Degradation of the brain - read it to everyone!

Every day more and more people complain about the problems with brain activity - to ever increasing absent-mindedness (ie, inability to concentrate their attention, to gather their thoughts for solving some problems), on the difficulty of remembering information, on the physical impossibility to read large texts , Not to mention books.

And they are asked to give them something to improve brain activity in general and memory in particular. And, paradoxically, this problem is characteristic not only and not so much for the elderly, weakened by the brains which, like as, "according to age", how many for people of middle and younger middle age. At the same time, many people are not even interested in why this happens - they automatically write it off for stress, fatigue, unhealthy ecology, for the same age, etc., although all this is not even close at hand. Among my patients there are those who are far 70, but who do not have any problems with either memory or brain activity. So what's the reason?

And the reason is that, despite all the arguments, no one, categorically, wants to give up the so-called constant, round-the-clock "connection to information". In other words, the accelerated loss of your brain functions started on the very momentous day when you decided to be constantly on-line. And it does not make any difference whether you forced to this an official necessity, exhaustion from idleness or an elementary fear of being "not at the level", i.e. Fear of being known as a black sheep, an eccentric in the midst of their own kind.

Back in 2008, it was known that the average Internet user reads no more than 20% of the text posted on the page, and avoids large paragraphs in every possible way! Moreover, special studies have shown that a person who is constantly connected to the network does not read the text, but scans like a robot - snatches out disparate pieces of data from everywhere, constantly jumps from one place to another, and estimates the information exclusively from the "share" position, E. "Is it possible to send this" revelation "to someone?" But not for the purpose of discussing, but mainly for the purpose of causing emotions in the form of an animated "belching", accompanied by short remarks and cries in the SMS format.

In the course of the research, it turned out that the pages on the Internet, as already mentioned, are not readable, but are skimmed through a pattern reminiscent of the Latin letter F. The user first reads the first few lines of the text content of the page (sometimes even completely, from beginning to end), then jumps To the middle of the page, where it reads a few more lines (as a rule, only partially, without reading the lines to the end), and then quickly descends to the very bottom of the page - to see "what's the matter".

Therefore, the most effective way to provide information to an ordinary Internet user is to display information in the form of an inverted pyramid (that is, according to the principle "the lower, the less") with the mandatory allocation of keywords (so that consumers of information understand what is important and what is not Very) and the disclosure of not more than one thought per paragraph. This is the only way to delay the attention on the page for as long as possible. If, as we go down the page, the density of information does not decrease or, worse, it increases (as, for example, in this article), then only a few are retained on such pages.

My personal opinion is this:

The Internet is a real drug. And what is a drug? This is a completely useless thing, without which any person can live well until he tries. And when he tries, the dependence appears lifelong - drug addiction is not treated.

People with all ranks and specialties complain about problems with the perception of information - from highly qualified university professors to servicemen for servicing washing machines. Such complaints can be heard most often in the academic environment, ie. From those who are forced to communicate tightly and daily with people (teach, give lectures, take exams, etc.) - they report that the already low level of reading and perception skills of those with whom they have to work , From year to year it falls all lower and lower.

Most people experience enormous difficulties in reading large texts, not to mention books. Even blog posts with the size of more than three or four paragraphs already seem to the majority too difficult and tedious for perception, and therefore boring and not deserving even an elementary understanding. It is unlikely that there will be a person who does not hear the popular network statement "too many letters - did not master", which is usually written in response to an offer to read something longer than a couple of dozen lines. It turns out to be a vicious circle - it makes no sense to write a lot, since almost no one will read it, and a reduction in the volume of transmitted thought leads to an even greater lack of knowledge not only of readers but also of writers. As a result, we have what we have - mass stupor.

Even people with good (past) reading skills say that after a whole day of throwing on the Internet and maneuvering among dozens and hundreds of emails, they physically can not even begin a very interesting book, as reading just one first page turns into a real torture.

Reading simply "does not go," primarily because:

A) you can not force yourself to stop scanning the text, searching for the keywords in it

B) the complex syntax inherent in the majority of classical, high-content or science-intensive works is completely not mastered, which is completely absent in the exchange of telegraphic SMS-eructation.

As a result, one sentence has to be re-read several times! The most outspoken people say so directly: I am disgusting myself.

But this is not all. Because of the constant connection to the Internet, such a person's skills as ability to return to the once-meaningful information, analyze the reading and connect the imagination, deteriorate sharply. Even worse is that in 80% of cases people go to the Internet for dubious entertainment, or they draw information from there that has not only zero but negative cultural value.

At the same time, most people (especially young people) are tied to their gadgets so much that when they threaten to be disconnected from the network for at least one day, they experience not only psychic depression, bordering on panic, but also a real physical withdrawal reminiscent of the narcotic. Do not believe me? Well, turn off your soap-box ALL and try to live without it for at least 2-3 days.

There is an opinion I fully share that the ability to effectively perceive complex texts, read complex literature will soon become an elitist privilege accessible only to a special caste of people. This idea is not new, since even Umberto Eco in the novel "The Name of the Rose" offered to let only those who are able and ready to perceive complex knowledge in the library. And everyone else will be able to read only signs and Internet.

In short, no pills, no dietary supplements, no diets, no cerebral pals, etc. Can not stop brain degradation. It can be stopped only by one thing: stopping the receipt of all sorts of information garbage into the processing system and daily loading of the brain with so-called "useful information". This process is extremely complex, and for many people it is completely impossible. For many, the train, as they say, has already left.

Once again, briefly:

1. Gadgets that ensure your constant connection to information / the Internet - smartphones, aipads, etc., without which you can not even go to the toilet now - make you practically a moron with a languid, apathetic, with a barely thinking brain that is incapable of thinking And analyze. But, like any drug addict, you, of course, are convinced of the opposite - in that these soap dishes make your life unrealistically bright, saturated, comfortable, etc., and you personally - a "highly advanced personality", which is always in Course of everything.

2. Thanks to these devices, all sorts of trash enters your brain in a continuous stream around the clock, which pollutes your "onboard computer" enough that you are only fit to perform the most primitive, low-skilled work. You are not in a position either to speak, write or read, your speech is tongue-tied and awash with words-parasites. Telling someone about something, you hardly choose the right words, and listening to someone - quickly lose the thread of conversation and begin to miss and yawn. You can not write, because in almost every word you start making mistakes, and how to use punctuation marks - you do not even know about it. But you do a lot of salfi (and other garbage photos) and knock on someone in Viber or WhatsApp.

3. In short, listen to the bad news: mobile communication should be used only and exclusively in EMERGENCY cases. For example, you came to an unfamiliar city and you can not find a meeting - you really need to call. Or you are late for an important meeting. You need to configure your gadget only to receive or transfer the professional and business information you need. And the rest of the time your gadget should be OFF. However, I can imagine how uncomfortable it is for you to think about it.

4. You need to be prepared for the fact that all your surroundings will not understand you, to put it mildly - you will be told that you are greeted, quite ku-ku, that you have a roof, etc. Spit and rub. Remember, you are an object for information attack and you need to defend yourself. As the president of CBS News Richard Salant said: "Our job is to sell people not what they want, but for what we need."

5. Finally, you need to learn how to read books again. Real paper books - you know? Do not scrutinize your soap box with a screen for hours with blind eyes, but read books. It will be hard, but you try. To force yourself is not necessary - on the first day read half a page, the next one - a whole page, on the third day - 1.5 pages, etc. Note that the body will resist this in every way - it will be sickening, breaking and pulling anything, if only the brain does not strain.