It started way back in the days of cable. I remember how jarring it was to see a music video on MTV that kept changing camera shots. I was like, “you don’t even get enough time to get a good look at the band or the scene.” Then it got worse, way worse.
They have been programming people for short attention spans forever now and I hate it.
No.
The study found a correlation between people who regularly consume short-form content and those who scored low on tests measuring impulse control and attention span.
If you have less self control, you’re more likely to consume more short-form video content (duh). But correlation is not causation and the study is not proving that more short term video content is causing less self control. It probably is, but that’s not the finding of the study as the title and some of the quotes imply.
To be fair though, there’s commercial/ad feel to shorts so it’s likely in that zone, though in need of better method to prove it.
Neither does impulse control and attention span imply anything about intelligence. Framing it like this is kinda offensive to the many smart people who have a flavour of adhd.
Previous science regarding gaming habits of young kids concluded that those that gamed more then x hours a day had improved problem solving skills, cognitive skills and also lower attention span.
When we’re talking science, if you have a certain flavour of adhd which makes you less intelligent, it still makes you less intelligent. Nothing to be ashamed of, and of course the ways they define and test for intelligence are often questionable. But worrying about offending people or making test score equitable goes against the principles of objective science.
There is no flavour of adhd that does this, their intelligence spans the same ranges as any other people. But they do have a lower attention span which is why I referred to them.
The article literally refers to “lower measured attention span” as “being dumber” and thats just unapologetically incorrect. There is no indication of a proper IQ tests being involved.
That said there are so many different kinds of intelligence that we don’t measure or have tests for, being bad a one that does have tests is indeed nothing to be ashamed for, you are correct on that part.
also, short attention span ≠ low intelligence, as the title implies
I can see how a short attention span could foster behavior that leads to lower intelligence. Will be hard to prove scientifically though.
50 people is an irrelevant sample size. Just because the findings seem to make sense doesn’t mean the study is good.
Hey there, fella! If the findings confirm my biases, sample size is irrelevant. Science has spoken! /s
Yea but how many likes and subscribes does it have tho? 🤔
No, it’s not. Standard error of the mean estimate is SD/sqrt(n-1), so it depends on the signal/effect to noise ratio how much you can learn from it. SE of the mean difference for a between subjects design is slightly different but not miles off from that. You can squeeze even more info out of it by using within subjects designs.
What makes you think a sample size of 50 is irrelevant?
No shit
They said the same thing about Sesame Street in the 1970’s
I turned out all right.
Ah, you too live in a trash can and crave cookies?
There’s a lot of people here unable to recognize how important attention span is for deep, meaningful learning.
Way too many people saying “ATTENTION SPANS NOT INTELLIGENCE DUHMASSES” and failing short because they don’t have the attention span to think of implications of decreased attention span.
Long term memory is built on repetition and attention. It is entirely plausible that short form media makes you stupider - by impacting your ability for deep learning
Imagine if your computer was extremely high spec, but could only run any process for a maximum of about 20 minutes. That would be… Just awful.
That being said, it looks like this study is pretty flawed.
Yeah cause Ibuprofen
I mean this doesn’t establish a causal link at all, just confirms the obvious fact that someone with attention issues is more likely to consume short form content.
So do stupid fucken click bait headlines.
No, they are making you dumber. I don’t use YouTube/Instagram/TikTok at all nor any other video/short platform.
Same. I’m getting smarter relatively speaking.
I’m sure the title here is accurate summary of the conclusion of the study and I don’t need to even check because as a person who doesn’t conscume short-form media this confirms something I already know to be true about myself.
Those things are ADHD honeypots. I have never experienced something that is so close to hard drugs before.
I mean… looking at Shorts and Reels it’s definitely now making anyone smarter. There’s 0 value to it.
I’d say it depends. I’ll admit to spending inconsistent amounts of time a day on shorts. Some days none at all, but some (typically stressful) days I’ve probably lost 1-2 hours. The content I’m getting is mostly cooking, horror movies/gaming, education, and health and fitness related. Through it I’ve found content creators with podcasts and have found some motivation to make exercise an achievable part of my daily life.
Is there a sea of toxic bullshit out there? Absolutely. But there’s also some freshwater lakes and rivers. It’s why media literacy needs to be included in education along with critical thinking.
