Recent history has seen changes in technology like never before. Even in my short 25 years on Earth, I’ve witnessed the massive growth of the internet. Over a decade ago people used to communicate via text message, and would have to wait until they got home to log in to myspace. Today anywhere you go you will see people’s faces buried into their phones, scrolling through the endless social media platforms. The question is not whether things have changed; is this change good or bad?
There is no question that people’s attention spans have shortened. People would rather read something that is in tweet format, anything longer than a paragraph goes over their head. For example, I once took an online math course. In the course there was assigned homework, but in the syllabus the professor very clearly stated “The homework is for practice, I will not be collecting it.” The syllabus was a very reasonable 2 pages long. Yet, 15 of the 32 students in the class posted this same question in the discussion board; “Will the homework be collected?”…
First of all, this tells me that the students didn’t bother to read the syllabus. Secondly, in order to post a question, one of the students would have had to first navigate to the discussion board. Once on that page they could have looked and seen that this question had already been posted, and answered. About 50% of the class didn’t even read the syllabus to find out what was required of them in the class.
So, what’s the deal? How is this a bad thing? Well imagine all the people in this class had the same major, and they end up working in the same company. On their first day of orientation they are bombarded with information, and given company handbooks. Then their first assignment comes, and they are given a brief, and a packet to outline the assignment. So, Friday they all finish their first week, and leave with a mountain of paperwork. Monday comes around, and throughout the day, the new employees keep coming up to the supervisor in charge of the project and ask the same question; a question that was already addressed in the brief. Not only would this be incredibly frustrating, it would also reflect poorly on the person asking the question.
The entire purpose of language is to transmit information to one another. This concept is literally what drives all of advancements in human history. Once humans started writing things down, we no longer had to reinvent the wheel, or figure things out for one’s self. We could build on top of someone else’s work. We went from the first written language some 5,000 years ago, to most of the population having super computer in their pocket today. Not everything written down is important, but if it applies to you, read it!
People often complain about how ‘nothing useful is taught in school’; well learn how to pay attention and take directions.
Insights That Ignite 