#popcorn brain

The summer heat was relentless that afternoon on Route 150. Despite the office hour timing, the bus was nearly empty. I sat by the window, disappearing into a book, until the young man next to me spoke up. He was a CA student struggling to focus. “How do you make this a habit when you have mobile?” he asked. His question took me back to 2022 a time when I was facing the exact same…

(Google Translate)

A friend of mine recently emailed me an article from the Mayo Clinic on “popcorn brain.” I might have thought she was trying to send me a message, except she copied several other people on her email, too. So I decided she was not singling me out. I’d never heard of “popcorn brain” before. But after I read the article, I recognized the concept. According to the professor who coined the term, it…

First it was, I’m going to go blind from staring into the glaring monitor, then it was carpal tunnel from too many keyboarding hours. Then, I’m going to get fat and flabby from too much sitting. Then, it was tendinitis in my thumbs from too much texting on my cell phone.

And now? It’s Popcorn Brain. Doesn’t that bring up a lively assortment of images...

Man... I never knew Technology could be so dangerous!

I’m a little late to this party. CNN’s Elizabeth Cohen, did a post on Popcorn Brain (June 23, 2011).

Popcorn Brain is a mental state happening to people who get so into the constant stimulation of the rapid multi-tasking online life they can't function in the slower paced life offline. They choose the way of the net junkie over people, activities, or even having kids. It does give me pause to consider the behavior I see online sometimes though, especially Twitter, you know those dudes that are always in the stream every minute 24/7/365. When do they get anything else done?

I’m first to admit I get totally obsessed when an idea sets my brain on fire, but I always thought that was artistic temperament. The Center for Internet and Technology Addiction (yes, there really is one) has a test to help you determine if it’s time to logoff and shut down.

(I did think it was a little ironic however that the internet addiction test is online.) 

Frankly I live for those days when I’m completely immersed in the creation zone. I can go all day hardly stopping to eat or pee. (Though I've been told by experts that's unhealthy behavior.) But I do unplug. I love quiet time, a good book, music, staring at clouds rolling by on a blustery day, or having a conversation with one special person that no one else ever needs to hear.