Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2011 07:28:52 -0800 (PST)
From: George Shaner <george_shaner at yahoo.com>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: [wsfa-forum] Attention sppan?
To: wsfa-forum at yahoogroups.com, WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

If there is a serious response to "the internet is wrecking our kids" whine=
 it's =0Athat those people who didn't have much in the way of attention to =
give in the =0Afirst place do now have more temptation.=0A=0AOne suspects t=
hat the people whining about the kids not paying attention are =0Ajust grou=
sing about them not paying attention to their pet canon.=0A=0AGRS=0A=0A=0A=
=0A----- Original Message ----=0AFrom: Michael Walsh <mjw at press.jhu.edu>=0A=
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>; wsfa-forum at yahoogroups.com=0ASe=
nt: Wed, February 23, 2011 9:39:19 AM=0ASubject: [WSFA] [wsfa-forum] Attention spp=
an?=0A=0A"Lots of people think that the Internet has ruined today's kids. T=
hey=0Adon't read, it seems. Google has rewired their brains and stunted the=
ir=0Aattention spans. Are attention spans deteriorating? Forty years ago, t=
he=0Alength of Marcel Oph=FCls' The Sorrow and The Pity (at 4 hours 11 minu=
tes)=0Aor Andy Warhol's Empire (6 hours 36 minutes) was a sign of extreme=
=0Aseriousness. Today, popular entertainments are vastly longer. J.M.=0AStr=
aczynski's Babylon 5 was conceived as a single story told in more=0Athan 10=
0 hours of film. Joss Whedon's Buffy, The Vampire Slayer is a=0Acoming of a=
ge story meant to be viewed over a period of seven years.=0AHarry Potter co=
mes in seven volumes, none of them short, and when the=0Achildren have fini=
shed those, they enjoy Philip Pullman's His Dark=0AMaterials, J.R.R. Tolkie=
n's Lord of the Rings, and the 20 volumes of=0APatrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Mat=
urin stories. If our attention span grows=0Ashort, one wonders where those =
mythic Victorians found time get anything=0Adone."=0A=0A--Mark Bernstein in=
 the Atlantic magazine.=0A=0Ahttp://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issu=
e=1398#m11559=0A=0Amjw=0A=0A=0A------------------------------------=0A=0A=
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sfa-forum-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com=0A=0A<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is=
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