人類注意力比金魚還差
Goldfish Now Have Better Attention Spans Than We Do
人類注意力比金魚還差
Last week, Microsoft released a study that sought to analyze the impact that technology – cellphones and social media specifically – is having on our attention span and the quality of our focus. They found some pretty significant changes compared with research conducted 15 years ago. Let's take a look at the findings.
上週，微軟公司就現代科技——手機和社交媒體對我們注意力時長和質量的影響做了一項調查。研究發現，與15年前做的調查相比，有了很大的改變。讓我們來看看調查結果。
1. The average attention span has fallen to just eight seconds.
1.平均注意力時長降到了8秒
The average human attention span in 2000 was 12 seconds, and now it's just eight. The decrease was found across genders and all age groups. Apparently, a goldfish has an attention span of nine seconds. Measuring the attention span of animals is sort of tricky stuff though … so it's possible we still have them beat.
2000年人類平均注意力時長爲12秒，現在只有8秒。各個年齡段的注意力時長都有下降。連一條金魚的注意力時長都有9秒。不過研究動物時會有其他不確定因素，所以也許我們仍領先。。。
2. Young people were most likely to demonstrate addiction-like behaviors when it came to digital technology.
2.年輕人更容易癡迷科技產品
Seventy-seven percent of 18- to 24-year-olds responded "yes" when asked if the following statement was true for them: "When nothing is occupying my attention, the first thing I do is reach for my phone." Only 10 percent of people over 65 said the same thing.
當問及以下問題是，18到24年齡段的青年中有77%人回答“是的”。這些問題是：“如果眼前沒什麼可做的，我會想到第一件事就是看手機。”而65歲以上人羣中僅有10%會這麼做。
3. Young people may be more alert, just for shorter increments of time.
3.相對下降的注意力，年輕人更靈敏
The good news is that these young people, "early adopters of technology," as the study sometimes refers to them, have developed some strengths to accommodate for their shorter attention spans.
好消息是這項研究提到，那些走在科技前沿的年輕人已經進化出其他能力來彌補較短的注意力時長。
4. The ability to multitask has improved.
4.同時處理多重事件的能力有改變
Part of the explanation for the shortened attention span comes from what the study refers to as "multi-screening" – viewing multiple screens at once, using social media while consuming the latest news, etc. As long as the environment is active, early tech adopters are able to process information and commit it to memory more efficiently. But, their capabilities fall short if the digital experience is passive – probably due to their decreased ability to focus for long periods of time.
變短的注意力時長有些方面也可歸因爲“多屏”處理能力，即人們可以同時注視多個屏幕，比如看新聞的時候使用社交應用，等等。在主動環境下，使用科技產品的老手可以更有效的處理信息並把信息儲存在記憶裏。但是，如果是被動的，這些能力很可能會因爲他們下降的注意力時長而減弱。
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