Have you lost your ability to think abstractly? That’s a question I have been asking myself lately, and then I came across this quote and started thinking about it even more.
While that reasoning appears sound, Hipps cites research that demonstrates television’s affect on our brains. He writes, “We sit hypnotized by the program–the content–which has gripped our attention, unaware of the ways in which the television, regardless of its content, is repatterning the neural pathways in our brain and reducing our capacity for abstract thought.” (Media & Message, Pixels & Faith, pp. 21-interview of Shane Hipps by Scott McClellan, March/April print edition of Collide Magazine).
I’ve always considered myself a person who likes to think deeply, and I really enjoyed studying, processing and discussing philosophy, theology, literature and psychology in my graduate school programs. At that time (especially my 1st program), watching TV was rare, we didn’t have wireless, let alone a laptop that was even good. So most of my time was spent in books, discussions, researching and writing papers.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that there were less distractions…or maybe the distractions were just different.
But I find myself having a hard time, a lot of the time, settling into a state of more abstract thinking. I’m now used to having lots of tabs open on my computer, checking Facebook, Twitter, Tokbox, emailing, Google’ing stuff, watching YouTube videos, etc. Lots of work just involves being online and doing different tasks. And so to make the switch from that type of task to a more abstract type of task takes a lot of work.
One, it often takes a change of environment….well, actually a coffee shop works just fine for either.
Two, it often takes a change of tools…leaving the computer behind.
Three, it often takes some time to stop, pause, relax, and transition from one state to the next.
And know that I am NOT saying that doing all those online tasks don’t require abstract thought. I think they require a lot. But maybe it’s a different kind of abstract thinking. And maybe it’s a kind of abstract thinking that needs to be cultivated, just as I had to cultivate the type of abstract thinking that was required of me for graduate school.
Maybe that’s where I’m at…trying to flex that new online abstract thinking muscle.
I’d be curious to hear what Tony Steward thinks since he current job involves thinking abstractly in an online, very distractable world.
And what are all of your thoughts? Are there just different kinds of abstract thinking? How do you make the transition from one to the other? Has your abstract thinking suffered from all the noise (tv, computer, internet, cell phone) around you?
In all seriousness I believe that my struggles with writing sermons the past few weeks are related to my increased TV viewing; March madness and the World Baseball Classic, etc. It has also reduced my desire to read, I’ve had a hard time motivating myself. So I am choosing to go on a TV diet to see what happens.
My friend Josh recently said that when he committed an entire day to working (he’s a pastor) without being “connected” he was terribly unproductive. Because he has to preach weekly and think about the top-level of the church production, I’d say abstract thinking is highly valued and he seemed to think he did that better while Twittering, Facebooking, etc.
Me? I sort of the feel the same way. I feel like I learn more and work harder on days when I’m Twittering, blogging, etc. If I spend half a day tucked away reading I often have enjoyed the time very much but feel unproductive. But then you’re really not talking about productivity… unless part of our productivity is abstract thinking?
I would tend to agree with Petey. I find that a blog, tweet or something else can set my mind in a direction that I hadn’t seen before. It can serve as an illustration of a point that God’s word is trying to make.
When my kids were younger and we’d be watching TV or a movie I would occasionally nod and comment on what I saw. After one such exchange my middle kid said, “bet we’re going to hear that in the sermon on Sunday.”
Alan
Hmmm, this has got me thinking. For years I lived without a TV and only got Internet at home a year ago. Now I find I am constantly connected, watchng Hulu, updating my twitter. reading and writing blogs. It is all interesting and usually thoughtful stuff, but not too multi-modal. what about those ideas I process throgh movement and sounds? What about the deep conversations? Do they get lost or flattened on the screen?
I think abstraction and productivity can be seperated. Yes I am very productive career wise where you have to be productive, but I think in the aspect of thinking abstractly is finding your own creative path. I notice I have a hard time thinking and being motivated in doing a piece of work that is totally my own. My thoughts seem incomplete, now if I was doing work for a client that is easy because (technology) helps, (yet it reflects what has already been done kinda.) I want ot do my own creative work but I find technology to be a huge time waister (though I blame myself) I think I am going to try limiting my time online. (one hr) and I already limited my time on the T.V. by only watching the news. (That wasn't hard thier really isn't anything interesting on T.V.)
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