Our first lectorial for the year started with a debate over what is a better and more efficient way to learn. The two concepts involved were suggested in N. Katherine Hayles’ ‘Hyper and Deep Attention: The Generational Divide in Cognitive Modes’ 2007 essay which highlights 2 key ways of learning and keeping attention.

In our current lifestyle of high paced media content flying at us from every direction it is easy to see how hyper attention is important, constantly changing what your attention is drawn to but being completely focused on it at the time . It’s impossible to go on a Facebook news feed and not be pounded at hundreds of 20 seconds videos  that are already playing the second they pass into your vision. This form of hyper attention can be used very powerfully as it keeps your interest for the length of the content and is over with the message quickly conveyed and received in a matter of seconds. This form of attention could be used not just for small ads or videos of pandas falling down a slide (the greatest videos the internet has to offer) but also in the classroom with a teacher changing topics quickly before the content becomes dry and uninteresting.

While I would say I’d fall into the category of deep attention, this isn’t for everything, as I among basically everyone in my generation are subject to very small attention spans with quickly diminishing patience and always wanting content faster and faster. I believe that these 2 forms of attention depend from person to person as attention is attached to how interesting the content is and that is absolutely subjective as everyone is interested in different things. I know I can have my attention deeply held when writing and creating music, focusing on a small section of a song for hours which is not something every person shares.

At the end of each of these little blogs I will leave you lot with a quote from great directors as they are some of the most curious and creative people around, and always have great things to say. This quote for you today comes from Alfred Hitchcock; “The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.”