Thoughts on a Paper, Episode I

Hello, Internet!

      > Tonight's assignment is all about my up coming Inquiry Contract paper, and my progress on it for the day. This is episode one, season one of said posts. This Thursday I have to turn in a two page proposal for a topic. So tonight, sit back and relax, as I tell you my thoughts on THE TOPIC TO END ALL TOPICS.

      > So my first thought is my old crutch. Gay Marriage. But common, that's been said and done way too many times. So therefore, I'm going to choose a totally divergent topic. Now, what shall that be...?

      > Aha! I have an idea. So I was reading this fascinating article a while ago about how Google is taking away our ability to concentrate for a long period of time. Go ahead. Click on the link. I'll bet that your attention span has already been decreased long enough to keep you from reading the entire article. Scary, huh?

      > In fact, come to think of it, I was reading an article a while ago (I have no memory of where, what, or when) that was about a study conducted a number of years ago. In 1990, a bunch of kids were asked to sit still and do nothing for as long as they could. If I remember correctly, the 7 year olds could sit still for 7 to 10 minutes, at which point they would become distracted or give up. The same experiment was conducted again in 2000, and the results were rather depressing. Only a few of the 7 year olds were able to make it past two minutes.

      > Why does this happen? Well, I can't say for certain yet, because I haven't actually done any research yet, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with TV, videogames, and the immediate access to just about everything that the average American child has today. How do we fix it? Not a clue. But that's where the controversy comes in.

      > LaMags gave me an interesting article to look at. I haven't looked at it yet, but here's the link to it. Go read it, and I'll read it with you.

      > Ok, read and done. So now I have a choice to make. I have come up with two topics:

• How the media and technology is decreasing the attention span of youth in America, and what can be done to prevent it?
• How America is suffering from "Future Schlock", and what can be done to prevent it?

     > Sound good? With any luck, I'll be able to make a decision by tomorrow. Will I? Find out in Episode II of "THOUGHTS ON A PAPER", tomorrow at six.