Our Brains Re-Wired for Constant Input

A revolution inside the human brain is taking place far beyond our capacity to understand.

What we call "A.D.D." or attention-deficit-disorder will become the norm rather than the exception, if it hasn’t already.

Our brains used to de-construct and decompress during leisurely walks between work and home, but if you see people walking nowadays, odds are they are speaking on a cell phone.  No time to waste: we crave more input.

Email processing makes us "efficient" (though it can also invade our management time) but changes the very way we organize ourselves and communicate.  The constant feedback mechanism turns us into creatures desiring a flow of data and messages.

Instant-messaging, social network platforms, the way we seek news over the internet, and email reminders, are all transforming the way we think, process, relate to other human beings, and relate to our brains.

The impact of this constant-feedback/short-span model of communications is already felt in entertainment platforms, where Youtube’s short-clips are becoming more the rage than long-format movies. 

When we design a video presentation for OneVoice or PeaceWorks, of course we forget about the 1 hour or 20 minute pieces, but now even the 5 minute piece which was acceptable a few years ago is a total eternity.  You have 1 minute max to convey your message, no matter how deep or complex.  After that you’ve lost your audience.

I will not be surprised if the next generation of human beings is radically different in the way people relate to one another.  We have no idea what we are going to become.

And I have a fleeting feeling (as feelings and thoughts increasingly are) that it is not going to be pretty.

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