. This is most visible in the omnipresence of smartphones. A single device that can browse the web, stream video and music, take pictures and share them can now be carried everywhere.
This probably explains why 860 million Europeans and 7 in 10 people in the United States have a smartphone. And these objects are put through their paces too. On average a smartphone is picked up 27 times a day. And that’s just the average: some people pick them up as many as 150 times a day!
These three technologies make it extremely difficult to focus on one task at a time or to sustain focus over a long period.
We might like to tell ourselves that we’re “multitasking,” but in reality, we’re just jumping between different tasks without giving sufficient attention to any.
A 2013 study conducted by one of the authors showed just this. Students could only keep their attention on one task for three to five minutes at a time before they directed their focus elsewhere.
This occurs in non-work environments too. The next time you’re at a café, look at all the couples and friends who can’t help playing with their smartphones instead of engaging with each other. That impulse is observable under test conditions too. A 2012 study showed that younger adults switch tasks, on average, 27 times every hour. Older adults do it a little less, but 17 times every hour is still quite high.
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