Attention! Why write?

I’m thinking about two things after today’s Media Collage class: first, the importance of making clear to students why I ask them to read, write, and speak about certain ideas.  Obviously, this idea is important regardless of the subject matter.  But teaching this new course has reminded me of all sorts of basic instructional practices.  For instance, in my mind I know exactly why we should read, write, and talk about attention and distraction: it has become an increasingly important subject for people who use, research, and critique digital technology.  And, in fact, these topics came up in our conversation after the first round of student presentations.  

When considering the benefits of audience members using computers during presentations, some people commented on how it proved to be an exercise in self-control and how it made paying attention easier.  Interesting comments.  In my mind, then, this topic became worthy of “more attention.”  However, just because I see a clear link from one activity to the next does not mean the same link exists for students.  As I said, it was a good reminder.

The second thing I’m considering revolves around why writing, particularly for a blog, is useful. Consider the little experiment we did in class: everybody closed his or her eyes and tried to focus on a particular idea.  After three minutes, we opened our eyes and wrote down what we thought about. As those who shared their lists made evident, distraction appears to be the brain’s standard operating mode.  Here's an example:

And one more:

Whether it is external stimuli--coughing, ring tones, loud computers--or the way our thoughts naturally flow from one idea to another-- “I’m hungry. How are machines made?”--it is hard to achieve deep, sustained focus on an idea by simply “sitting and thinking.”

But why is deep, sustained focus important?  After all, we have lightning fast connections and a wealth of information that is only a click away.  

Although a student posed this question to me, other students answered it quite well: deep sustained focus allows for growth, for increased understanding of those things for which we are passionate, for making interesting connections, for making important realizations and discoveries, and for allowing ideas to flourish.  

The next question, I fielded: But how does writing fit in?  Because writing well requires concentration and focus, or, to come back to one of the key terms, it requires attention.  In short, the attempt to articulate an idea in an interesting and coherent manner requires dedicating one’s mental faculties to this sole task.  

I recognize some of the arguments made in favor of distraction: it is akin to divergent thinking and allows for surprising connections and novel ideas.  I find these arguments convincing.  But distraction all the time is as detrimental as attention all the time.  At some point, we need to delve into one idea and learn what we think.  This is what writing offers.  As for blogging in particular, the writing can then become part of an ongoing conversation with people anywhere.  And they, in turn, can distract me with their own fantastic, thought-provoking ideas.