Do you have enough time in the day?

 I was reminiscing recently with a friend about perceptions of present-day technology we now have, in the 60s, 70s, 80s and even the 90s that was supposed to make more free time available, because as the thinking went it would make us more efficient.

That is not exactly how things have turned out, and this point I'm sure you will agree, technology has eaten up our free time. Mainly due to the fact that we can now do more (or so we tell ourselves) and so pack more activities or duties into each hour. I personally have things I would love to do, but don't because I am already doing too much. A little of this, a little of that, and of course the inevitable interruption which always at least 10 minutes takes away from whatever I'm trying to do in the first place. The difference between the modern world and that of let's say the 1970s is that back then you could focus on one task were subject. It was much easier to become "unavailable" and people knew this therefore life was structured in bigger blocks of uninterrupted time to do whatever important study or activity needed to be done. Very often then the result was the job or activity was done better.

I wonder then if today we do more but understand less. I recently began taking a computer science introductory course on brilliant.org and while I understand everything it seems to me that a lot of the deeper aspects are just not there in the material, simply because the way the information is presented it's in short bite-size chunks. They know that no student has several hours free now days.

This I think has far-reaching implications because it will ultimately lead to a society which lacks the depth and patience gained by a long term undertaking. Yes you still here of many people who undertake activities that consume a good portion of their life, but I'm afraid the average person is convinced they can learn it all quickly. Have you ever noticed when you become really proficient at something usually there has been a fundamental shift in the way you do other things? It is my personal belief this is because the act of true learning changes not only immediate situation but has much broader effects.

This is one of the things I think we are losing when we take abridged "bite-size" lessons or courses, because it is only with proficiency that we gain the extra margin of knowledge which allows us to truly build on what we now know.

Leave a comment down below if you find yourself having a thought about this.