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Tue Nov 21 19:29:53 PST 2017


communication streams?  (This is meant as an objective question, not the
beginning of a reactionary rant.)
To take the other extreme: Kant's Critique of Pure Reason is some 600 pages,
developing an argument in that "space" that took him some 10 years to
uncover and refine (an argument that, in the view of most historians of
philosophy and science, is as revolutionary as the "Copernican turn" of the
16th ct., both for its own sake and for its consequences - most notably, its
interesting influence / application in Einstein and the Copenhagen school of
Quantum Mechanics).
It took little old thickheaded me, in turn, more time and attention than I
care to confess to "get it" - something on the order of months, if not years
(depending on what one counts).
After many years of practice, I can lay this argument out for undergraduates
in a couple of classes - they can "get" the outline, but for them to learn
how to read this argument in Kant's own writings takes considerably longer
(most won't do this until graduate school - those who go, that is).

The point is:  we have examples of a kind of extended attention and focus on
(more or less) one thing is possible, not uncommon, and perhaps even
desirable for at least certain contexts and kinds of knowledges.

Hence the simple question: are AoIR folk engaged in and/or aware of research
- published and/or ongoing - that focuses on
(a) attention spans and other "cognitive indicators" (my term) - i.e.,
what's going on (at least by inference, perhaps from a phenomenological
framework) in the consciousness / awareness of media users, perhaps with a
view towards
(b) making comparisons between "traditional" media users (text, writing on
paper, etc.) and electronic multi-media users, perhaps with a view towards
(c) scenting out possible correlations (acknowledging the great difficulty
of establishing causal connections) between media use and cognitive patterns
and abilities?

I'm aware of a few studies that, for example, examine the impact of SMS
usage on language patterns - very useful and interesting!  But I'm wondering
if this can pushed another level or two.
Perhaps I should also add here that I'm looking for empirical research,
whether qualitative or quantitative, that would help illumine these
questions.  I'm acutely aware that a form of this question was heavily
debated among postmodernists, especially in the 1990s, i.e., with regard to
the "electronic culture of secondary orality" favoring a postmodern subject
marked by fragmentation, decentering, ephemerality, etc.
But what I'd like to see, beyond those philosophical debates (smile), is
careful research, informed by central attention to these sorts of cognitive
issues.  

A long question (our sense of length itself strongly shaped by the frames
and limits of e-mail) - thanks in advance for any suggestions and ideas.

Cheers,

Charles Ess
Distinguished Research Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies
Drury University
900 N. Benton Ave.                          Voice: 417-873-7230
Springfield, MO  65802  USA            FAX: 417-873-7435
Home page:  http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html
Co-chair, CATaC 2002: http://www.it.murdoch.edu.au/~sudweeks/catac02/

Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23

> From: jeremy hunsinger <jhuns at vt.edu>
> Reply-To: air-l at aoir.org
> Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 20:48:47 -0500
> To: air-l at aoir.org
> Subject: Re: [Air-l] Re: SMS
> 
> likewise, today i saw what i thought might be my first 5x media usage.
> I was passing through the bridge on a library here, we have an open
> networking area, and i glanced to the side to see a young gentleman's
> screen who appeared to have his cell phone and headset going as he was
> talking quietly into it, a book propped up on his keyboard, a video
> going on the screen that i could not make out in passing, a webpage in
> the background, and a chat system which looked like yahooim in the
> foreground, so he could glance up from the book, catch the video and
> the chat, and go back reading and typing simultaneously while talking
> on his cellphone.    I consider myself fairly media adept, reading,
> while chatting on irc, watching videos and writing, etc., I might get
> to 3 or 4 textual arenas if i am coding or the like, but by adding the
> video and having the phone going just shocked me.
> 
> has anyone seen similar things?  i know campuses are probably a limit
> experience in some cultural settings, but at what level does plural
> mediations go beyond immersion?  and how do we tell when something like
> 5 media environments is immersive to any particular person?
> jeremy hunsinger
> jhuns at vt.edu
> on the ibook
> www.cddc.vt.edu
> www.cddc.vt.edu/jeremy
> www.cddc.vt.edu/jeremy/blog
> 
> ()  ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail
> /\                        - against microsoft attachments
> 
> 
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