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I feel this is going to be an inevitable practice for us. Just as the switch to white collar jobs have forced us to confront our sedentary lifestyles and allocate time specifically for exercise, the constant stream of information brought to us by the internet is going to force us to get away from our computers for an hour (and hopefully more) a day and get some bloody contemplation.

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Our distraction is a full-blown epidemic — a cognitive plague that has the potential to wipe out an entire generation of focused and productive thought. It can be compared to smoking: People aren’t aware what’s happening to their mental processes, in the same way that people years ago couldn’t look into their lungs and see the residual deposits.

There's potential for a huge industry built around "regrowing attention spans" and "info diets" and so forth. It will be partly a continuation of the efficiency/simplicity lifehacking practices of the last decade, except to a whole new level.

Smoking doesn't harm you so quickly though...

I think that is a most excellent analogy! I will now use that myself the next time the conversation comes up. Everyone is always so doom and gloom about any technology relating to the future of the human race but I think everyone adjusts, just as they always have. Thank you, sir! Or ma'am!

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