Attention span

I was thinking yesterday (since my job is pretty brainless, I do pretty much nothing else but think through many different random things while I work). One thought that popped out was that our modern attention span may have shortened more dramatically than to the supposed 22 minutes most claim it to have shrunk to. They make this claim because of the numerous half hour shows which fill up the channels on TV. These shows, minus the commercials, run on average around 22 minutes. This phenomenon has made many public speakers rethink their presentations so that they do not run past the 22 minute mark, because supposedly the public begins to quickly lose interest after that.

I fear this may be a wrong analysis. I think the modern attention span has shrunk to around 5-7 minute segments. I use the term "segments" because most people can pay attention much longer than 5-7 minutes, but that's how often they are used to having "breaks" in their attention paying, due to commercials. Anything requiring attention longer than 5-7 minutes begins to seem long-winded unless it is highly stimulating.

Though not universally true, I think this phenomenon is sad. A dependence upon stimulation for cognizant focus and interaction will ultimately undercut an individual's capacity to focus upon something and retain information gained therein.

Yeah, completely random...but sadly true.