Verified answer

I was going to give you an answer that showed that this probably has to do a lot more with the prevalence of the internet in modern life and nothing to do with evolution, but I couldn't concentrate because I have 16 different browser tabs open right now.

It is a cultural thing, not a biological evolution thing. Evolution usually takes like 20,000+ years. Our modern technology has stopped human evolution dead in its tracks. Humans no longer evolve. Medical technology saves the weak from dying. Great physical strength or great intelligence no longer mean that individuals will survive and reproduce more than others. The environment humans live in has totally changed and the criteria for survival in it is much different than it once was.

But because of the MTV syndrome, 30 second ads, TV remotes, channel surfing, magazines rather than books, chatting, texting, sound bites, and other things, the attention spans of people are indeed much shorter than they were a few decades ago.

Attention spans have gotten shorter in a matter of decades. Evolution in humans takes far longer than that. There is no evidence that shorter attention spans and evolution are connected at all. It's far more likely to be connected to things like TV, remotes that can click through 50 channels in a minute, a declining emphasis on reading, and many other things.

Logical thinking isn't one of your better skills, is it?

It's not evolution, as the decrease in attention span is a change in societal norms, nor in the actual bodily composition. The thing is that there are still people with large attention spans, but they're due to the environment they were raised in. If the brain actually changed so having a long attention span was no longer possible, that would be evolution.

According to Neil Postman, in recent years our attention spans get dramatically shorter

- An effect of modern technology.

Is this process of shortening our attention spans something we should thank evolution for

- No, it is a direct effect of the amount of information we are subjected to.

I remain skeptical, but what say ye?

- Technology not evolution.

There is no evidence of an inheritable or genetic "lack of attention span."

It's social circumstances. Not evolution by natural selection.

Oh, and "evolution" doesn't ever claim to "progress." It's just changes, with stuff that "works" in an environment sticking around and spreading, and stuff that doesn't "work" not sticking around and spreading. What you or I consider "progress" is entirely subjective.

Please go get some education.

Who says it's considered "progress"? It's a process. Here's how it works--if people with short attention spans can survive and reproduce, then that trait will remain. Our society has made it easier for the less-suited to survive, so they do. Frankly, the longest answers in this section usually consist of cut-and-paste biblical passages. I hardly think that's proof of intellectual superiority.

What on earth does evolution have to do with attention spans? It's a habit established from screen technology. Want to increase yours? Read books. Fiction, long ones, with long paragraphs.

We are well and truly past our intellectual peak.

There was once a selective pressure to be the smartest, the cleverest, the best learner, the best thinker in a chosen field, etc.

Now, it doesn't matter how good you are, you will still be able to live and pass on your genes and ideas.

You'd have to compare answers on here over a period, and for each section. If you're making comparisons with evolution, then that period would have to be a good ice age. so come back in a few thousand years to see if your theory holds up.