Okay, I’m no Sherlock, but I have surmised that the whole “case of the amazing shrinking modern attention span” is bunk. Like Steven Johnson, I am comfortable arguing that contemporary pop culture actually expects more and more of our brain power, not less.
And I still basically am, but still: along with this morning’s coffee, I discovered that there are now :50 “official trailers” for 3:19-long songs. That’s what you get, indeed.
Elsewhere, the million and six plot twists of Lost slap us back the other way. Confusion is the new (substitute for) sophistication? Let us mull over these developments while taking in the Golden Girls marathons this week.
It’s anecdotal evidence of shorter attention spans, but whatever:
Me: “It’s a nice piece, only about 20 minutes or so.”
Girl I was talking to who didn’t listen to much classical music: “20 minutes??!”
ca. 2001