It is funny that after reading this article more than twice now, I can honestly say that I still have the ability to concentrate on a long piece of text from start to finish without any stops or distractions.
The gimmick behind this reading and the one in the book that was assigned was that they were supposed to tamper with the way we perceived our own reading ability. I managed to completely ignore the outside world on both of the readings. The online article proved to be much more engrossing than the Netsmart chapter, especially when Nietzsche's experience with the typewriter was brought up. The way it explores how the individual will adapt to the way the technology is either processed or communicated really made me think about the way I do my work.
In order to really test myself, I read the online article three times. The first time I managed to avoid all distractions from both the computer and the outside world. The second time I decided to make it more interesting by letting music play in the background, but surprisingly it failed to make me lose focus. The last time I decided to read the article on my mobile device, which resulted in me losing the trail of what I was reading a couple of times. I believe this occurred because I was in a public place, the screen was smaller, and the writing was already familiar.
It is funny to me to read an article that is designed to test whether I fit with the average American's attention span. Distractions are something that I can easily avoid, but only with more reflection and experimentation I think I will be able to say that with absolute confidence.
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