Research by Microsoft Canada estimated the average human attention span had gone down to eight seconds in 2013 (as against nine seconds for a goldfish) against 12 in 2000. He goes on to cite some telling facts about the baneful affects of these technologies – a survey which had 46% of respondents saying they could not bear to live without their smartphones (many would be ready to be injured themselves than have their devices damaged). This is about 100 hours a month, or over an average lifetime, “a staggering eleven years”. The list is long – far longer than it’s ever been in human history and we’re only just learning the power of these hooks.”Īn associate professor of marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business and holder of an affiliated post in the psychology department, Alter cites data by developer of an app tracking time spent on smartphones to reveal that most users spend a quarter of their day’s waking period on them. In the 2010s, the same waters are littered with hooks. In the 1960s, we swam through waters with only a few hooks: cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs that were expensive and generally inaccessible. “.the environment and circumstances of the digital age are far more conducive to addiction than anything humans have experienced in our history. The nearly obsessive use of smartphones and other devices for social media and other online pursuits, argues Alter, is among manifestations of “behavioural addiction”, that is affecting quality of life, imagination, social interactions and productivity too. Is this a triumph of technology or a worrying social trend? The latter, contends academician Adam Alter in this work, which he begins by telling us how Steve Jobs, who extolled the benefits of the iPad for an hour-and-a-half after unveiling it in April 2010, would not let his children use it. This is about 100 hours a month, or over an average lifetime, “a staggering eleven years”.(Shutterstock) Alter says most users spend a quarter of their day’s waking period on smartphones. But now if you are eagerly checking your smartphone, no one is likely to say anything – for they might be doing the same. There was a time, if you were found reading a book in company, you could be shouted at by your parents or even have it snatched and flung away.
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