Pay Attention

I set out to write a short note on how I feel my attention span is diminishing and in the process switched to read the news, checked my facebook and played with a bit of blue tack on the desk. It is as if my brain is no longer content with fulfilling one task before another request is engaged - and soon another and another - until I have a screen full of open windows and a desk with a cup of coffee and a Venus De Milo perfectly moulded out of blue tack. Soon it is a ball of blue tack again. What the fuck has gone wrong here?

The stimulus that we are exposed to compared to even a decade ago has grown exponentially. We can't even content ourselves with listening to a predefined order of music. This is not only killing the music album but is a manifestation of the problem itself. As evil as this is, there is an even darker side to the phenomenon.

The media have reacted to our short wired brains to further exacerbate the problem by distilling the news to fit in that 3 second flash in which our attention can be interrupted from the very last thing we were thinking. This disturbs me as much of the news is complex issues. Our opinion is formed by a headline about a subject we know nothing about. It is with this ease of manipulation that tabloid newspapers can effectively spirit up a lynch mob and send them out to deal the fair and just beating deserved.
At least witches had trials.