Do you have shiny object syndrome?
Creativity expert, Ken Robinson convincingly conveyed in his TED Talk that ADHD was a symptom created. The diagnosis normalized the students who were not compliant.
Whether officially diagnosed by a psychologist or not, there is no denying that attention spans have shriveled. Your grandparents patiently read a book. That is not something that comes naturally or easily nowadays.
This can be a pro, but also a con.
We can work with it. Think like advertisers: how can I create something that grabs someone’s attention? What will cause someone to stop what they’re doing and devote their focus to what I have created?
On the other hand, there are great works that will get lost. The tomes that nobody has the time or attention span to read. They are littered with gold. For example, Principles by Ray Dalio is a hefty staple to own but it’s not digestible. The first version was published in 2011. The daily posts that Dalio shares on LinkedIn break down the concepts. He’s made it interactive with his Principles app as well. What he’s done is ingenius and makes his ideas more teachable to new learners. The barrier to understanding is low with different modes of consumption.
It is up to the creators of the world to take this fleeting attention into account. They must be courageous enough to step up to the plate. To work with the societal push and pull of trends. Consumers are as spastic as a dog seeing a squirrel sprint up a tree. Creators must persist in being able to find those gems that are hidden in ruff and make them learnable.