2022-06-27

鱼比人类更聪明这个说法是真的吗？金鱼的注意力持续时间要比人类的长，这也是真的吗？

I wonder how many of you will read this article or listen to my voice right through to the end? With our busy lifestyles and continuous distractions1, it's hard to stay focussed on one task and I wouldn't be surprised if I lose you somewhere along the way – but we'll see!

Some experts believe that out attention spans are actually shrinking. We often joke that goldfish have the shortest level of concentration, so much so that they forget what they saw nine seconds earlier. Well now a study says that humans have an even shorter span – just eight seconds. This I can believe – there's always so much to do and so much to remember that my brain gets overloaded2 and I find it hard to zero in on one thing.

Of course, smartphones, the internet and social media all take up a lot of our attention. Chicago-based research firm Dscout found that we look at our mobile phones for, on average, 2.42 hours every day. It is tempting3 to keep glancing