
Drive Moment - The Attention Span Panic: Can You Watch A Full Movie Without Looking At Your Phone?
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Researcher Gloria Mark, who studies human attention at the University of California, Irvine, found in 2004 that the average person focused their attention on a single screen for about two and half minutes. By 2016, that length of time had dropped to 47 seconds, a reduction of roughly 69%.
In other words, we’re all chasing shiny objects these days. And it’s a trend that’s not likely to reverse itself. It could, in fact, get even worse.
We are, after all, under assault from distractions. The lure of dopamine-feeding social media threads calls to us constantly. Email, Slack and Discord ping right as we get into a groove. TV news and shows, as well as films, feature quickly changing shots, further sapping our ability to focus. AI, meanwhile, is impacting our ability to think critically
In other words, we’re all chasing shiny objects these days. And it’s a trend that’s not likely to reverse itself. It could, in fact, get even worse.
We are, after all, under assault from distractions. The lure of dopamine-feeding social media threads calls to us constantly. Email, Slack and Discord ping right as we get into a groove. TV news and shows, as well as films, feature quickly changing shots, further sapping our ability to focus. AI, meanwhile, is impacting our ability to think critically

