While we have never had a television in our home, we did have WiFi internet. We (OK, I) decided to get rid of this and replace it with wired ethernet in our two home offices. This small change had rather large results—immediately after the change, we found it incredibly difficult to stay up to our normal bedtime of 10:00 PM, particularly as it got darker earlier. I always read a book after dinner until bedtime, but often let internet browsing creep into this time. With no ability to do the latter, I found myself naturally getting tired while I read, eventually to the point where I could no longer even stay up. The lack of artificial light and online information (written in a way to get me fired up) led my body to revert to its natural bedtime.
At the same time, we watched our typical 8 hours of sleep climb. When technology is unplugged, the human body writes the script for us. The former merely serves to disengage the operation, yet we rarely ask what are the consequences of this? We rarely think about how important silence is in our day to rest our brain, allow us to contemplate, and signal to our brains and cells that it is time to wind down. We rarely think about why we did not have enough time to make breakfast or prepare our lunch for the following day. We rarely think about why we are not getting 8 hours of sleep. We rarely question why we read so few books, leave important things undone, have trouble falling asleep, or feel anxious about the “news.” Overloading our bodies and brains, particularly at the wrong time, may be leading to all of these, yet even questioning this to some people may seem absurd.
Approaching a Two Second Attention Span
In 2000, Roger Scruton wrote his guide to deal with the downward spiral of culture in An Intelligent Guide to Modern Culture. He takes a hard line stance that may turn some readers off, but it is hard to argue with his underlying conclusion that modern culture has seemed to forgot that we, as members, are supposed to segue from childhood to being an adult. In fact, modern culture praises childish aspects, suggesting that we prefer a bunch of children in charge. These uncomfortable truths, like the one above, may seem absurd to discuss, but their importance is hard to dismiss.
I remember what a big deal it was when I started high school and turned 13. I would often hear the term “act your age” by the generation above me. Strangely, that generation is often doing the same things I was doing at that age that earned me a scolding and being told to act my age. Scruton notes that Confucius “loved life, was fond of horses and hunting, and was both a practical and a respectable man, distinguished by his contemporaries largely by his propensity both to utter uncomfortable truths, and to live by them.” The segue of adults to children in society and the parallel of our attention spans is certainly an uncomfortable truth.
Confucius lived around 2,500 years ago, yet became a stable pillar in philosophical history due to his staunch views that one should live by truths, even if they were uncomfortable. Scruton also tells us that he “hoped for a race of human beings who would place learning, study, and ceremony before pleasure, profit, and power.” In other words, Confucius just wanted people to grow up.
The point is at the core of all this, we are producing a society of children with 2 second attention spans, and that’s where the health issues happen. Cognitive decline, anxiety, the inability to sit still and just contemplate, avoiding any discomfort, staying up late watching TV—like a bunch of kids at a sleepover—and then not even having lunch for the next day seems all too common these days. The end result of all of these is disaster—no good can come from this for your health or mental well-being.
While play, a common part of childhood, remains vital as we age and throughout life, certain aspects of childhood are supposed to remain in the past as we age and mature. Getting outside, running around, using our hands to play, build, and create, and immersing ourselves in an activity without distraction are all vital parts of our childhood that we can hold on to as we age however, we should stop acting like children with 2 second attention spans, embrace some silence and rest our brains, turn off the TV, devices, and set aside other junk food for our brains (and no, the news is not keeping you updated), and have some responsibility that generally accompanies being a grownup and acting our age.
The best medicine to cure this malady is silence, something that once was a common aspect of daily life, but seems a rarity for most people. The lack of silence may help explain why the average US citizen spends only 15.6 minutes per day reading, yet spends 439 minutes per day on digital media (i.e. a device). Recipe for anxiety, a short attention span, and a lack of accomplishments anyone? Embracing silence, an activity our brains have been molded to require throughout our entire history on this earth, rests our minds, relaxes our brains, forces us to contemplate (oh no, we have to be alone with our thoughts!), and gives our mind room to think and process the day’s activities and events, along with our relationships and interactions. Silence forces us to contemplate what is important.
Silence forces us to grow up.
© 2023 CDR Health and Nutrition, LLC. All Rights Reserved.