Tuesdays with Rei: Post-mod Gen Habits 4

Tuesdays with Rei: Post-modGen Habits

(The Tuesday edition is a simple exposition on the habits of the post-modern generation of formands. Again, fornators are to exercise caution and avoid using these researches as labels or judgments on the young people today. They are excellent aids in understanding behavioral or personality dynamics, thus they are tools of formation.)




a short attention span

When asked to guess the average adult attention span, most people say around thirty minutes. According to statistics, however, the average adult attention span is actually only seven seconds.

That's right! Every seven seconds you go away somewhere. You think about something else. In fact, you could actually be taking a mental break right now! It is a normal part of how the brain integrates external stimuli like when your computer starts defragging for a moment while you type. It helps to pause from time to time when you speak. This allows people to integrate your information or ask a clarifying question. Also, include examples to anchor your concepts.

But the post-modern generation of formands have the capacity to dwell in the "fillers" rather than focus on the given moment. They can actually "divide" their minds: one apparently listening to the moment, while the other, to the scenery of their imaginations.

Our task is simply to become aware of what occupies their mind during those "fillers" and make them materials for formation and growth.

That is called post-modern counseling. We don't ask information, we listen to the stories that always play in their minds. Then allow the story to unfold. In the end, all these fillers are lines, pages and chapters of the ongoing narrative between this person and God.