Comments on: Is modern technology creating a culture of distraction?

By: guest

guest — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 10:11:08 +0000

Was at a John Fogerty concert last night and looked around. More people on their phones than watching intently. It was a new song no one cared about, but still distracted.

By: Mark Bebout

Mark Bebout — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 15:18:58 +0000

One is not automatically a Luddite simply because they are making observations about how technology is negatively changing human behavior. To call others’ names and dismiss objective reality is just a cowards way of killing a conversation that we need to be having.

Americans have always been particularly susceptible of asking the wrong questions about technology. The question is really not simply how can a technology help me, but we need to be asking what is technology doing to us? This is a far more important question.

If you are interested in one-mans take on our unquestioning love affair with technology, I highly recommend Neil Postmans “Technopoly”. Written over 20 years ago and it feels like it was written yesterday.

By: Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 16:31:45 +0000

Um, what was the question?

By: Robin Gordon

Robin Gordon — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 01:28:54 +0000

wow is this true! it is so scary what cell phones etc are doing to society. Wonder what effect it is having on marriages and frienshios in general

By: Mingxin

Mingxin — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 15:24:38 +0000

Totally skimmed this…

By: lramesh

lramesh — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 11:50:02 +0000

A timely article. I feel that my phone is vibrating, even when it is not. I check my e-mails very often, just to see something new. While technology has been making things for us on one hand (including saving time), it is also distracting us and make us waste time on useless things.

By: marirgarcia

marirgarcia — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 20:21:04 +0000

It does make a lot of sense to me that technology could become a distracting issue. In many cases it has become an addiction and we all know what addictions cause. I believe technology has helped in tremendous ways

By: Vin D'Amico

Vin D'Amico — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:45:17 +0000

You’re right. We’ll figure out how to deal with the technology, which is advancing faster than we can change our behaviors. There will always be some percentage of the population that will become addicted to the latest technology craze. Expect that to happen. The rest of us will adjust and prosper.

By: eorjl

eorjl — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 11:51:52 +0000

McLuhan was by no means the first!

With regard to technology in the modern era you’ll find all kinds of stuff about that around the time cinema and photography became big. The Frankfurt school are especially worth a look in -I think it was Walter Benjamin who properly theorised ‘distraction’ as used here. The essay is ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’ or something to that effect.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 07:07:33 +0000

Where is your evidence that “people are losing their ability to stop, think and digest what an idea means.” I suspect this is based on your own narrow views (narrow in the sense that everyone’s view is narrow, not specifically yours). The same things were said during the rise of the Mtv generation. It’s mostly unfounded, and is probably just more noticeable due to the increased information sharing that is being attacked.