Shadow
06-23-2011, 10:34 PM
Interesting article...I do believe the internet is an addiction. Weeding yourself away from it is not an easy task either ( I have found that out). I have been trying to cut back on my online time for awhile now, but I think it's going to be a very gradual thing...because like the woman interviewed by the writer...you feel like you may be missing out on something (and it seems almost too quiet...not enough traffic in your mind...if that makes sense lol). I have found that relaxing my "popcorn brain" and planting flowers or pulling weeds in the yard does help me sleep easier though...I'm not as wired and my mind doesn't race as much.
Anyway...the article does have some good tips on transitioning to fewer online hours...
Does life online give you 'popcorn brain'?
(CNN) -- When Hilarie Cash arrives home from work in the evening, she has a choice: She can go outside and tend to her garden or she can hop on her laptop.
The lilacs really need weeding. The computer, on the other hand, can wait, as her work is done for the day.
Despite this, Cash feels drawn to the computer, as if it's a magnet pulling her in. Maybe there's an e-mail from a friend awaiting her, or a funny tweet, or a new picture posted on Facebook.
"I find it extremely difficult to walk away," Cash says. "It's so hard to tell myself, 'Don't do it. Go do the gardening.' "
Does it really matter if Cash gardens or goes online? Increasing, experts say it does. The worry is that life online is giving us what researcher, David Levy, calls "popcorn brain" -- a brain so accustomed to the constant stimulation of electronic multitasking that we're unfit for life offline, where things pop at a much slower pace.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/06/23/tech.popcorn.brain.ep/index.html?hpt=hp_bn6
Anyway...the article does have some good tips on transitioning to fewer online hours...
Does life online give you 'popcorn brain'?
(CNN) -- When Hilarie Cash arrives home from work in the evening, she has a choice: She can go outside and tend to her garden or she can hop on her laptop.
The lilacs really need weeding. The computer, on the other hand, can wait, as her work is done for the day.
Despite this, Cash feels drawn to the computer, as if it's a magnet pulling her in. Maybe there's an e-mail from a friend awaiting her, or a funny tweet, or a new picture posted on Facebook.
"I find it extremely difficult to walk away," Cash says. "It's so hard to tell myself, 'Don't do it. Go do the gardening.' "
Does it really matter if Cash gardens or goes online? Increasing, experts say it does. The worry is that life online is giving us what researcher, David Levy, calls "popcorn brain" -- a brain so accustomed to the constant stimulation of electronic multitasking that we're unfit for life offline, where things pop at a much slower pace.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/06/23/tech.popcorn.brain.ep/index.html?hpt=hp_bn6