Altering attention through audio

Altering attention through audio

A recently published book claims that the amount of constant audio we hear each day is changing the very structure of our brains. Its thesis is simple enough: not only that the modern world’s relentless audio overload is killing our capacity (9) ________ reflection, contemplation and patience, but that our listening habits are also altering the way our brains are wired. In the book, the author looks (10) ________ on such human inventions as radio, headphones and recorded music and the (11) ________ to which they influenced our essential models of thought. He argues that constant audio’s multiplicity of voices and mass of commentary have (12) ________ rise to hurried and distracted thinking. Without putting too fine a point on it, the author concludes that our ability to learn (13) ________ at all worthwhile has become superficial. Surprisingly, very (14) ________ research has looked into continuous audio’s effects on the brain, but further research is (15) ________ hand and is investigating whether deep-thinking processes really are in (16) ________ of disappearing.