If you are not interrupted, it will take you about eight minutes to read this text. During this time, your cell phone will likely ring several times with dropped WhatsApp messages, an incoming email message, a news notification on an information site, or a friend or person you follow post on a social network. It is possible that you receive a call, the TV is on, the computer is on, and a smartwatch may vibrate on your wrist. And even if you’re interested, you almost certainly won’t be able to get to the end of the article without getting distracted more than once. It will take more time and hold less than if you were focused. The same thing happens when we study or work, and the effects are already noticeable in productivity. The brain is not programmed to handle the overload of stimuli that technology has exploded around us and the ability to focus is diminished. “We’re seeing a process of cognitive decline,” warns Earl Miller, an expert in neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“The human mind has evolved to always look for new information, but because it first evolved in a radically different environment, where there was much less information available, it has been programmed to focus on only one thing at a time. In other words, it is thirsty for information, but it cannot It is a perfect storm that leads to a decrease in the ability to focus, explains the researcher from the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT to Expresso (see interview).
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William Shakespeare is a journalist and feature writer specialising in culture, entertainment, history, and current affairs. With a keen eye for storytelling and analysis, he produces informative articles that help readers understand the people, ideas, and events influencing modern life.
