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Why is Our Attention-Span Declining? || Acharya Prashant (2023)
Acharya Prashant
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2 months ago
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Learning
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00:00
so good afternoon sir my question is sir nowadays we use youtube shorts instagram reels and other
00:08
such short video platforms and they are really shortening our attention span so my question is
00:15
how can we use technology and media in such a way that it does not affect our attention span and
00:20
what are some ways to maximize it thank you sir you know see it it is primarily
00:32
not about the span of attention the important thing is not really for how long you can hold
00:49
your attention on an object the important thing is what is the quality of the object you are
00:59
attending to and the nature of human consciousness is such that only very specific type of objects
01:17
can really hold your attention for long let me go a little deeper into it
01:26
you see our mind our consciousness is constantly searching for something
01:34
getting it man is the name of a lifelong craving we are continuously a longing
01:49
and the world is full of infinite objects and we do not know those objects
01:58
therefore we keep approaching those objects one after the other incessantly all our life in the hope
02:09
that our internal longing will come to rest through one of those objects
02:18
that's why we are constantly restless that's why we are constantly trying experimenting knocking at one door after the other
02:31
getting it now that is the reason why the short format the short video format in social media
02:45
has been inevitable and since it has arrived over the last few years it has been more successful than the longer formats
02:58
because the audience without even knowing it in an unconscious way
03:05
is looking for something extraordinary
03:08
now if you give them a 30 minute piece to watch
03:14
by the second or third minute it is anyway clear that the thing that you are looking for
03:22
is not going to be found in that long video
03:25
right so after the third minute the audience will drop out
03:31
after the third minute the audience will anyway drop out
03:37
because it has become clear that the video is not what
03:41
what your deepest self wanted
03:44
so how do the video makers
03:49
how do the so called content creators cope with this
03:54
they said we know that
03:57
we cannot hold the audience anyway for
04:01
more than three minutes
04:03
so we will give them just one minute of content
04:07
and then the danger of the audience running away reduces
04:13
and then the proportion of the video that has been watched improves
04:20
because if you see on an average if people are watching
04:23
three minutes out of 30 minute content
04:26
that is just 10 percent
04:27
right
04:29
the algorithm will record that the average duration
04:35
viewed
04:36
is just 10 percent of the video length
04:39
whereas if you serve them just a 50 second thing
04:44
the audience will watch it for 30-40 seconds
04:49
before they can make up their mind to drop out
04:52
right
04:53
even if you discover that the video is trash
04:56
still you would have spent a few seconds on the video
05:00
10, 20, 30 seconds something
05:02
so even if you spend 15 seconds
05:05
on a 45 second shot
05:09
or reel or something
05:11
you have still watched 33 percent of the video length
05:16
now this 33 percent is far better than the 10 percent
05:20
that you watch on the long video
05:22
so this little thing
05:24
gets more favorably ranked on
05:27
the YouTube or Instagram algorithm
05:29
right
05:31
do you see the fundamental reason
05:33
the fundamental reason is
05:34
everybody
05:35
be it the long video creator
05:37
the short video creator
05:38
the movie maker
05:39
the Netflix maker
05:41
does not matter who he is
05:43
everybody knows that the content that you are serving
05:46
does not have
05:48
that touch of eternity in it
05:52
it does not have
05:55
that all essential quality in it
05:59
that can
06:01
that can simply bind
06:03
the viewer to the screen
06:06
so people are
06:09
trying all kinds of tricks
06:11
they have to try these tricks
06:14
because they are finding themselves
06:17
unable to address the central problem
06:19
and the central problem
06:21
as I mentioned right in the first sentence today
06:24
is not the length of the attention span
06:29
the central problem
06:31
is the quality of the object you are serving
06:35
to your audience
06:37
is the content worth it
06:40
if the content is worth it
06:43
then people can watch even
06:44
for one hour two hours
06:46
any length
06:48
does not matter
06:49
the epics have been
06:52
so long lasting
06:53
and do you know
06:55
the number of verses
06:56
they contain
06:56
the number of verses
07:00
run into scores of thousands
07:02
10,000 verses
07:04
20,000 verses
07:05
40,000 verses
07:06
more than a lakh verses
07:08
and yet they have been
07:12
eternal and immortal
07:13
if you talk
07:17
of the Vedas
07:19
the Rig Veda itself
07:20
has 10,000 verses
07:21
or if you go to Homer
07:25
and talk of Iliad
07:26
and Odyssey
07:27
again there
07:28
the length of the work
07:31
is so daunting
07:32
but still
07:34
it has been
07:36
with the people
07:37
and they have just loved it
07:38
so
07:41
it's not that
07:42
people are afraid
07:43
of length
07:44
really
07:44
people are just
07:47
fed up of trash
07:48
trash
07:51
and trash
07:53
does not necessarily
07:54
refer to
07:55
production values
07:56
it does not really
07:58
refer
08:00
to how
08:01
attractively
08:01
how lucratively
08:04
you have packaged
08:06
the whole thing
08:07
it
08:09
refers to
08:10
what is
08:10
inside
08:11
the package
08:12
it is the
08:14
stuff
08:14
that
08:15
is inside
08:16
the package
08:17
that's what
08:17
I am referring to
08:18
as trash
08:18
what is the message
08:21
you are delivering
08:21
what is the
08:23
insight
08:24
you are providing
08:24
through your video
08:25
is there
08:27
something
08:27
in the video
08:28
that will
08:30
give some
08:31
relief
08:31
to my
08:32
otherwise
08:32
tormented
08:33
life
08:34
be it a
08:37
youngster
08:38
a man
08:39
a woman
08:39
a professional
08:40
a student
08:41
an old man
08:42
a Hindu
08:43
a Muslim
08:44
a rich man
08:47
somebody looking
08:49
for a job
08:49
it does not
08:53
matter
08:53
we all
08:56
are missing
08:56
something very
08:57
essential in our
08:58
life
08:58
now is your
08:59
video or your
09:00
story or whatever
09:01
you have
09:02
as an artist
09:03
is that
09:05
able to
09:06
provide me
09:07
something that
09:09
will fill up
09:10
the hollow
09:10
here in my
09:11
chest
09:11
at the center
09:14
of my existence
09:15
is a big
09:16
void
09:16
and it
09:18
pains
09:19
it pains
09:20
incessantly
09:20
if you are
09:23
a video
09:24
creator
09:25
you are
09:25
an artist
09:25
if you are
09:26
a painter
09:27
or a
09:27
storyteller
09:28
you are
09:28
an artist
09:29
do you
09:30
have it
09:31
in you
09:32
does your
09:33
art
09:34
contain
09:35
that beauty
09:36
that truth
09:37
that will
09:39
bring some
09:40
sucker
09:40
to my
09:41
to my
09:43
charred
09:44
life
09:44
a few
09:48
a few
09:48
drops of
09:49
relief
09:50
to my
09:50
to my
09:51
parched
09:51
existence
09:52
so that's
09:58
the problem
09:59
and if you
10:00
do not solve
10:00
that problem
10:01
you will find
10:03
even one
10:03
minute is too
10:04
much
10:04
people will
10:07
run away
10:07
from you
10:08
in five
10:08
seconds
10:09
because what
10:11
you are
10:11
bringing to
10:12
them is
10:13
just so
10:14
repetitive
10:14
and old
10:16
and dull
10:18
and boring
10:19
within five
10:21
seconds
10:21
people have
10:22
begun to
10:22
discover that
10:23
the stuff
10:24
being served
10:25
is just a
10:26
rehash of
10:27
something old
10:28
now the
10:30
old thing
10:30
itself wasn't
10:31
able to
10:32
provide any
10:32
relief
10:32
what will
10:34
this thing
10:35
in the new
10:36
package do
10:37
no hope
10:38
so one just
10:40
scrolls away
10:40
and you hold
10:42
a mobile phone
10:43
like this
10:44
and with one
10:44
thumb or one
10:45
finger you
10:46
are just
10:46
scrolling away
10:47
even five
10:48
seconds is
10:49
too much
10:49
now
10:50
so that's
10:53
the thing
10:53
ours is
10:55
an age of
10:56
a very special
10:57
kind of
10:57
crisis you
10:58
see
10:58
there is a
11:02
complete proliferation
11:04
of all kinds
11:05
of colorful
11:05
objects all
11:06
around
11:07
you want to
11:08
buy a car
11:09
you will be
11:11
flooded with
11:12
choices
11:13
you specify a
11:15
budget and
11:16
15 25 kinds
11:18
of models are
11:18
available
11:19
you want to
11:21
buy a shirt
11:21
n numbers of
11:22
brands
11:23
you want to
11:25
visit a place
11:26
so many
11:26
options and
11:27
so many
11:27
two travel
11:28
operators
11:29
you want to
11:30
eat just
11:31
look at the
11:32
ever lengthening
11:33
menu
11:34
the entire
11:37
culinary
11:39
expanse of
11:40
the world is
11:40
available on
11:41
your table
11:42
so choices
11:44
choices
11:45
everywhere
11:45
that's what the
11:47
industrial age has
11:48
done right
11:49
go to a
11:50
maison
11:50
does not
11:53
matter what
11:53
you want it
11:54
will be delivered
11:54
at your
11:55
doorsteps
11:56
people are
11:58
truly empowered
11:59
so objects
12:01
all around and
12:02
yet nothing
12:02
that can satisfy
12:04
you
12:04
I'm reminded of
12:06
that beautiful
12:06
poem
12:07
water water
12:09
everywhere
12:10
but not a
12:12
drop to
12:12
drink
12:13
a lost
12:21
ship in the
12:22
middle of
12:23
a vast
12:24
ocean
12:24
water
12:27
water
12:27
everywhere
12:28
but not
12:29
a drop
12:30
to drink
12:31
that's our
12:32
state
12:33
in the
12:35
language of
12:35
social media
12:36
you could say
12:37
content
12:38
content
12:38
everywhere
12:39
but not
12:42
one
12:43
video
12:44
of
12:47
relief
12:47
so
12:52
instead of
12:53
taking the
12:55
issue head
12:55
on
12:56
instead of
12:56
discovering
12:57
the root
12:58
cause
12:59
as
13:01
usual
13:02
we have
13:04
relied more
13:05
on
13:06
trickery
13:07
and cunningness
13:08
and shortcuts
13:11
so we have
13:13
said okay we
13:14
will keep
13:14
reducing the
13:15
length of
13:15
the video
13:16
we will keep
13:16
loading it
13:17
with special
13:17
effects
13:18
look at the
13:19
look at the
13:20
VFX content
13:21
in movies
13:22
these days
13:23
why do you
13:24
need that
13:24
so much
13:25
why
13:27
there is a
13:29
reason
13:29
and unless you
13:30
understand that
13:30
reason you will
13:31
not understand
13:32
the age you
13:32
are living in
13:33
you will not
13:34
understand the
13:35
world you will
13:36
not understand
13:36
your own
13:36
life
13:37
why so many
13:41
filters are
13:42
needed
13:42
there is a
13:44
reason and
13:45
the reason is
13:45
very important
13:46
to know
13:47
you cannot
13:51
have a video
13:52
where you are
13:52
just saying
13:53
something
13:53
something
13:55
important in
13:56
a simple
13:57
way
13:57
because nothing
14:01
important is
14:02
being said
14:02
at all
14:03
trash is
14:07
being served
14:08
in innumerable
14:09
avatars
14:09
and therefore
14:12
you require
14:12
all kinds of
14:14
embellishments
14:15
and filters
14:17
and decorations
14:18
editing
14:19
and effects
14:21
and
14:21
all the
14:27
jazz
14:27
getting it
14:33
yes
14:34
yes
14:34
yes
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