An Illness or a New Way of Perceiving Information
The problem of parent-child relationships has always existed but nowadays it is especially acute, as we find it increasingly difficult to understand each other.
The new generation is growing up in an overwhelming flood of information and this inevitably affects young people. Most videos on social media are no more than 15 minutes long; children are born with phones in their hands and grow up in a world of short videos. Obviously, later on, processing longer-form information becomes an overwhelming task for them. Today, we will talk about clip-based thinking: its downsides and possible benefits.
Can TikTok be compared to a drug?
Clip-based thinking is perceiving the world through short, vivid images. Long videos are unpopular today. Young people consume content no longer than a minute. Scrolling through short videos can last for hours. This affects not only cognitive abilities but also their entire perception of life. The world appears not as something coherent but as a series of disconnected events.
Why do younger generations often think so primitively? Many factors contribute. First and foremost, the environment in which a child grows up. Some blame modern parents who have neglected their children. But often, they are simply unable to resist the influence of a world ruled by information. After a long, tedious day at school, a child comes home tired and exhausted. He logs into online applications, and his brain wants only one thing: to unwind after a hard day by watching 30-second videos. The brain is faced with a choice: consume complex, sometimes boring information or enjoy watching engaging videos. It chooses the easy way out, and over time, the student develops a persistent aversion to the learning process. Consequently, even in school, students develop a similar way of thinking, which will cause them many difficulties in the future. When they enter higher education, where long-term memory is emphasised, students find it difficult to comprehend long lectures, which are also not known for their vividness. Today’s youth is losing interest in creativity and art. They do not want to watch historical films, go to the theater, or expand their knowledge of the values that have always been the foundation of human spiritual life.
So why does watching short videos so quickly become addictive, especially in children with fragile psyches? It is all about dopamine. This is a chemical our brain produces when we anticipate pleasure, expect a reward, or do something enjoyable. As John Hutton, a pediatrician and director of the Center for Reading and Literacy Development, notes in an interview, “chasing a response in the brain’s reward system drives us to endlessly scroll through TikTok videos. The platform is a dopamine machine.” A sharp surge of dopamine reinforces the craving for something pleasurable, for example, a favorite food, a dangerous drug or a funny TikTok video. Thus, we develop a clear internal bias: short videos mean pleasure. Clip-based thinking becomes a habitual way of perceiving information.
The Pros and Cons of clip-based thinking
Superficial perception of topics and memory impairment. Clip-based thinking deprives a person of the ability to deeply analye and memorize large amounts of information over a long period. This seemingly insignificant problem worsens every year, and more and more children are subject to this type of thinking. Teachers are particularly concerned. Children are unable to retell a text, analyze a poem or write an essay.
Empathy is waning. Humans tend to quickly become accustomed to things. This also applies to shock content. When you witness enormous amounts of suffering and pain on video every day from an early age, compassion and pity disappear completely over time.
What is undoubtedly one of the main drawbacks is the lack of critical thinking. And what is critical thinking? First and foremost, it is the ability to make your own decisions based on the information received. Often, our generation is unable to draw their own conclusions and resist manipulation. But, as the saying goes, every coin has two sides.
Let us explore whether clip-based thinking has any advantages.
Quick response to change. This means that people with clip-based thinking find it easier to embrace any innovation. These people are more resilient to rapid changes in the world. Such people are less likely to overload their brains with information, as they simply block out everything, they deem unnecessary.
The ability to multitask. This is an absolute advantage, highly valued in modern society, where the ability to juggle several different activities simultaneously is essential. This quality is valued in high-traffic workplaces: having an employee who can multitask frees colleagues from the stress of rush jobs and gives them more time to perform their duties more effectively.
Emotional flexibility. As mentioned earlier, clip-based thinking deprives us of the ability to empathize and partially robs us of compassion. In our world, overflowing with cruelty and violence, this can be seen as a positive, because maintaining mental health is invaluable, especially in an environment where many are indifferent to your feelings and only expect results.
Clip-based thinking is not a disease
Often, clip-based thinking is not something terrifying; a person simply should not neglect his other analytical and creative abilities. There are special techniques for combating clip-based thinking, such as reading long texts or practicing concentration (trying to focus on one task for a certain amount of time), developing critical thinking by analyzing information and verifying facts. It is also very important to limit one’s time on social media.
The world is changing, and we are changing with it, but constructive dialogue is possible if both parties want it and clip-based thinking is not a hindrance.
