I think my conditions worsen my attention span. Especially my tendency for psychosis. But I am way way less impacted than the usual person. I think my cognitive abilities are rather sharper through my illnesses in some instances. My thoughts are usually very fast. This can be kind of exhaustive and torturous. I think my consciousness is different to that of many average people. But the negative effects are obviously way bigger than the benefits.
I had this topic in mind due to different considerations. My favorite author David Foster Wallace was quite fascinated by that topic. Reading his magnum opus Infinite Jest requires huge mental work. It is really difficult to read and requires a huge attention span. I could never read it with understanding everything. I think he wanted to reveal the problem of sitting alone in a room and focusing on something intricate for many hours. I won't go into details of the interpretation. But I think he thought fast superficial entertainment is quite addictive for many people in the US. It is way easier to consume than good literature. Personally I have issues with reading such long books. My illness often distracts me. I start ruminating when I read literature quite often. Though despite the fact I am quite lazy concerning reading books his stories are so good that they even make me reading fiction. I think DFW was also not a fan of the internet. I don't know the details but I assume the addictive influence of it was scary for him. I have a completely different stance on the internet.
But here comes the second thought which led to this thread. I watched my favorite philosophy show and the topic was the impact of social media. They also talked about the dangers of the internet. I am an internet addict and I absolutely don't regret it. It helps me to cope with my horrible life. It offers education, distraction and social contacts. Though maybe it has decreased my social ability or sanity because some years I did not leave my apartment and watched youtube for myriads of hours instead. Though I was very very ill to that time. (and did not take any medication) The expert said about smartphones and social media the following. Due to our phones and internet connection we are always on alert. We are always scared to miss out of something. We have the tendency to check our phone way too often. Due to that we are unable to create deep connections in real life. Moreover to be constantly exposed to electric devices and new update news increases our anxiety. We don't give us any breaks. Everything happens so fast.
To be honest I can relate to some of these experiences. However I am very disciplined. If the internet addiction hurts me I usually regulate it. I was very active on several platforms. When I recognized it damaged my health I always stopped the excessive use. Some months ago I also spend too much time on this forum. Limiting the time for me was beneficial. I don't like when something stops me from being productive. The way I use the internet rather improves my productivity. (which contradics one argument for internet addiction). It helps me to get calm or relaxed. But it is true. Getting into deep connection is hard for me. Maybe because I lack some social skills. I am not sure whether I had more real life social interactions if the internet did not exist. Or if the isolation would be even worse. I suppose the latter one. I am really in this mental state that my anxiety is always high. Though I think this stems from childhood abuse not due to the internet. Someone once mentioned hypervigilance. That sounds quite fitting for my mental state. Though I never got the diagnosis. Maybe the internet increases this constant anxiety and I am not really aware about it. I rather think it is a good distraction. I can focus on other things than my nightmarish life. The internet enables most of my hobbies which I consider as very helpful for my mental health.
I had this topic in mind due to different considerations. My favorite author David Foster Wallace was quite fascinated by that topic. Reading his magnum opus Infinite Jest requires huge mental work. It is really difficult to read and requires a huge attention span. I could never read it with understanding everything. I think he wanted to reveal the problem of sitting alone in a room and focusing on something intricate for many hours. I won't go into details of the interpretation. But I think he thought fast superficial entertainment is quite addictive for many people in the US. It is way easier to consume than good literature. Personally I have issues with reading such long books. My illness often distracts me. I start ruminating when I read literature quite often. Though despite the fact I am quite lazy concerning reading books his stories are so good that they even make me reading fiction. I think DFW was also not a fan of the internet. I don't know the details but I assume the addictive influence of it was scary for him. I have a completely different stance on the internet.
But here comes the second thought which led to this thread. I watched my favorite philosophy show and the topic was the impact of social media. They also talked about the dangers of the internet. I am an internet addict and I absolutely don't regret it. It helps me to cope with my horrible life. It offers education, distraction and social contacts. Though maybe it has decreased my social ability or sanity because some years I did not leave my apartment and watched youtube for myriads of hours instead. Though I was very very ill to that time. (and did not take any medication) The expert said about smartphones and social media the following. Due to our phones and internet connection we are always on alert. We are always scared to miss out of something. We have the tendency to check our phone way too often. Due to that we are unable to create deep connections in real life. Moreover to be constantly exposed to electric devices and new update news increases our anxiety. We don't give us any breaks. Everything happens so fast.
To be honest I can relate to some of these experiences. However I am very disciplined. If the internet addiction hurts me I usually regulate it. I was very active on several platforms. When I recognized it damaged my health I always stopped the excessive use. Some months ago I also spend too much time on this forum. Limiting the time for me was beneficial. I don't like when something stops me from being productive. The way I use the internet rather improves my productivity. (which contradics one argument for internet addiction). It helps me to get calm or relaxed. But it is true. Getting into deep connection is hard for me. Maybe because I lack some social skills. I am not sure whether I had more real life social interactions if the internet did not exist. Or if the isolation would be even worse. I suppose the latter one. I am really in this mental state that my anxiety is always high. Though I think this stems from childhood abuse not due to the internet. Someone once mentioned hypervigilance. That sounds quite fitting for my mental state. Though I never got the diagnosis. Maybe the internet increases this constant anxiety and I am not really aware about it. I rather think it is a good distraction. I can focus on other things than my nightmarish life. The internet enables most of my hobbies which I consider as very helpful for my mental health.
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