We were all put to the test. Silence filled the room as soon as we started reading N. Katherine Hayles’ “Hyper and Deep Attention: The Generational Divide in Cognitive Modes” (2007). I subconsciously grabbed my highlighter and read word for word, and suddenly fell into old habits of language analysis (thanks VCE English). Once I reached the fourth out of the five pages I became conscious of time and popped my head up to just make sure I wasn’t falling behind. Crap, almost everyone on my side of the room were on Facebook, texting or just staring into space. Luckily, the last page was a summary of sorts. Actually, I don’t quite remember, I ended up skimming through it.
In this scenario, I’ve resorted to purely focusing on the single task of reading, or in other words; deep attention. Although I was able to avoid multitasking, reduce my social awareness and simplified my time management, I found myself having the urge to procrastinate throughout the extended length of time.
On the contrary, hyper attention – switching rapidly from task to task, would be my skimming of page five while simultaneously glancing around the room. In general, from completing assignments to having everyday conversations with people, I easily switch from one topic to another. There are the perks of drawing information from a variety of sources and developing high levels of alertness, but also the downsides of the difficulties in finishing an individual task and the frequent side tracking.
As a student studying media, technology is rapidly converging and advancing before our eyes that we adapt to these changes to “keep with the times” and to produce innovative content. We therefore automatically assume that hyper attention is essential and then neglect the need for deep attention.
Even though the media industry is forever expanding and complex in itself, it ultimately depends on the individual on how they process and gather information. Therefore, a balance of both hyper and deep attention is essential during this “generational shift”. This balance is vital in classrooms where children’s minds are still developing and are provided with options rather than a “one fits all” approach.
Personally, as someone who was born just a few years before the new millennium, the drastic increase of hyper attentive people compared to the decreasing deep attentive people has come to no surprise to me. I remember the days when patiently waiting for a YouTube video to load to now having no time to even watch a four minute video. Videos have diminished to seven seconds as we’ve adapted to efficiency and to a world where news circulates within a matter of seconds.
Our world is expanding through technological advances and innovation that lean towards hyper attention. However, this advancement and innovation leads to convergence of media forms, thus the need for deeper attention too. It’s ultimately the person themselves and the circumstances that justifies the best way for them to gain and receive content.