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Why we can no longer concentrate
Impossible to finish a book or watch a movie without consulting your phone? Furthermore, A neuroscientist offers solutions to win back our attention.
Collage: Michael Treuthardt. Moreover, Photos: Getty Images
- The concentration capacity is decreasing in many people.
- The intensive use of social networks contributes to this phenomenon.
- Passive scrolling active in the brain of mechanisms comparable to those observed in dependent people.
- The brain can find almost all of its abilities, provided it is properly trained.
Test your attention and concentration capacity using this simple test. Moreover, Choose a film over twenty years old, launch it and observe your behavior. Furthermore, Are you able to stay focused throughout the credits Without touching your phone?
Let us take “Heat”, a thriller from 1995 with Al Pacino and Robert de Niro, masterpiece of tension cinema. Furthermore, During the two minutes. In addition, forty seconds of opening of the film, we see only the names of the main actors and a tram that enters the station. In addition, Today is almost unbearable. Nevertheless, And yet, at the time, it was perfectly normal.
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The evolution of cinema illustrates how much our attention of attention has shortened. Moreover, L’average shot lengththat is to say the average duration between two plans, testifies to the evolution of our viewing habits.
And this trend is not limited to films. However, People formerly assiduous readers can no longer finish a book. In addition, Music lovers go from one piece to another without being able to listen to a complete concert. Meanwhile, More broadly, a lot struggles to keep the ideas clear or lead a thought to the end. Meanwhile, Just talk about it around you, everyone is concerned.
But are these observations really significant? For example, Have we really become less attentive than before, or is it only an impression?
Why we why we can no longer can no longer
Decreasing concentration
Barbara Studer is neuroscientific at the University of Bern. In addition, founder of the university spin-off Hirncoachwhich offers programs to promote mental health. However, For her, it is clear that these testimonies are not isolated cases. Similarly, “The capacity for concentration of our society has generally deteriorated,” she says, based on several studies from behavioral neuroscience.
Research on the subject is still in its infancy. Consequently, But behavioral tests reveal that people are getting more and more difficult to stay focused on a task. For example, They abandon faster, make more mistakes and need more time to finish their work.
“The concentration capacity of our society has generally deteriorated,” says Barbara Studer.
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The measurement of brain activity made it possible to highlight concrete causes for this change. However, “In many people, some neural networks related to attention are less developed today than in the past,” explains Barbara Studer. “The brain must spend more energy to provide the same concentration effort.”
This phenomenon affects young people, but also people of average age. It is particularly marked in those who spend a lot of time on the screens.
Which brings us to a central point of the debate on attention: the role of smartphones and social networks. For Barbara Studer, the scroll and the swipe permanent is not enough to explain, by themselves, the difficulties of concentration. But they play a major role.
Continuous reward
The scientist explains: “The brain is not designed to be constantly interrupted in its functioning. exposed to continuous stimulation.” In nature, a rewarding experience is generally followed by a rest phase.
Conversely, when we scroll through the news on social networks, our reward system remains continuously activated. The brain then released without interruption of the dopaminethe hormone of immediate pleasure. “In the brain, there is a diagram comparable to that observed in dependent people,” says Barbara Studer.
The developers have programmed their algorithms so as to hold our attention. “The longer we stay on their content, the more these platforms earn money,” she adds.
Limits of self -discipline
“You can try to have self -discipline. but on the other side of the screen, a thousand engineers work against you,” said Tristan Harris, a former Google employee, during a hearing in front of the US Senate.
Tristan Harris is convinced that, in their current form, social networks are prejudice to human beings.
Getty Images via AFP
This quote is taken from the book “Stolen Focus” by Johann Hari. In this book, the American author arrives at a very close conclusion to that of Barbara Studer. Our attention capacity is in decline. and with it, the ability to concentrate long enough on a problem to be able to solve it.
According to Barbara Studer, the fact that we have so much trouble detaching ourselves from the screens has other consequences. We do less exercise on average and sleep less well. These two trends in turn why we can no longer affect our mental well-being and our concentration capacity.
But the researcher nuance: “It is too easy to make the smartphone alone responsible for the decline in attention. But it promotes other factors that harm concentration. ”
Intense speed. stimulation
That the films become more and more rapid and that the intros of the songs are shorter is not surprising, according to Barbara Studer. “The speed and intense stimulation gives us a form of euphoria.” The brain gradually adapts to these new rhythms, a phenomenon called neuroplasticity.
This development started well before the smartphone arrived. But today. like the media, social networks or even directors understand better and better the mechanisms of attention, our daily life always seems faster.
“Tiktok is the perfect example: why we can no longer we never stay long on content, each video promises a new reward,” said Barbara Studer. This acceleration automatically leads to a more superficial processing of information by the brain, she explains.
Modern brain imaging techniques confirm this. The “mental endurance muscle”. called anterior cingular cortex, is less developed in people who regularly practice multitasking or spending a lot of time on social networks. “They gradually lose the ability to stay focused on a single task for an extended period,” she concludes.
How we can act
But Barbara Studer does not want to be alarmist. She does not demonize modern technologies. also does not think that our society is condemned to become more and more superficial. “I like my job, because he has hope. The brain can find almost all of its abilities, provided it is why we can no longer properly drawn. ”
According to her, simple daily adjustments can already help to better use screens:
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Give moments without your phone. “For example. during the first hour after awakening, during work periods when you have to be particularly concentrated, during family meals or two hours before bedtime.” She adds that Sundays without smartphone were also very beneficial for her.
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Provide a concrete alternative to the use of the phone. “When I am tired and lung myself on the sofa, I tend to scroll passively. I therefore prefer to plan an activity. Play the piano or go out with someone, for example. “
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Support the youngest. For her, it is essential that parents support their children in this process. “Adolescence is a particularly sensitive period. because this is where the basics of thought, emotions and learning why we can no longer for adult life are built.”
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Understand that the way of using new technologies is more important than time spent in front of screens. Passive scrolling tends to anesthetize the brain, while active use can on the contrary stimulate reflection. Users who consciously inspire a few content. who treat them in depth and who apply them in real life can make a real benefit. Even an activity such as coding assisted by artificial intelligence can, according to her, activate creative processes in the brain.
Finding a way of better managing the problem of attention is an essential issue on the scale of society. “There are no simple solutions to problems such as climate change. They require real reflection and a lot of discipline. ” So many skills that are not innate, but which must be consistently.
And perhaps why we can no longer one day. once our concentration has been recovered, we will again manage to look without interruption the first fifteen minutes of “Heat”.
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