One thing leads to another and Cap'n Crunch

I've been glued to this months edition of WIRED magazine all day- geeky I know. But I made the commitment to read the mag cover to cover this time, instead of skimming over and reading only the articles with the cool pictures. Good idea! Especially considering I ran across the inspiration for this post.

I know school is over for the semester, so I can now analyze all of my problems clearly without that looming fog over my head. Yes, this article "Chaos Theory", encompasses all of my supposed ADD, rabbit trail, never-ending, thought-provoking, mind-bending, headaching study habits; and I thought it was just me!

Turns out, research has been conducted since 2007, by UCLA professor Gary Small, on the topic of how the internet "rewires" our brains. In a nutshell, let me explain:

Do you ever get that feeling that you're no longer productive when studying online? You know how you are reading an online article, and you see every other line has a hyperlink, and you can either not click the link and keep reading (already distracted though), or click the link, read another article, click on another link, and so on.... sigh. This is me.

Back in the 80's when online study techniques were in the future- things looked bright. But almost as soon as they entered this digital learning age, they realized that students would be getting Cognitive Overload.
This results when your brain becomes more stimulated by the constant web-surfing, but not necessarily better stimulated. You are overloaded with information. The analogy given is this: transmitting information from your short-term memory to your long-term memory is like trying to fill a bathtub with a thimble. When you're reading a book, the flow of information is like a steady drip, but all flowing earnestly into the memory. But, when reading online articles, you face many faucets, going different directions, full blast!
The internet interrupts your train of thought and distracts you to click around. One section of the article even says that 90% of those who work a desk job click their email inbox 30-40 times an hour! Addicted?

Well, we've all heard the pros and cons of the internet, and the media overload of today's generation, but this article brought to light all of the frustration that you might not think about while studying.

Crunch-itize me Cap'n!
I read another article about the brains behind Pixar and Toy Story 3. Did you know that when they are in the 1,084 daylong creation process, they sit in their "thinking room" and drink coffee while eating Cap'n Crunch? And when they arein crunch time they stay up all night in their personalized offices, designed however they like. Tiki Paradise? You got it. 1970's Groovy Lounge? yeah man. All I have to say is work may be long, hard, and intense, but if you get to eat Cap'n crunch in a mod room of your taste to work in PIXAR, consider me jealous.