The Virtues of Having a Short Attention Span

As consumers, it’s easy to get predictable.

The things that we consume lull us into a semi-comfortable rut. But rejecting that semi-comfort is good for you - by switching things up you’re diversifying your input, and being exposed to new things.

New things make us better.

That’s pretty much it, and since I’m advocating for a short attention span, you can leave now if you want.

As you’re the paying attention sort, take a six million year walk with me:

Australopithecus, one of the earliest examples of the human species, had every reason to fear change. As you’ll see from a quick google image search, they were only one step removed from apes - and as an only-recently-lapsed member of the animal kingdom, they were still subject to that kingdom’s rules. This meant that Australopithecus was keenly aware that lurking around every corner of the savannah… was potential death. They were part of a food chain, and had no shortage of predators. So Australopithecus did what is natural: they relied on their instinct – their animal ability to notice signs of potential danger. Changes in their environment were warning signs. Change said: Be alert. Be on guard. While on the other hand, familiarity meant safety.

This is the six-million-year-old habit that has you ordering the same thing from the Chinese takeaway that you’ve ordered since you were fifteen.

We are programmed to crave the comfort of sameness.

But when aberration causes evolution, we have to ask: what does sameness get us? We no longer need that animal warning system, so, really, all it gets us is… boring. It gets us diminishingly interesting Marvel movies. It gets us clicks on the ‘skip’ button and increasingly expensive wallpaper.

When we gravitate towards familiarity in what we consume, in what we create - we’re indulging a vestigial instinct, and ignoring six million years of higher function development. Higher functions which, as any evolutionary psychologist or brand strategist will tell you, are quite useful.

Having a short attention span is an excellent way to combat this.

For those who have a short attention span, here’s a segue disguised as a complete lane-switch, so you can imagine you’ve started reading an entirely different article:

Dorito theory is the idea that some content is not designed to satiate. It has no interest in nourishing you, like a healthy meal would. Instead, like Doritos, it is designed to be eaten, and eaten, and eaten. The act of being consumed is the end point for a Dorito, and for this sort of Dorito-esque content. They don’t want you satiated, because when you are satiated, you stop.

This is not the content I’m championing.

Audiences still love content that dwells. So much so, last year Hollywood released a movie that brought back the concept of an intermission, and it was a smash hit. Celebrating the short attention span is not to be misconstrued as touting that ‘long form is dead’, or in any way suggesting that we’ve been left in a better place as a society by developing a taste for content that makes us go through dopamine the way Dominic Toretto goes through Nitrous Oxide.

Instead, the real virtue of the short attention span is in the itch.

The one that compels people to keep flicking until they find something that truly grabs them. To wander off from the guided tour. To open up Wikipedia rabbit holes.

That isn’t just a sign of a restless mind, but of a thirst for input. New data, new perspectives, new experiences. Those with a short attention span are likely to have a wider, more diverse range of references. More things to draw upon, more dots to connect. Those who find ‘familiar comforting sameness’ tedious and unappealing are more likely to push for something that’s genuinely new and interesting.

And - for the very same reason that Australopithecus would sit up and pay attention when something different flittered across the plains - new and interesting is what gets the clicks.

Today it’s the thing that stands out - but tomorrow it’ll be what everyone else is trying to blend into.

See for yourself - try something new. Be it the route you take home, the type of content you put on when you get there, or the next thing you order for that beloved Chinese takeaway.

Even if you don’t end up actually liking your deviation… it’ll stand out. You’ll feel invigorated for having stepped out of your comfort zone. You might have even learned something.

Either way: it’ll be much more memorable than more of the same.