Wednesday, February 09, 2011

The Truth (?) about ADD

No such thing as Attention Deficit.

"You are always paying attention to something. Attention is not the problem." Alejandro Lleras

This strikes me as SO true. You can't have a deficit of attention--attention is a constant. The deficit is in pleasing someone else by what you choose/must pay attention to. Sometimes in pleasing yourself, as well, I admit.

But the disorder needs a new name!


Other good quotes from the article:

""Constant stimulation is registered by our brains as unimportant, to the point that the brain erases it from our awareness," Lleras said. "So I thought, well, if there's some kind of analogy about the ways the brain fundamentally processes information, things that are true for sensations ought to be true for thoughts. If sustained attention to a sensation makes that sensation vanish from our awareness, sustained attention to a thought should also lead to that thought's disappearance from our mind!" "

This is why I don't nag, whenever I can help it. Constant stimulation is registered by the brain as unimportant. If you just say it over and over, your kids/spouse/students will TUNE IT OUT.

And maybe the ADD brain has some good ideas. Apparently, this research discovered that "prolonged attention to a single task actually hinders performance."


No comments: