Publish at January 29 2025 Updated January 29 2025
Long before the Internet, there was terrestrial radio and TV: with two or three channels, the choice was limited; what's more, you had to get up to change channels, and reception was often tricky. If it was annoying, we waited or turned the set off...
Then came cable, oh marvellous, with dozens of channels and, above all, the remote control, so we could switch from one channel to another quickly, in search of the most interesting. The likelihood of finding satisfaction was radically increased.
Today, no one really considers the question of choice: millions of video and audio documents are just waiting to be discovered. Better still, we don't even have to search any more, just define our preferences more or less consciously, and an algorithm takes care of feeding us with prodigiously interesting productions. We can switch from a detective triller to a cooking competition or a recital without having to wait or settle for anything less.
Taken to the scale of YouTube and TikTok, this continuous contextual zapping and saturation of our satisfaction has effects we're beginning to recognize: intolerance to boredom and dissatisfaction, intensity-seeking, impatience and, incidentally, a shortened period of continuous attention.
Reading more than 50 pages in a row seems an almost inconceivable exercise for most young people, whereas this same activity was barely an appetizer for pre-internet youth. Why put yourself through this kind of effort when you've got so much better things to do? Our satisfaction is achieved much more easily.
In cinema, the average length of shots has only decreased since the beginnings of talking pictures in the 1930s. A sequence shot lasted 10 to 15 seconds in a film like "Gone with the Wind". In the 50s, with the development of television and editing techniques, we moved to 8-12 second shots. In the '70s, techniques and box-office imperatives led productions like Star Wars to present average shots of 5 to 7 seconds. Half as long.
The first music video channels appeared in the 1980s and popularized the fast 4 to 6 second shots. A film like Blade Runner set the tone. Concurrent with the democratization of personal computers, the shortening of shots continued into the 90s. A film like Matrix is breathtaking with shots of 2 to 4 seconds, and all superhero films stick to very short shots. From 2010 onwards, with the rise of social networking, we moved to quasi-stroboscopic frequency, from 1.5 to 3 seconds. MadMax Fury Road and Everything, everywhere, all at once are examples of this. We barely have time to catch our breath. Children's videos are no exception, some of them barely bearable because the shots change so quickly. That's what they watch.
As for the script, there's no longer one linear action, but three or four plots developing concurrently from different points of view. It's hard to do anything but let yourself be carried along by the story. Understanding will come later. The number of people sharing a scene is reduced in proportion to the length of the sequences. The more actors there are simultaneously, the longer the scene becomes, as the viewer has to situate them and understand their roles, which is hardly compatible with the intensity of the plot.
If we draw a parallel with school textbooks, we've gone from paper to digital, from pure text, with little or no graphic elements, to dematerialized multimedia documents, from linear progression to branched developments. Now, artificial intelligence is transforming the textbook into a "pedagogical approach to learning activities". The textbook will soon be the network, in continuous evolution. There is no longer a single learning objective, but five or six adapted to the particularities of each individual. It's a far cry from "classic" training objectives. Our attention is required much more intensely.
If paying attention brings satisfaction, it's obvious that we're going to be interested in what's on offer. What remains is to estimate the degree of satisfaction obtained in relation to the effort invested. For some companies, the magic formula is "maximum satisfaction for minimum effort", like scrolling endlessly in front of stimulating videos.
But the equation is incomplete, because there comes a time when we are no longer satisfied with our "satisfaction". Intensity leads to saturation. There seems to be a pleasure in making an effort, an effort that demonstrates that we have a purpose, a value and, ultimately, a reason to exist. This effort that we decide to exert, this manifestation of our will and free will, becomes a need in itself.
The mechanics of video games have taken this concept on board: we appreciate ourselves when we succeed in acquiring a new skill, when we reach a milestone, when we get closer to a goal. Many gamers can't get enough of it.
We pay attention to what can bring us satisfaction, help us achieve a goal, even reduce discomfort; so why is it that some people can't stay focused? Nothing satisfies them?
We assume that the answers are multiple, but not infinite. The school can propose goals to be reached, and individuals make as much effort to achieve them as they subscribe to them. A context is created; it is the strength of this context that mobilizes concentration and effort. An individual can create this context himself or adopt one that is external to him.
While it's difficult to put oneself in the shoes of someone who is no longer capable of determining priorities or exercising the power of choice other than to follow the path of least resistance, it is possible to create conditions that diminish disruption and train the capacity for effort and perseverance.
Apparently, we all have the ability to concentrate, but the difference lies mainly in the ability to maintain concentration despite low intensity, and to filter out environmental stimuli that distract from the goal, that zap the context. When goals and context come first, everything else follows.
Our physical and social environment multiplies the demands made on our attention, and our attention is coveted to a level that is sometimes intolerable. The "it'll only take 5 minutes" messages are like scissors in the continuity of our activities.
The problem becomes one of ethics: what right do we have to divert someone from their objectives and activities in order to get them to adopt others? By consenting to these dozens of solicitations, our attention becomes scattered, our objectives devalued, our goals blurred and our willpower absorbed by superficial, almost anaesthetizing satisfactions.
As the science of social manipulation has progressed, so has the science of establishing rules. No telephones in class and no compilation of personal data without consent are examples of this. We can surely find better ways of developing attentional control, but for now these solutions are part of a package of measures for getting back to our goals, in a meaningful context.
Illustration: Gerd Altmann - Pixabay
References
The evolution of cinema through the lens of data - Spotern
https://www.spotern.com/fr/blog/les-evolutions-du-cinema-au-revelateur-des-datas/
Educational video - Labo Cinéma - https://edu.labocinemedias.ca/presentation/
Les manuels scolaires sous la loupe de l'historien - Paul Aubin - Septentrion
https://amzn.to/40P44c7
A brief history of school textbooks - Godelieve De Koninck
https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/qf/1999-n113-qf1201247/56215ac.pdf
What game mechanics can promote learning? - Alexandre Roberge - Thot Cursus
https://cursus.edu/fr/10289/quelles-mecaniques-de-jeu-peuvent-favoriser-lapprentissage
Playing like a madman - Denys Lamontagne - Thot Cursus
https://cursus.edu/fr/23342/jouer-comme-un-fou
Gamifying work: good, but not for everyone - Alexandre Roberge - Thot Cursus
https://cursus.edu/fr/11229/gamifier-le-travail-bien-mais-pas-pour-tout-le-monde
Mental training at school - Guilaine Bomba - Thot Cursus
https://cursus.edu/fr/27896/lentrainement-mental-a-lecole
Cultivating attention - Denys Lamontagne - Thot Cursus
https://cursus.edu/fr/9462/lattention-ca-se-cultive
From emotional intelligence to manipulation - Alexandre Roberge - Thot Cursus
https://cursus.edu/fr/9701/de-lintelligence-emotionnelle-a-la-manipulation
Banning cell phones in the classroom - pros and cons [Infography] - Thot Cursus
https://cursus.edu/fr/24924/interdiction-des-telephones-portables-en-classe-les-pour-et-les-contre-infographie
Is banning cell phones in school the right thing to do? - Alexandre Roberge - Thot Cursus
https://cursus.edu/fr/28547/interdire-le-cellulaire-a-lecole-est-il-la-chose-a-faire
You might also like:
Is group study more effective?
Is study a ritual that must be carried out in monastic silence, away from all individuals? Yet studying alone is only one way of doing things. Some even doubt that this is the best approach, preferring the strength of the group.
Tutoring between students: for a creation of social link in learning
Student-to-student tutoring allows for pedagogical and, above all, relational support at a lower cost, considering the limited resources of most distance learning institutions.
Publish more multilingual children books from Africa
How many books about other countries or translated books did you read as a child? In Africa, the majority of response will refer to foreign books for children while in other continent, the answers will most likely refer to an indigenously produced children book. This first article, in a serie, present the need of multi-lingual publishing of books for children, the next will present how to overcome existing challenges to it.
Is the murmuration of the human race in a specific turn? Are we experiencing a profound cultural change? Can we, as humans, be satisfied with simply reproducing the global movement?
The mystery of animal onomatopoeia
Have you ever wondered why animals sound different in different languages? Could it be that the French duck goes quack quack while its English counterpart goes kwak-kwak? Perception or misunderstanding? Do you give your tongue to the cat? Come and unravel the mystery of animal onomatopoeia!
