Comments on: Brains http://cafehayek.com/2008/07/brains.html where orders emerge Mon, 22 Mar 2010 10:16:53 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: gregorylent http://cafehayek.com/2008/07/brains.html/comment-page-1#comment-27680 gregorylent Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:12:23 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/?p=3168#comment-27680 <p>nick carr is not a yogi, clearly</p> <p>his consciousness is expanding, and he doesn't know how to understand that...</p> <p>not sure about the writer of this post</p> nick carr is not a yogi, clearly

his consciousness is expanding, and he doesn't know how to understand that…

not sure about the writer of this post

]]> By: Bob Smith http://cafehayek.com/2008/07/brains.html/comment-page-1#comment-27679 Bob Smith Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:17:07 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/?p=3168#comment-27679 <p>I read Churchill's "History of the English Speaking People" twice a year and re-read one of Clancy's novels at least once every 3 - 4 months. While I have to admit that I do it for my own pleasure, I have noticed that I am still able to concentrate on other projects for sustained periods of time, as I was able to in my youth. That I teach securities (Series 7, 6, Group 1, etc.), which requires deep concentration, may also be significant. But, it's no more difficult for me today at 55 than it was at 20. Having said all that, for those having difficulty maintaining focus, it may be more of being out of practice rather than losing any inate abilities. At least that's my hope.</p> I read Churchill's "History of the English Speaking People" twice a year and re-read one of Clancy's novels at least once every 3 – 4 months. While I have to admit that I do it for my own pleasure, I have noticed that I am still able to concentrate on other projects for sustained periods of time, as I was able to in my youth. That I teach securities (Series 7, 6, Group 1, etc.), which requires deep concentration, may also be significant. But, it's no more difficult for me today at 55 than it was at 20. Having said all that, for those having difficulty maintaining focus, it may be more of being out of practice rather than losing any inate abilities. At least that's my hope.

]]> By: vidyohs http://cafehayek.com/2008/07/brains.html/comment-page-1#comment-27665 vidyohs Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:39:33 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/?p=3168#comment-27665 <p>There is a certain inevitability about things.</p> <p>Use TV to raise your children and they are going to grow up with very little of your ability to concentrate on anything for as long as you do. I might add that this is a progressive thing. Your grandchildren will probably not be able to concentrate to the degree your children did.</p> <p>I didn't see a TV until I was in the 8th grade and we didn't own one until I was a Sophomor. Consequently I am a reader and I can determine in very short order if what I am reading is what I want to pursue. If not, I move on to another book. If it is then I can read until dust settles on the cobwebbs that form around me as I read.</p> <p>My children were not exposed to TV until they were in late adolesence and they didn't see a video game until well into their teens. They are all readers who can concentrate.</p> <p>From my aged stand point the evil of TV and the newer electronic gadgets is that it has been suppressing or destroying the common sharp imagination we here in this nation had prior to commercial TV.</p> There is a certain inevitability about things.

Use TV to raise your children and they are going to grow up with very little of your ability to concentrate on anything for as long as you do. I might add that this is a progressive thing. Your grandchildren will probably not be able to concentrate to the degree your children did.

I didn't see a TV until I was in the 8th grade and we didn't own one until I was a Sophomor. Consequently I am a reader and I can determine in very short order if what I am reading is what I want to pursue. If not, I move on to another book. If it is then I can read until dust settles on the cobwebbs that form around me as I read.

My children were not exposed to TV until they were in late adolesence and they didn't see a video game until well into their teens. They are all readers who can concentrate.

From my aged stand point the evil of TV and the newer electronic gadgets is that it has been suppressing or destroying the common sharp imagination we here in this nation had prior to commercial TV.

]]> By: Marcus http://cafehayek.com/2008/07/brains.html/comment-page-1#comment-27678 Marcus Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:59:22 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/?p=3168#comment-27678 <p><i>"Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages."</i></p> <p>Perhaps you're just getting older and your concentration isn't what it used to be.</p> <p>When I was in my 20's I would concentrate so deeply on a problem that the outside world and time itself would cease to exist.</p> <p>No in my 40's, that's rarely the case.<br /> </p> "Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages."

Perhaps you're just getting older and your concentration isn't what it used to be.

When I was in my 20's I would concentrate so deeply on a problem that the outside world and time itself would cease to exist.

No in my 40's, that's rarely the case.

]]> By: Matt http://cafehayek.com/2008/07/brains.html/comment-page-1#comment-27677 Matt Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:34:14 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/?p=3168#comment-27677 <p>I suffer video game degeneration. Is that the same thing?</p> I suffer video game degeneration. Is that the same thing?

]]> By: Matt http://cafehayek.com/2008/07/brains.html/comment-page-1#comment-27676 Matt Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:34:10 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/?p=3168#comment-27676 <p>I suffer video game degeneration. Is that the same thing?</p> I suffer video game degeneration. Is that the same thing?

]]> By: Matt http://cafehayek.com/2008/07/brains.html/comment-page-1#comment-27675 Matt Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:34:07 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/?p=3168#comment-27675 <p>I suffer video game degeneration. Is that the same thing?</p> I suffer video game degeneration. Is that the same thing?

]]> By: Matt http://cafehayek.com/2008/07/brains.html/comment-page-1#comment-27674 Matt Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:34:04 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/?p=3168#comment-27674 <p>I suffer video game degeneration. Is that the same thing?</p> I suffer video game degeneration. Is that the same thing?

]]> By: Matt http://cafehayek.com/2008/07/brains.html/comment-page-1#comment-27673 Matt Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:34:01 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/?p=3168#comment-27673 <p>I suffer video game degeneration. Is that the same thing?</p> I suffer video game degeneration. Is that the same thing?

]]> By: Matt http://cafehayek.com/2008/07/brains.html/comment-page-1#comment-27672 Matt Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:33:52 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/?p=3168#comment-27672 <p>I suffer video game degeneration. Is that the same thing?</p> I suffer video game degeneration. Is that the same thing?

]]> By: Unit http://cafehayek.com/2008/07/brains.html/comment-page-1#comment-27671 Unit Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:34:49 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/?p=3168#comment-27671 <p>Shawn,</p> <p> I'm a troglodyte when it comes to cell phones. But maybe I'll get there one day.</p> Shawn,

I'm a troglodyte when it comes to cell phones. But maybe I'll get there one day.

]]> By: Steve S http://cafehayek.com/2008/07/brains.html/comment-page-1#comment-27670 Steve S Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:01:46 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/?p=3168#comment-27670 <p>Russ - VS Naipaul in "Beyond Belief" writes about how little is left of the early Indonesian civilization because of the lack of a written language. He opined for a civilization, such as the early Indonesians, to rely only upon memory was to be doomed to recycle themselves every 400 years. </p> Russ – VS Naipaul in "Beyond Belief" writes about how little is left of the early Indonesian civilization because of the lack of a written language. He opined for a civilization, such as the early Indonesians, to rely only upon memory was to be doomed to recycle themselves every 400 years.

]]> By: Ray G http://cafehayek.com/2008/07/brains.html/comment-page-1#comment-27669 Ray G Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:29:30 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/?p=3168#comment-27669 <p>I don't remember very many phone numbers anymore.</p> <p>I'm finishing up Shelby Foote's first volume on the Civil War via one of those old fashioned books, and I just finished Joseph Ellis' <i>American Creation</i> on my iPod (audible.com). </p> <p>I couldn't read both of them at the same time, but having the one on my ipod at work, doing yard work, etc enables me to get more information in a shorter period of time. I obviously get more out of an old fashioned read, but the information I do absorb from the audio book is still valuable, I just don't absorb as much. </p> <p>That, and the two books compliment each other well. The read book being the foundation, the audio book being supplemental. </p> <p>All of that and I don't have a television, so that puts me several steps ahead in my opinion. </p> I don't remember very many phone numbers anymore.

I'm finishing up Shelby Foote's first volume on the Civil War via one of those old fashioned books, and I just finished Joseph Ellis' American Creation on my iPod (audible.com).

I couldn't read both of them at the same time, but having the one on my ipod at work, doing yard work, etc enables me to get more information in a shorter period of time. I obviously get more out of an old fashioned read, but the information I do absorb from the audio book is still valuable, I just don't absorb as much.

That, and the two books compliment each other well. The read book being the foundation, the audio book being supplemental.

All of that and I don't have a television, so that puts me several steps ahead in my opinion.

]]> By: Michael F. Martin http://cafehayek.com/2008/07/brains.html/comment-page-1#comment-27668 Michael F. Martin Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:28:21 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/?p=3168#comment-27668 <p>As a heavy internet user, I have noticed changes in my behavior and thought processes too. The biggest problem seems to be that you have to really use your imagine to guess from the written words on blogs and blog comments what other people are really trying to say. This is both good and bad. It kind of enhances whatever natural verbal skills you might have to begin with. But it kind of atrophies other social skills, such as the ability to read facial expressions and communicate through other nonverbal cues. A computer screen is a very narrow bandwidth means for communicating between people. I look forward to seeing the medium evolve to take advantage of the nonverbal means for communicating that we possess.</p> As a heavy internet user, I have noticed changes in my behavior and thought processes too. The biggest problem seems to be that you have to really use your imagine to guess from the written words on blogs and blog comments what other people are really trying to say. This is both good and bad. It kind of enhances whatever natural verbal skills you might have to begin with. But it kind of atrophies other social skills, such as the ability to read facial expressions and communicate through other nonverbal cues. A computer screen is a very narrow bandwidth means for communicating between people. I look forward to seeing the medium evolve to take advantage of the nonverbal means for communicating that we possess.

]]> By: shawn http://cafehayek.com/2008/07/brains.html/comment-page-1#comment-27667 shawn Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:17:31 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/?p=3168#comment-27667 <p>unit...can your phone google? I didn't realize how often during the day I'd consult my phone on a question/definition/history issue (google/ask/wiki) until I was in the UK last week, and didn't have Sprint service.</p> <p>Yowch.</p> unit…can your phone google? I didn't realize how often during the day I'd consult my phone on a question/definition/history issue (google/ask/wiki) until I was in the UK last week, and didn't have Sprint service.

Yowch.

]]> By: Unit http://cafehayek.com/2008/07/brains.html/comment-page-1#comment-27666 Unit Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:51:23 +0000 http://localhost/wordpress/?p=3168#comment-27666 <p>I've become much better at remembering complicated passwords.</p> <p>Also, on a daily basis, one or more conversations contain the sentence "well I should google that to make sure" and then I usually do.</p> I've become much better at remembering complicated passwords.

Also, on a daily basis, one or more conversations contain the sentence "well I should google that to make sure" and then I usually do.

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