Text copied from CBC Radio 3’s LanaRama blog, written by Lana Gay and published on April 12th 2011.
“I recently read an article about a teens Science Talent Search entry. The student studied what happens when you take cell phones away from teenagers. With the use of a biofeedback meter, she monitored her test subjects while they were with and without their cell phones. In addition to “addictive tendencies” and mentions of “withdraw symptoms”, this sentence stuck with me the most:
When you take [cell phones] away, a kid becomes under-stimulated and almost doesn’t know how to entertain himself.
The sentiment rings out as true as the Two Hours Traffic song “I Feel Naked Without My Cell Phone” but, its not just cell phones, we are in a world of constant distraction. Take this article, ‘Is Google Making Us Stupid.’ It brings up a good point, are we only reading things that catch our attention. Survival of the fittest? It even mentions signs that new forms of “reading” are emerging because of power browsing online.
Technology applications and gadgets are often made to help us multitask, but in the end, are they shrinking our attention spans? Are we beginning to get comfortable with a 140 character world?”
Hooked Into Machine 
Posted on April 13, 2011
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