Alas! The Origin Of The ADHD Epidemic.

In the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Nicholas Carr attempts to pinpoint the origin of my ADHD. His explanation could be revolutionary in explaining the epidemic that requires the use of drugs like Adderall and Vyvanse to maintain focus and concentration. While ADHD runs in my family, I’ve never accounted the use of search engines to be the reason behind my inability to concentrate. I’ve considered the Internet and it’s attributes to play a major role in helping me procrastinate, but never an instrument that has completely rewired the way I think and receive information. I believe this has to do largely with the abundance of information we are faced with. With the world at our fingertips, we don’t want to put the legwork in to explore the whole thing. Instead, we want some one to explore it for us, come back, and give us a brief explanation about the best places to visit through the use of pictures and bullet points. We, as consumers of information, do not have the time, patience, or energy to read through hundreds of pages of scholarly journals; through the use of the “Find” hot keys we don’t have to. Evidence that technology rewires our brain dates back to the advent of the clock. Carr draws a very compelling comparison when he says that the clock caused us to think our “brains operate like clockwork” and the computer caused us to think our brains operate “like computers.” If our brains are being rewired to think differently then maybe the problem isn’t innovative technology but instead the traditional way we continue to present information. If a book intrigues me, then I have no problem sitting down and indulging; I still find novels to be an enjoyable escape. However, if I’m reading a news article or textbook, then there is no doubt that I and others like me have grown weary and tired of unnecessary fluff. We want what’s important and we want it quick so we can spend our time analyzing the information instead of sorting through pages to find it. I become worn down by the process of extracting information when I could be exhausting that energy to comprehend, organize, and present the information.

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