Why do Americans generally have a short attention span?

I was watching CNN this morning and they were interviewing probably voters. It was interesting since almost every single one of them cited the current economic situation as their single biggest concern at the moment. Three months ago it was gas prices and the availability of gas for their cars and SUV's. A year ago the biggest issue was the Iraq war and national security.

Why do you think it is that so many Americans seem to lack a long term memory. Are things so bad that we can only focus on the problems of today and not the long term? Is it the result of heavy media coverage encouraging fear? Is it the "Nancy Grace Phenomenon"?

I'm curious simply because my own principles and goals for the country don't seem to shift with every changing wind and yet so many of my fellow Americans seem to end up panicking over whatever today's headline happens to be.

Every successive generation has more people raised on television.

So what is your chief concern this election, so that we may compare standards of "long term memory?"

...huh? Wha?

My attention is far superior. I haven't the time for you to catch up, so pardon me if your inferior observation skills aren't keen enough for my so-called "short" attention span.

Also, having a longer attention span is pointless if you only use it to obsess about meaningless, overblown details.

I blame the hippies.

Actually, I think the inability for some to contemplate and retain the results are often overwhelmed by their being a "part of the moment" with no rememberance of the past or reguard for the obvious bars to their left and right that form the cattle chute. They allow the media and hype to run their lives.

Blah! Blah!

I've wondered that question for years. It explains why so many of them have forgotten about Obama's record(or lack of it) and fall head over heals for the usual empty promises that he is spewing. Then they wonder why they get non substantive campaigning and crooks for government officials. It's the only thing that the majority of the electorate responds to. So until issues are better digested by the american public, we will be stuck with "Swift Boat" or "Hope" type campaigns.

I'm still trying to figure out what happened to the supposed rice shortage we were having.

People are stupid. Stop giving them a voice.

Oil prices have eased in the past six months. The War in Iraq is virtually resolved, as measured by the Bush administrations progress in negotiating a withdrawal date. The economy this month, however, is the worst it’s been all decade.

Therefore, I don’t think it’s fair to say that Americans are fickle in their issues of prime concern. Circumstances have changed, so concerns changed.

If I intended for this thread to be about an election, I would have flagged it such. The situation I described has nothing to do with any election and everything to do with a perceived short-term focus that I see from most Americans.

That said, our longterm oil situation hasn't changed.

It's a combination of reality and perception of reality.

I don't think it's so much a short attention span as people not really putting effort into thinking about government. If you are generally thoughtful about it, you are probably more steady in what concerns or motivates. If, on the other hand, you rarely think about it, you will tend to respond to current events. I don't know, maybe that is just another way of saying short span of attention, but I suspect the same people you've cited might have longer memories on other topics.

Okay...

So what's your chief concern in general, Mallory?

You demostrate the point precisely.

That kind of attitude will see energy prices doubled within another 12 months or less.

Wait, what?

No offense intended but if the intent was not election related, the first line in your post doesn't appear to support that. It clearly takes us from voters into the mindset of these individuals.
At least to me it does.
We can easily continue on the human behaviour traits though without the election angle.

And that question is germane to the topic how? I'll tell you what Rob, I'll be sure and send you a PM when I start a thread about what my concerns are. I have no intention of having a topic about short attention spans dragged off-topic into the realm of "What Mallory thinks is important to all Americans".

What were we talking about again?

The predisposition of the American public to short...

Hey! Shiny!

TLDR

tl;dr.

A lot of people follow whatever the media tells them to follow.

Mallory, if you want to start a topic questioning the beliefs and concerns of others—those being symptoms of an uninformed, forgetful, lazy, and vapid society—it stands to reason that you ought to demonstrate what beliefs and concerns are so superior.

You wish to begin the conversation with the axiom that Americans have short attention spans, but I do not take that theory for granted. It was you who first compared the concerns of most Americans to your own. You went into detail about the former’s views, so I’m just wondering what your own views are?

Not if the economy doesn’t pickup. There seems to be an omission that most other issues revolve around the economy. What Mallory describes as fickle shifts in short-term concerns, I would describe as Americans prioritizing. We need to fix the economy before it becomes relevant to fix energy supply.

tld...

Then you've drawn the wrong conclusions from the spike.

Fostering sound economic and energy policies are not mutually exclusive unless you think Congressional/political action is a zero-sum game.

That was the question posed by the OP. Please note the use of the word "seem", which means I was presenting a personal perception, not an "axiom". Feel free to comment on the topic, rebut my seeming ignorance or agree with what I said, but don't accuse me of something I neither said nor implied when I started this thread.