One of my favorite activities is video games. Last generation I will admit I was a pirate and I hacked my Xbox to play downloaded copies of games. About the time that the new Xbox released I looked through my binder of games and realized that I’ve only finished maybe 2 games and the rest were only touched for maybe a day or two. I decided that when the Xbox 360 game out I would not mod it to play downloaded games in an attempt to make me finish the ones I have as it would reduce the number of games I owned. Atlas it didn’t. I sit here with 98 games and of them I have finished the last level in 19 of them. 18 of them I haven’t even played past their demo. Bailey used to always tell me I have A.D.D. but I thought she was just picking on me.
I hear the on going joke all the time that more kids are diagnosed with ADHD then those that don’t have it. I did a quick search and the medical studies say that about 2-5% of kids have it in the world. The US alone it is diagnosed in 4.7% of the population. But with symptoms like these who doesn’t have ADHD?
Some signs of hyperactivity-impulsivity are:
- Feeling restless, often fidgeting with hands or feet, or squirming while seated
- Running, climbing, or leaving a seat in situations where sitting or quiet behavior is expected
- Blurting out answers before hearing the whole question
- Having difficulty waiting in line or taking turns.
Is it really any surprise that the pharmaceutical companies are selling drugs to people who have no attention span and want a quick fix? I keep hearing people talk about how the current generation of kids are no longer reading jus skimming, expecting to be entertained at a moments notice, and in general need responses without waiting. Are we going to change our society to reflect the impulsive nature that is becoming more and more evident as the current generation enters the work place and into positions that will affect society as a whole? Or is something going to happen that will bring the masses around to taking the time again to enjoy that which is earned through time and patience….?
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1 user responded in this post
James,
You ask powerful questions.
I forget (because of my own ADD tendencies), did we talk about the new Kevin Kelly book, What technology wants — http://www.amazon.com/What-Technology-Wants-Kevin-Kelly/dp/0670022152/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1290371245&sr=8-1? He’s probing this question of how technology is shaping our brains. But note that books, when they were first introduced, also shaped our brains.
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