Finding Focus

寻找焦点

Hidden Brain

社会科学

2024-01-16

48 分钟
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单集简介 ...

We spend more and more of our lives staring at screens. Our cellphones, smartwatches and laptops allow us to communicate instantly with people across the globe, and quickly look up obscure facts. But our digital devices are also altering our brains in profound ways. This week, psychologist Gloria Mark explores how our ability to focus is shrinking, and offers ways to protect our minds in a world filled with endless distractions.
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单集文稿 ...

  • This is hidden brain.

  • I'm Shankar Vedanta.

  • Many years ago, when Gloria Mark was visiting family in Austria, she found it difficult to get a reliable Internet connection.

  • My mother in law, who lived in a very small austrian town, she didn't have wi fi, and I couldn't stay away from Internet that long.

  • And so what I did one day was walk around the neighborhood with my laptop open, looking at the bars on my computer to see when I might find a hotspot.

  • And sure enough, I did find one.

  • And I sat down on the edge of the front lawn of a house, and I was doing my email.

  • In a little while, Gloria looked up to see she had company.

  • Two elderly gentlemen came out of the house.

  • They brought lawn chairs, and they sat down right in front of me, and they didn't say a word, and I didn't say anything to them.

  • And I just wanted to get through my email.

  • That was my goal.

  • And I was certain they were going to ask me to leave.

  • And they did not look very friendly, so I didn't think it was going to be a friendly ask, and they just kept watching me.

  • Gloria tried to think of a way to explain herself across the language barrier.

  • After a while, I pointed to myself and I said, California.

  • And all of a sudden, they started laughing, and they said, Schwarzenegger.

  • Because at the time, their austrian son, actor turned governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was the governor of California.

  • And then I knew I had their approval and I could continue sitting there, and I was able to finish my email.

  • Those were innocent times.