I continue to be amazed that we as a species can communicate at all. So often when we talk to someone, there are the things that one person says, and there are the things that the other person hears. Our senses are interpretive devices, and that we can come up with anything remotely similar, well, I find that fascinating a shared hallucination, if you will.
To compound this tenuous hold on communication we have the advent of a new syndrome, CPA, Continuous Partial Attention, a phrase coined by Linda Stone of Microsoft and Apple fame; the ADHD for grownups. So bombarded are we by input from all sides anymore, I find it difficult to believe that any kind of syndrome is a physical malady, except in the fact that we have no other way with which to react to any kind of stimulus.
CPA syndrome is a direct result of technology, and our desire to communicate immediately. Email, instant messaging, cell phones, Blackberries, and whatever other nifty device or service we might have to make ourselves more accessible to others have so permeated our culture that it is nearly impossible to have a conversation with someone without having some sort of device interrupt you. I see it in evidence everywhere I go, especially at shows. Not only do people run their mouths non-stop, as though their tongues were to fall off soon, their conversations are often interrupted by a phone call, which somehow they manage to answer, despite the volume of the people talking, let alone the poor band thats trying to play.
Continuous Partial Attention means that we are never quite fully present. Three times during this intro I have checked my email just to make sure I havent missed out on something important not. It would be nice if I could be convinced that at a show, or heaven forbid an Open Stage, that people could listen clear through at least one song without interruption or running their mouths. You think that I exaggerate? Its painfully obvious when you go to any show oh, is that my phone? Can you excuse me, I have to take this .
To compound this tenuous hold on communication we have the advent of a new syndrome, CPA, Continuous Partial Attention, a phrase coined by Linda Stone of Microsoft and Apple fame; the ADHD for grownups. So bombarded are we by input from all sides anymore, I find it difficult to believe that any kind of syndrome is a physical malady, except in the fact that we have no other way with which to react to any kind of stimulus.
CPA syndrome is a direct result of technology, and our desire to communicate immediately. Email, instant messaging, cell phones, Blackberries, and whatever other nifty device or service we might have to make ourselves more accessible to others have so permeated our culture that it is nearly impossible to have a conversation with someone without having some sort of device interrupt you. I see it in evidence everywhere I go, especially at shows. Not only do people run their mouths non-stop, as though their tongues were to fall off soon, their conversations are often interrupted by a phone call, which somehow they manage to answer, despite the volume of the people talking, let alone the poor band thats trying to play.
Continuous Partial Attention means that we are never quite fully present. Three times during this intro I have checked my email just to make sure I havent missed out on something important not. It would be nice if I could be convinced that at a show, or heaven forbid an Open Stage, that people could listen clear through at least one song without interruption or running their mouths. You think that I exaggerate? Its painfully obvious when you go to any show oh, is that my phone? Can you excuse me, I have to take this .