This is somewhat of an aberration from the typical subject matter on Foa12P, but I think it applies and definitely worth mentioning!

Linda Stone:

Continuous partial attention describes how many of us use our attention today. It is different from multi-tasking. The two are differentiated by the impulse that motivates them. When we multi-task, we are motivated by a desire to be more productive and more efficient. We’re often doing things that are automatic, that require very little cognitive processing. We give the same priority to much of what we do when we multi-task — we file and copy papers, talk on the phone, eat lunch — we get as many things done at one time as we possibly can in order to make more time for ourselves and in order to be more efficient and more productive. To pay continuous partial attention is to pay partial attention — CONTINUOUSLY. It is motivated by a desire to be a LIVE node on the network. Another way of saying this is that we want to connect and be connected. We want to effectively scan for opportunity and optimize for the best opportunities, activities, and contacts, in any given moment. To be busy, to be connected, is to be alive, to be recognized, and to matter

As someone who passed through their formative years before the internet age, I often feel a bit strung out on all this info & technology. This mania has gotten to the point where I have to consciously refuse to check my phone/email, internet and even this blog because it’s become so instinctual to my routine. Sometimes it gets to the point where I disgust myself. I want to live in the real world and enjoy the environment around me but sometimes it’s more fun to check out cool shit on the internet instead of focusing on the line at CVS while I wait to pay for my TP. Sometimes it gets to the point where I disgust myself. Do you ever feel like you live in front of a monitor? Well guess what? This is just the beginning!! What are the psychological and societal effects of all this connection? How is society and culture at large being shaped as a result? Linda Stone lays it all out… Hallelujah! So please try to avoid checking your email, answering IM’s, blog rolling and internet yearbooking for 20 something minutes and concentrate on her. FULLY CONCENTRATE. I’m going to be honest and say that I caught myself urging to duck into another internet channel several times during the lecture and It’s kinda disconcerting!

- Cornbluth