The attention span epidemic.

I'm sure we all know what I'm talking about and being in the position I'm in, it's too real. I see it too often and it affects more than just the consumption of media. It affects everyday conversations I have with people, and so much more than I could've ever expected. The rapid decline in attention spans is not something that should be brushed off so easy, as it in itself leads to more long term personal and societal issues, such as the shockingly low literacy and intelligence rates as of late. 

Where I've started to notice this first is with the consumption of media such as films. I've observed many people my age or younger struggle to watch movies that are longer with slower pacing, compared to shorter movies with faster pacing, and a lot of stimulation. This is of course caused by the consumption of short form content along with brain-rot. An example I have is two movies that have come out recently, we all know them, The Backrooms and Obsession. We also know that Obsession was marginally more popular in comparison to The Backrooms. I think I know why this is the case, I mean everyone was so excited for The Backrooms to come out until they watched it and discovered that the pacing was slower, the plot wasn't what they expected, and it was left open, where as with Obsession, they knew what they were getting into, something was always happening throughout the whole film, the pacing was faster, and the film ended without needing to wonder "what could happen next". I think that not being able to watch through a whole movie (moreso in this case) is pretty detrimental in this generation as even watching a film (quite an easy task) and enjoying it is hard for some people. 

Another cause of reduced attention spans is the massive use of AI in today's youth. Why spend hours studying, researching, using your brain when you can get answers in seconds. Why waste your time when you can get an adequate grade from putting in a prompt to a fucking clanker? The laziness of mankind will never fail to shock me. I get it though, sometimes I, myself, really don't want to study or do work, but I'd rather fail than use AI (that's a discussion for another day). Why learn when you can get a result in the snap of a finger? Digging through articles and websites can be time consuming afterall... I don't blame these kids though, I mean it's not like the teachers even care anymore, they actually promote it (in my school at least). Several teachers at my school use AI to assign our work, they give us opportunities to use AI, clearly stating it in their instructions to use ChatGPT for answers. Why would we want to put in any effort when not even the people that are meant to help keep our brains active care? The whole AI bullshit needs to stop, and it needs to stop very soon, as there are more and more cases of people's brains relying on it just to THINK. People with cognitive dysfunctions may soon even be smarter than these AI cocksuckers.  

Now, how is it really affecting the human race? Ever since the vast rise of consumption of technology, everyone became super accustomed and reliant to using their devices. Everyone had something that could do absolutely everything they needed right in their pockets. A device that could enable laziness with no guilt, provide less stress, is addicting, and is a great tool to capitalise off of. The constant use of technology on young minds is obviously harmful to their brain development, but putting a screen in front of a kid to shut them up is much easier than entertaining them in any other way. I'd like to blame the older generations like Gen X and Millennials but they're oh so adamant that they have no part it in. Recent studies have shown rapid cognitive decline in students all over the world. There's this thing called NAPLAN in Australia, it's pretty much standardised testings, it happens every second year, starting in year 3, ending in year 9. The one they did this year proved how the intelligence of these children are dropping quite quickly. Their memory and literacy is declining at a rate that scares the government, so much so I saw a few news stories about it. I understand there are certain mental disorders that can contribute to this, however, this isn't aimed at all that. ADHD can be managed, and people that have it can be rather intelligent from what I've noticed with a few people. The future will show how destructive such practices are, possibly leading to the ultimate downfall of mankind. :D

The end isn't as near as people would like to make it out to be. There's still time to train the lovely muscle we all have, our brains can actually bounce back from such brutalities. It just takes a tiny bit of effort, effort that many will neglect to put in. Not to be optimistic, but sometimes hope may be all we've got. 

All the best, Sally.