Fractured attention
I have a confession to make: I cannot both listen attentively to a speaker and participate in a chat channel. I tried doing it again for the nth time at Freedom To Connect, and by the end of the day I felt gray and woozy and surrounded by stimuli that I was failing adequately to comprehend.
It's a very familiar feeling at this point — it's like information jetlag. You have a vague memory of many things being said in inner and outer voices, but you can't pull it together and remember it, and hours have passed by. It's like a day of eating only slice upon slice of pie. It's fun, but you don't feel great when it's over.
This is a weakness, I know. So many people seem so strongly capable of doing both. They can chat feverishly, be funny and critical, and listen well. I am not one of these superhumans. I like plane flights, when I can read slowly and take notes — paying attention to every word.
Bloggers sometimes draw lines in the sand. Larry says he'll never publish in a law review again (unless they change their license terms). He's great at writing books, so that's not such a difficult line to draw. I could at this point say “I will never chat at conferences,” but the fact is that it's an addictive practice. It is simply so much fun to feel that you're talking to the people around you instead of being talked at by the person in the front of the room.
But I have to confess that my attention is limited.
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