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M The human attention span has become one second shy of the goldfish That's Life Andy Juniper Guest Contributor 25 | Thursday, March 12, 2015 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com uch ado was made about last year's National Center for Biological Information ndings that our ever-dwindling attention spans have once again, well, dwindled. We're down from 12 seconds at the turn of the millennium to eight seconds, which is apparently one second less than the nine-second attention span of the humble gold sh. Seriously. Naturally, this stat concerned me. I mean, how low can we go? What's next? Will we see the average attention span dipping below that of a small soap dish? Dryer lint? A raisin? Still, a cynical part of me questions whether our attention spans are really shrinking as apocalyptically alleged, or... sorry , what was I talking about? Oh, right: are our attention spans truly shriveling or is it just a matter of us having innumerable interesting options pulling our poor, beleaguered attention spans in a dozen different directions all at once? Technology has brought the whole wide world to our ngertips: should we be expected to ignore that world and instead focus on something that's boring the pants off us? Take baseball. Spring training is now in full swing in assorted sunny southern locales, the very vision of which bring warm hope to winter- frayed nerves. But despite the current prosperity of what Forbes magazine calls a "nine-billiondollar juggernaut," all is not sunny with Major League Baseball (MLB). No, the sport's Grand Poobahs believe they are facing a major attention span crisis of their own. Last year, the average game took more than three hours to play, up 30 minutes from 1981. New MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred sees that stat as a huge obstacle to future prosperity and worries the game's pace of play may turn off the next generation of fans. Manfred, who has four 20-something kids, has "a passing familiarity with that generation and one thing I can say for sure is their attention span seems to be shorter than the rest of ours." So, MLB is instituting rule changes meant to speed up play. Things like ensuring pitchers and batters don't take forever between pitches. Of course, the purists are all up in arms, aghast that someone is tinkering with the grand old game. Others, such as yours truly, applaud the changes. In my mind, no one has ever gone to a baseball game to watch a pitcher consider for two minutes what pitch to toss, or to see a batter stepping out of the batter's box to scratch himself while contemplating where to dine should the game ever end. Nope. People attend sporting events to be entertained. And if you give them lean action -- with all excess fat removed -- you will be amazed at just how long you can hold their attention. And perhaps baseball can be viewed as a microcosm of today's world. As an in-touch and in-tune teenager recently told me, while defending her generation and the whole dwindling-attention-span rap: Give me a good book, a good movie, or whatever, and you've got my full attention. Give me a bad book, movie, or whatever, and I'm texting friends, or checking Instagram, or tweeting, or watching videos on my phone, or.... -- Andy Juniper can be contacted at ajjuniper@ gmail.com, found on Facebook www.facebook. com, or followed on Twitter @thesportjesters. Don't Let Winter Get Your Goat When you live year round at Delmanor how you enjoy winter is up to you not the weather. On the nice days you can enjoy a stroll on our maintained community pathways or scheduled excursions on our private bus. But, when old man winter really wants to get your goat you can enjoy a host of indoor daily activities, LivingWell programs and classes, live entertainment, guest lecturers, and hearty meals served in an elegant dining room. For peace of mind, registered nurses are on site 24 hours a day. GTAA Annual Public Meeting The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) hereby gives notice of its Annual Public Meeting relating to the management, operation, and maintenance of Toronto Pearson International Airport (Toronto Pearson). The GTAA manages and operates Toronto Pearson which served approximately 39 million passengers in 2014. Information about the GTAA and Toronto Pearson is available at www.torontopearson.com. The Annual Public Meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 6, 2015, at 1:30 p.m. in Terminal 1, Departures Level, Lounge 15. Parking will be validated. By Order of the Board of Directors Selma M. Lussenburg Corporate Secretary (905) 469-3232 1459 Nottinghill Gate (west of Dorval, south of Upper Middle) Beat winter with a Trial Stay. * Delmanor Welcomes Your Pet * based on availability Visit delmanor.com for all our GTA locations. MARCH BREAK MADNESS RIDES · GAMES FREE SHOWS & MORE! MARCH 16 - 20 OPEN 11 AM - 7 PM 500 REXDALE BLVD AT HWY 27. FANTASYFAIR.CA