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In my last two posts I talked about Why I think we connect so much to the digital world in an effort to avoid dealing with ourselves and also the impact that all this connectivity has on our creativity; as we need boredom to process thoughts the decline in boredom could be argued to create a decline in creativity.

In this post I just want to support those points of view with some interesting facts and have a closer look at connectivity and Generation Y.

Down to brass tacks: What about the UK?

A study released by UK telecommunications regulator Ofcom, which in-between it’s 341 pages has a lot of interesting data on mobile data consumption among which there is data on smartphone users. This is an interesting variable as smartphone user connectivity is vastly superior to a stand cell phone owner. We can see how UK consumers are very much addicted to their digital devices and also the following:

• 37% of adults and 60% of teens admit they are highly addicted to their smartphones,; keep an eye on this teen generation, I will mention them in the next study from the US
• 51% of adults and 65% of teens say they have used their smartphone while socializing with others
• 23% of teenagers claim to watch less TV and 15% admit they read fewer books as a result of their smartphone use

How does it affect students (US)?

In a recent study released by etextbook seller CourseSmart and Wakefield Research, and blogged on mashable excellently, as per usual. The study surveyed 500 American college students. Below you can see some very interesting details.

• 98% of students use a digital device
• 91% of the students cited email as a method for seeking extra help from their instructors
• 70% of the students said they use keyboards rather than paper to take notes
• 38% said that they could not even go more than 10 minutes without checking their laptop, smartphone, tablet or ereader
• A university in Maryland study asked students not to use media for 24 hours. A large percentage of students experienced symptoms similar to acholol and drug wtihdrawls

So this new brave world connectivity is becoming very much ingrained in the DNA of the Millennial Generation, the one that will lead after generation X. In my post “Do you connect to the world to disconnect to yourself” I ventured a guess as to why we connect so much, I think that sentiment echoes a lot within Generation X and I think to an extent Gen X is able to see the flaws in this connectivity, question them and possibly control their connectivity behavior but think these arguments would fall on deaf ears in the case of Generation Y.

Am I being over skeptical or maybe even cynical?

One of my fears is the negative impact that will have on our relationships and our ability to create / innovate. I don’t mean to be so down beat and negative and I would like to think that this is just cyclical; that all generations perceive the next as somewhat “alien” and are critical of changes that they cannot properly comprehend “It was better in my day”:-). At the end of the day there is a lot of data out there that doesn’t paint a pretty picture but we will just have to see how it all plays out and have faith in evolution.

BTW: Gen Y is not conclusively defined so I could make the cut

Related information:

My blog: Do you connect to the virtual world to disconnect from yourself?

My Blog: Declining bordemos = declining creativity?

Mashable: Are smartphones taking over our lives (study results)?

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Image borrowed from http://ybr.thinkinnovation.de/2011/generation-y-as-communicators/

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Recently I posted on how we connect too much to the virtual world (social media, social networks, emails etc.) and not enough with ourselves. I ventured to say that that was a choice and that we do it really to avoid being alone with our own thoughts. I think we can agree that my point of view on why we connect so much is arguable at the best but I think the consequences of all this connectivity / activity are more founded on fact rather than opinion.

I think the most serious side affect of all todays connectivity is that it is killing our creativeness and as a direct consequence our capacity to innovate! Say what?

We need boredom to be creative

We need boredom to enable us to process thoughts and generate creativity. This is generally a passive process that is triggered when our minds are not distracted. For example I find jogging great, as the body goes into an automatic state and my mind is freed up, some people find driving has the same effect, others simply like sitting down and looking at the sea. All these are moments when we have no agenda, we are not distracted and that is when the creative process beings.

However, today with all our connectivity there is not one of the above moments where people are not connected / distracted. What about driving? How many people schedule certain phone calls for when they are traveling to and from work (plenty right)? Jogging and going to the gym is the same, people wear the iphone on the arm band. And just simply sitting down and taking in the scenery, well, who doesn’t have a smart phone?

It’s across the board

So if we have no boredom how do we expect to be creative especially when innovation and creativity are more important today than ever before? I think it is also safe to say that all this connectivity and lack of boredom goes across the board and is affecting all parts of society from followers to, unfortunately, our leaders.

What does this all look like?

In a recent post by the excellent Scott Adams on his blog he took a “guess” at what change you could expect to see in a world with declining boredom and therefore declining creativity? I especially liked the following 3.

You might see people acting more dogmatic than usual. If you don’t have time to think for yourself, and think creatively, the easiest opinion to adopt is the default position of your political party, religion, or culture. CHECK.

You might see the economy flat line for lack of industry-changing innovation. CHECK.

You might see more reality shows and fewer scripted shows. CHECK.

Do you feel your connectivity is affecting your creativity? When are you most creative?

Related posts:

My blog: Do you connect to the virtual world to disconnect from yourself?

My blog: What impact does this connectivity have on Generation Y?

Mashable: Are smartphones taking over our lives (study results)?

• If you want to recieve news and future posts via email enter your email address: