John: Attention span of a gnat, the sound-bite generation

Nov 12 2009 by John Avison, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

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SOUNDBITE philosophy has overwhelmed us. We now have the attention span of a gnat, and demand instant gratification.

Living life in overdrive is recognition that life itself isn’t very long. Gnats, whose lives can be counted in hours, are past masters at instant gratification.

Best to try to cram everything in, the philosophy goes. Mostly they are cramming their little mandibles into your skin.

Your average gnat is not going to put things by for a rainy day. For the swarming, flying and biting members of the family Nematocera there is no such thing as anticipation or deferred rewards.

It’s blood, sweat and tears from the word go, and – if you happen to be out and about near water – all three are yours.

Evidence of gnat thinking was sadly in abundance on Bonfire Night.

Pip and I are old enough to remember the days when you’d save up a few weeks’ spend, buying a banger or two here, a packet of sparklers there, and maybe if you were flush, a rocket with a pointy blue head.

There was a lot of planning involved, and it wasn’t just the kids who built themselves up for a very special evening. The grown-ups were putting a lot of forethought into the event, too.

There were fingerless gloves to be found and mended, candle lanterns to be dug out of the back of the shed, mushy peas to be soaked, sausages to be pricked, potatoes to be wrapped in silver paper.

There were buckets of sand to be filled and milk bottles to be part-buried in the lawn. There was the chumping to be done, fire to be stacked, the Guy to stitch and stuff, the leaves to be raked, the stack to be checked for sleeping hedgehogs.