Deep vs Hyper Attention

The question of the merit of deep vs hyper attention-span is a prickly one to confront. It is unpleasant because at some point it leads to a self-reflection of how efficient am I? It can be constructive in this sense, but nonetheless unpleasant. It is a question explored by N. Katherine Hayles in this article in great detail. In it Hayles also discusses the issue of how through new media technologies and the internet, millennials are in possession of shorter and shorter attention spans i.e. hyper attention is becoming more common. She proposes that a change in education must take place in order to facilitate this.

People are quick to point out that hyper attention has many strengths. Air traffic controlling is a favorite example of how it is purportedly utilized. However, this argument disregards the fact that it is not a short attention span that benefits this profession. It is deep attention that allows rapid fluid transitions within it. It is granted that the task requires rapid shifts in attention, but it also takes an enormous amount of dedicated deep attention to acquire the skill to do so in an error-less way. Similarly, if we take the example of car racing, the driver is experiencing a rapidly changing environment in which they must internalize multiple and separate stimuli, much like an air traffic controller. Too associate either of these professions with the hyper attention experienced while browsing the web is a grave error. The air traffic controller can’t take their eyes off the task at hand to do a Sudoku… They are absorbed in deep attention. It is also the case for a racing driver, and more so, since one must start training (using deep attention) from a very early age. People like hyper attention because it is easy. Hyper attention gratifies.

It seems obvious to me that deep, undivided attention is what gets things of significance done. When I am working on any task, whether it is academic or practical, I find that the only time I can produce anything properly is when I am undivided in my attention. In areas of creativity, I find that the only way I can get inspiration to strike is if I think deeply and undividedly about the concept I wish to gain inspiration on.

Hayles’ concern that things need to change in order to foster the growing trend of hyper attention is, in my opinion a little unnecessary. Should we be trying to facilitate and encourage a mode of thought that has very little utility? It seems a little unwise to think that simply because hyper attention is more prevalent, that it should be given more legitimacy. (Unless a foolproof method of doing so was proposed). The very fact that people are experiencing this hyper attention in times of entertainment, means that it has little applicability to learning something in a deep way – a way that would make someone an expert at something. Thus, if indeed expertise is the aim of university education, I would think it counterintuitive to make hyper on par with deep.