Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Discourses of Attention response
This was by far my favorite article from this course. I think this was only article I read that kept my attention throughout its entirety, wink wink. All jokes aside, I found it very interesting reading about the effects of television on our attention span, and how over the years, ideas regarding the public's attention span have changed. I loved the quote from Kate Moody regarding television's effect on the mind: "Television habituates the mind to short takes, not to the continuity of thought required by reading"(588). I couldn't have summarized how I believe television effects us more eloquently. This is something my parents have been telling me for years, and I have agreed on, yet can't fully bring myself to turn the TV off, and pick up a book more often. I think it assumed by most that our generation doesn't read as often as previous ones, but it also seems true that even feature length movies our too involved for our attention spans. TV is becoming much more popular than movies, and even the movies that are popular are ginormous-budget action flicks with as little dialogue as possible. As much as this article saddened me, it motivated me to put down the remote and pick up a book.
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Hi AG,
ReplyDeleteIt's cool to see you picked up a book for having just read an article.
Like you, my parents often told me the same thing. That and, go outside and play.
I also like the connection you make to other media outlets like the movies. Your point about big budget movies that are all action and no dialog is an interesting one as well. Expecially in light of such "goose-egg" films like "Battleship" (did anyone actually go see that?).
Either way, I agree, it was a good read and was certainly food for thought. Especially after being distracted from my studies tonight by YouTube and more...
AG,
ReplyDeleteI also thought that this was one of the most relevant and interesting articles that we have read over the semester. I really liked the quote that you used. My parents also have told me throughout my life that watching a lot of TV isn't a good thing. Funny this is, they were hypocrites in that they let me watch a lot of TV and watched it themselves. This generation definitely has a shorter attention span than past generations. Personally, I feel like I get distracted very easily when doing things like reading or watching TV. My family gets very annoyed when I'm in control of the remote because I'm constantly changing the channel. Anyways, great post.
AG,
ReplyDeleteI found this article to be very interesting as well. We’ve grown up with television being a form of entertainment. It’s an easy way to relax and enjoy programs that interest you. I’ve never been interested in reading books in my spare time and that’s good this article helped motivate you to pick up a book! There are so many shows on and once you are hooked on watching one, you are forced to finish out the season to see what happens. You focus all your attention on these shows that it becomes a daily habit to always turn on the television to see what’s on.