Attention Deficit May be Caused by Information Overload
/EINPresswire.com/ (Ancaster, Ontario)—In a recent study at University California San Francisco, multitasking was found to impede short term memory. A similar study in 2009 from Stanford University showed multitaskers were also more easily distracted than non-multitaskers.
"It's no surprise people are experiencing trouble staying on task in this age of information bombardment," says Dr. Nick Bontis, leading researcher and author of "Information Bombardment: Rising above the Digital Onslaught." "We are bathed in bytes and data everywhere we turn."
Researchers from both studies suggest multitasking may impair the brain's ability to filter out unwanted information while staying focused. The allure of more information overcomes the ability to resist it.
"Information is today's primary commodity," says Dr. Bontis. "We therefore crave knowledge as fast as we can get it. Do we really need to know which celebrity is cheating on their spouse? Of course not, but we can't resist knowing."
According to Bontis, information bombardment may be a significant cause of rising attention deficit among children and adults. Because our attention is constantly shifting among multiple sources of information, our ability to pay attention on one object declines.
Powerful statistics revealed by Dr. Bontis in his book include:
* People require only 1.2 seconds on average to scan and assess the importance of an email
* The cumulative amount of global information doubles every eleven hours
* Every 60 seconds, more than twenty hours of video material is uploaded to YouTube
* The Internet today contains in excess of 25 billion web pages on 110 million sites
* In the last fifteen years, the incidence of ADD has increased more than 30 percent
Scientists agree with Bontis and are concerned that knowledge cravings are unhealthy for the human brain. Addiction to information seems to be similar to other addictions where excess begins to cause functional deterioration.
"We have just entered the knowledge era, and information bombardment is still in its infancy," says Bontis. "If we're struggling with poor attention now, what will that mean for the future?"
Dr. Bontis offers many solutions to information bombardment in his book as well as useful insights into today's information age. According to Bontis, learning effective information management skills is essential for not only success but survival.
About the Author:
Dr. Nick Bontis was named a 2010 Top 5 speaker world-wide for management and one of the world's top management gurus of 2010, along with such luminaries as Jack Welch, Tom Peters, Michael Porter, and Jim Collins. He is an internationally sought-after management consultant and keynote speaker, hand-picked by the United Nations, the US Navy, Microsoft, IBM, Accenture, KPMG, Century 21, and others to help navigate the knowledge era. He is a popular TV and radio personality, a leading academic researcher and an award-winning, tenured professor of strategic management at McMaster University. As one of the world's most cited authors in the fields of intellectual capital and knowledge management, he has amassed over a dozen prestigious teaching and research awards. He was recently recognized as a 3M National Teaching Fellow, an exclusive honor bestowed upon the top professors in the nation.
For more information, contact Dr. Bontis at nick@bontis.com or visit www.InformationBombardment.com.
"Information Bombardment" is available on Amazon.com.
"It's no surprise people are experiencing trouble staying on task in this age of information bombardment," says Dr. Nick Bontis, leading researcher and author of "Information Bombardment: Rising above the Digital Onslaught." "We are bathed in bytes and data everywhere we turn."
Researchers from both studies suggest multitasking may impair the brain's ability to filter out unwanted information while staying focused. The allure of more information overcomes the ability to resist it.
"Information is today's primary commodity," says Dr. Bontis. "We therefore crave knowledge as fast as we can get it. Do we really need to know which celebrity is cheating on their spouse? Of course not, but we can't resist knowing."
According to Bontis, information bombardment may be a significant cause of rising attention deficit among children and adults. Because our attention is constantly shifting among multiple sources of information, our ability to pay attention on one object declines.
Powerful statistics revealed by Dr. Bontis in his book include:
* People require only 1.2 seconds on average to scan and assess the importance of an email
* The cumulative amount of global information doubles every eleven hours
* Every 60 seconds, more than twenty hours of video material is uploaded to YouTube
* The Internet today contains in excess of 25 billion web pages on 110 million sites
* In the last fifteen years, the incidence of ADD has increased more than 30 percent
Scientists agree with Bontis and are concerned that knowledge cravings are unhealthy for the human brain. Addiction to information seems to be similar to other addictions where excess begins to cause functional deterioration.
"We have just entered the knowledge era, and information bombardment is still in its infancy," says Bontis. "If we're struggling with poor attention now, what will that mean for the future?"
Dr. Bontis offers many solutions to information bombardment in his book as well as useful insights into today's information age. According to Bontis, learning effective information management skills is essential for not only success but survival.
About the Author:
Dr. Nick Bontis was named a 2010 Top 5 speaker world-wide for management and one of the world's top management gurus of 2010, along with such luminaries as Jack Welch, Tom Peters, Michael Porter, and Jim Collins. He is an internationally sought-after management consultant and keynote speaker, hand-picked by the United Nations, the US Navy, Microsoft, IBM, Accenture, KPMG, Century 21, and others to help navigate the knowledge era. He is a popular TV and radio personality, a leading academic researcher and an award-winning, tenured professor of strategic management at McMaster University. As one of the world's most cited authors in the fields of intellectual capital and knowledge management, he has amassed over a dozen prestigious teaching and research awards. He was recently recognized as a 3M National Teaching Fellow, an exclusive honor bestowed upon the top professors in the nation.
For more information, contact Dr. Bontis at nick@bontis.com or visit www.InformationBombardment.com.
"Information Bombardment" is available on Amazon.com.
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