The amount of media that young people are exposed to as created a generation of “hyper attention.” Due to media formats such as smart phones, tablets, and even vast improvements of the technology of laptops has created a generation who multi-task with media consumptions. Whilst writing this very blog- post, my mind is jumping from troubles in my personal life, to wondering if there is brand new content on my favourite websites. When I use my laptop or phone on the internet, I usually have many tabs open, and look at them, then switch to another one when I get bored.
Throughout year 12, I attempted to learn through the “cognitive style” deep attention, however- I often struggled to learn in this frame, as it took concentration to only focus on one task. This single information stream was, at sometimes, exhausting, as I do not have the high tolerance for it (as it mentions in the N. Katherine Hayles text) for extended periods of time. Halyes states that a limitation of hyper attention is that an individual may feel impatience when completing more complex tasks such as reading a complex and classical novel, which did happened at various points in year 12. When studying for the end of year exams, I studied in a hyper attention format, to make sure I studied equal amounts across all subjects, and found this to be useful, but at times- a little bit of an overload of information. I do agree with Hayles in stating that the cognitive model of hyper attention would be considered more useful “for many situations in contemporary developed societies” (Hayles, 2007, pg.188), particularly in regards to working in the field of media.
It has been said for many years that my generation is a generation that is incapable of being bored. But I believe it is more than that- I believe that it is a fear of being bored. I do not like the feeling of it, and have even resorted to packing a book in my bag- worried that I may get bored on long train journeys, despite the fact that I am usually on my phone during the time of the journey. Feeling bored for me feels like a waste of time, and I do anything to avoid it. Unfortunately for me, I am also a classic day-dreamer. I have been since I was a child, and can’t help but day-dream when I am bored, even in the most inconvenient of times to do so.