While reading The
Shallows I tried to follow Ms. Fletcher's directions of
"unplugging" myself. I turned off my music and powered down my phone.
I kept telling myself, "See, this is not so bad." Yet I did not even
get to page ten when I had to turn my music back on. I wanted to turn it off,
but I just could not. I was angry with myself. Why couldn't I focus without my
music? Was my attention span really that short? I do not really notice when my
music is on while working. However, as soon as I was without it, I could not
focus on anything but the silence.
When trying to figure out why I could not focus, I became
bored with the book. Tossing it aside, I walked over to the computer to check
on the blog. As soon as I sat down, I figured it out. I did not know how to
work without my music. Even as a child, I have had music playing as I work. Today’s
society has, in a sense, brainwashed us to always have some sort of technology
on.
After I sign off, I will
attempt to read Carr again without music. The real question is, can I do it?
Can any of us do it?
To be honest, I have also asked myself that question right before I started to read my first book for the summer homework. It was as if someone were asking me to bore myself to death rather than amuse myself to death. I am so used to checking for messages every couple of minutes, or scrolling through pointless web pages that I didn't think I had the strength to put it aside for even a while. I think this is so difficult for us because we are adapted to constantly turning our attention back and forth from many things. This assignment, on the contrary, requires us to focus on one thing, and to focus on that one thing for a long amount of time. Therefore, it would most likely be a struggle if we are not used to this.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think anyone can do it if they have the right mind set and determination, but I know for sure that I would always have that yearning to plug myself back into the media because I have always been surrounded with amusement.
The question haunts me: Can we do this work without being distracted? I myself find it hard to focus on work nowadays. Things I should already have done are being rushed today. Why can't I just get these things done? Because I'd rather use the computer or watch tv, it almost becomes impossible for me to do work. With music, I tend to start singing along with the music when I should be reading. As Carr said, and I say... I miss my old brain... the one that wasn't changed and warped by technology.
ReplyDeleteWith all of our personal electronics we own, it is quite difficult to complete a task without being distracted. Whether the distraction is coming from your phone, computer, music, practically anything. Our minds are so quick to jump from one thing to another that it's virtually impossible to read or write without taking a break to look at something else. I used to really struggle with getting my math work done because I simply couldn't remained focused on my work. My older brother gave me the advice to set all my electronics in a different room, and keep them their until all of my work was finished. I wasn't enthusiastic about the idea, but it grew on me. If you can eliminate as much distraction as possible, it's very helpful when you have work to do. Although it's a cliche, "out of sight out of mind" directly relates to this topic.
ReplyDelete