Ive been reading this book called The New Brain by Dr. Richard Restak. I have not finished it yet and I am only on the fourth chapter but so far I am really into it. It was interesting to learn that the brain actually changes physically as we learn new things. I also found the chapter dealing with ADD and ADHD really fascinating.

I have known for a while now that I have symptoms of ADD but I have never actually seen a doctor about them. I hear they have medicine for it now although I am almost always opposed to medicinal treatments unless absolutely necessary. I typically ride out headaches, curing them with sleep and relaxation and I won’t take allergy pills. The only pills I actually force myself to take are sleeping pills because I suffer from insomnia. I haven’t seen a doctor about that either mostly because I hate doctors so I just take the over the counter stuff.

What I found most fascinating about ADD though is not the symptoms but the cause. A theory stated in the book says that ADD has been brought on because of the changes in technology in the mainstream. Since I have been back from Iraq I find myself sitting in my chair, flipping through channel after channel on TV, talking to some friends on AIM, talking on the phone, downloading some music, and looking up some information online all at the same time. We are reaching information overload.

We are basically adapting to our environment. Years ago people didn’t drive down busy highways talking on cell phones to people several time zones away while flipping through 100 satellite radio stations on the radio.

The reason many people have problems concentrating on things is because we are training ourselves to multitask, something the brain was never designed to do. I seemed to have picked this idea up pretty quickly coming from the IT world. Computers seem to multitask everyday but the truth is computers and only do one thing at a time. This time is such a small interval that we can’t notice so this gives the illusion of multitasking. Take the television for example, only one pixel is displayed at a time on the screen but because the increments are so tiny we see a whole image. The brain is just like the computer and the TV as it can only perform one function at a time.

Have you ever talked on the phone while doing something else? You neglect one of the two at certain parts don’t you? Of course you do, you can’t help it especially when the two activities are similar. Try writing an email to a friend while talking on the phone to someone. You will begin to neglect one of the two. Listening to music and running however are easier because they use different parts of the brain.

That’s enough rambling for now. I have some other issues I need to get off my chest but I will wait until later. Right now I will get back to my classical music, poker game, and bottle of whiskey. Later.