Technology May Lead to Attention Deficit Disorder

[zak_mckraken]

Let's pretend for a moment that this article is right and that we are indeed gonna lose some skills because for the sake of technology. We have already lost the skill to kill sabertooth tigers with a rock on a stick. Do we miss that skill? The loss of a skill usually comes with the loss of use. But the loss of use also comes with the loss of need.

Anyway, if anything, the use of technology gave us more skills than it took from us. Like the ability for the brain to reject publicity from a web page or e-mail and the ability to assimilate and referenciate information in a millisecond. I'm telling you, the internet is legen... wait for it...

 

[uncfan_2563]

Yeah i think that applies to me. I especially cant concentrate when working on the computer

 

[Clintonio]

Well, when I use Twitter, I click the link in the posts that I read, and, a whole article pops up for me to read. The 140 characters to me is just enough to fit a title and a link, perfect to aggregate news and say a few things back to the authors of the news.

Anyway, technology is pretty much going to keep doing this, since, convinience, speed, efficiency and the like are good for us humans. Nobody needs to sit through a 10 million step long division, and nobody needs to read and understand how to assemble a space shuttle, this is the domain of technology.

I'm more willing to bet the lack of attention span is more due to a change in language causing people to feel unable to focus on the meaning of a script, and not a problem with the attention span of the reader. Improve literacy I say.

 

[rage machine]

I disagree. I think technology is being used as an excuse for peoples lack of motivation to actually pay attention. Considering that adhd/add is moving away from the "bad parenting" scenario they just now have a new excuse.

I was diagnosed with adhd when i was 4 years old. I was put on dexidrine spansule capsules. no horror stories, it simply worked. my diet was fine, my environment was fine, everything was just fine. I was attentive and could actually calm down long enough to do things.

i guess people cannot be content with the fact that its a legitament neurological disorder. We can make up excuse after excuse.

Maybe depressed people should just fu*king get over it? I'm sure that disorder is a little more common though.

 

[datawrecker]

[citation][nom]Yoder54[/nom]It all depends on how you use technology. I have been teaching computer/multi-media for 22 years now, and the technology does not cause ADD/ADHD. What causes it, is when parents let their kids sit in front of a monitor for hours on end playing mindless games. Kids need to get out, get dirty, and breath some fresh air. The latest research I have read states that kids should spend a max of about 90 minutes a day playing games. Sounds reasonable. Kids who know how to use technology properly and don't let it dominate their lives are incredibly intelligent. As with anything...learn to use it in moderation.There is something going on. My generation did not have ADD/ADHD, etc. I have also noticed that 20 years ago kids could write good computer code. Today? Hah, it is a joke. They cannot even do simple action script. This concerns me as far as our technological potential is concerned. Maybe it will all be reduced to a GUI app someday...out with the code, and in with the images.But, technology is a great tool for education.[/citation]

Michael Jackson dominated dirty kids.

 

[Major7up]

Is it just me or wasn't or does this contradict a previous tom's article: http/www.tomsguide.com/us/Twitter-Stupid-Facebook-Smark-Psychologist,news-4605.html which was a commentary of this: http/www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126986.200-why-facebook-is-good-for-you.html

It's good for you, it's bad for you...which is it? And if the answer is that it increases one skill at the expense of another, that does not make it inherently bad, the overall effect would be neutral would it not?

 

[matt87_50]

haha, I already had ADD before tech, so this doesn't worry me!!!!!1!!11!

 

[Guest]

Where would this world be without something ELSE to worry about. What was I talking about? Oh, piece of candy. Oh, piece of candy. Oh, piece of candy.

 

[buwish]

I love these "master of the obvious" studies.

 

[Impulse Fire911]

i would finish reading this but i got 5 new tweets.

 

[johnny_5]

too long; didn't read

 

[tarquinbiscuitbarrel]

people don't use those skills because they don't need those skills in their every day lives. the fact that they use modern technology is irrelevant.

i'm also worried about the future. education is getting worse, i know many people from britain who can't spell, read or even talk past the level of an average 10 year old.

it seems that young people have just stopped caring about education.

 

[rhino13]

must... stop... using the computer. I can't even read the sentances in the article I'm commenting on now!

 

[claudeb]

Let me turn this upside down. ADD will lead to technology. BAM! that just happened. No but seriously i have mad ADD. The internet doesn't help.

 

[guruofchem]

it seems that young people have just stopped caring about education.

Bingo - for a lot of kids, an education is no longer the means to their ends. Unfortunately this requires that we turn the educational system upside down to accommodate kids who don't actually want an education, but that is a different rant altogether...