In our first lecture, we have read over “Hyper and Deep Attention: The Generational divide in Cognitive Modes” by N. Katherine Hayles. Hyper attention refers to “switching focus rapidly among different tasks” while deep attention refers to “concentrating on a single object for long periods”.

With the technological change, the new generations seem to be tended toward hyper attention which including myself. Today, almost every kids have their own smart phone which make it to be the biggest distractor. I have ever done a questionnaire on how often do people check on their phone? Guess what, the answer is less than 30 minutes in average which shows that nowadays people cannot live without their phone. In our generation, students are hardly to concentrate on a single object or task as they easily distracted by other things. To be honest, I couldn’t pay a 100% attention during the class while I was texting on my phone or looking at other people doing something else. Some people might think that they are multitasking, like they can do lots of things at a same time, however they are not, as what the lecturer said, they are just doing nothing well.

Obviously, media and technology have changed the environment. There is no good or bad on both deep attention and hyper attention as they have their cons and pros. What should we do is to find our own way which can make it most productive to ourselves.