World Mysteries and Thrillers discussion

Heard this question on NPR... what do you think?

I think it's a valid question. There are a lot of benefits to the ease of connections and availability of information, but I find that my ability to notice detail has diminished and I sometimes have to rein in my attention to keep it from jumping about.

Yes, I find my attention span shortened. I am seriously going to plan an unplugged day or days of the week.

Nope. :)
The internet allows many things to be done faster, and with more connections to things and in ways not easily obtainable before.

On the same time, to counterbalance everything having to be immediate, and everything immediately available 24 7 for everyone, I take days off from some parts of the internet, and also close off the devices and go sometimes for a long walk or run.

And that's what those good 700 page long thrillers come in handy too. Pick an analog book you want to read, and read. Robert Ludlum and Clive Cussler have saved my attention span and sanity for many years while I had to work with things that required a 24 7 urgency with 30 minutes response time.

It's all about the balance. Gardening, running, reading - whichever works for you, go for it. And my quirks have gone further in the past few weeks - because I need to get back to the balance of making my life work for me.

Look at how children use the computers and the internet. I loved watching a two year old bilingual guy use his iPad Mini much better than my sister ever will in her life, and got taught by a nine year old girl how to do something in Skype I had missed. Those young ones don't even have the "pre-internet brain". "How do I do [this and that thing] on my iPad?" is what one wonders, and if you ask it from a child who has the same kind of toy you have, he or she has probably figured it out before you. :)

Well, my take on it is that moderation is key, specially with children so that they don´t obcess over it and engage in other fun activities with others their age. However, there are, as some have stated, many asvantages in being connected and having access to massive amounts of information, more than ever before.
When it comes to reading I find it easier to read online on fanfiction because the chapters are much shorter than in a book which come in handy when I don´t have the time to pick up a book that i am reading, like now with university( third year demands more work).
One can argue that by reading e-books we are losing touch with the physical copy of a book as well as its smell and feel of the pages.
Yet again, moderation as i said is really key and create a balance between the digital and the pshysical world.

Anna: I agree with you, it's all about providing some balance in your life so that you can actually live and enjoy your life. I always carry a couple of paperbacks in my backpack when I go off for a long walk, usually on a daily basis, to put things into perspective. Ludlum, Cussler, Dean Koontz, Stephen King ("The Stand" - both versions - can keep me occupied for days) and a few others have given me many hours of quiet pleasure while having a coffee and a croissant or just sitting in the park allowing my brain to re-boot. The Internet allows me to work as fast and as hard as I want but it's not addictive and I don't think it's shortened my attention span. Rather, it gives me a chance to learn new things, do some research for my books and keeps me in touch with friends and family members that live (literally) thousands of miles away.

With internet and the people you meet online I found a lot of new information on reading, music and movies I would have been hard pressed to find otherwise.

What I do miss are the influences of my local library, do not favor electronic reading am old fashioned in that way, and the quiet afternoons reading books, papers and magazines in the library. More often now they resemble something to popular and futuristic.

I do not miss the pre-internet age except for manners and behaviour which has gotten more uncivilized as there is no time-out possibility for people who misbehave.

Mark - good points. I'd much prefer to read a book in print rather than online... the problem I have is that international postal services are chancy. I've ordered books from Amazon and other booksellers that have simply disappeared somewhere along the way and never arrived. In other cases, the books show up damaged six or eight weeks later... as a result, I now download most books. It's not as pleasurable an experience as reading a paperback but...
And the Internet, I must admit, has opened my eyes to new writers I might otherwise have never heard of. Some of these writers - Bill Ward, who wrote "Encryption" is one, so is M.A.R. Unger, who wrote "Bits and Pieces" - have become favorites and I'm looking forward to their next books. And without the Internet I never would have heard of Escala or Bond, two wonderful string quartets that make doing chores around the house so much more enjoyable :-)

I prefer book in hand too. Speaking of the Internet i found a relatively new author EJ Simon- Death Never Sleeps and Death Logs In. Mystery, family, technology but reminds me of Patterson....without the Gory Scenes, stuart Woods. Fun and entertaining and gives you pause to think

Sounds interesting Andrea... I'll check them out.