Digital analyst, anthropologist, and futurist, Brian Solis is globally recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders in business innovation. He studies disruptive technology and its impact on business and society and in the first half, he discussed the effects of digital distractions including shortened attention spans, declines in critical thinking, lack of sleep, self-doubt, and decreased creativity and loneliness. Solis said that 10 years ago, he actually wrote a paper predicting the "trolling" phenomenon in which people "start to feed off the false courage" that are the basis of many anonymous online interactions. Another pitfall of the connected age is how the distractions end up "pulling you away from what you are," he noted, because you can’t concentrate on tasks at hand.
He dissected why devices and online apps become so addictive, saying one of the reasons is that a sense of anticipation is built into their operating systems so that the "reward" becomes like "an opioid that can be abused." Solis observed that too much online interaction decreases attention span, "reprograms your brain," and "literally lowers your I.Q." To deal with these 21st-century issues, Solis does not advocate a "cold turkey" method, because he believes that it does not have a lasting effect. Instead, he suggests taking short breaks of 25 minutes at a time and concentrating on a task with all of your attention. He concluded that "media literacy is the biggest issue facing our society right now" and that people need to know how their behavior is being controlled and recorded.
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In the third hour, practicing witch and scholar of alchemy and occult lore, Maja D’Aoust (known as the Witch of the Dawn) said her interest in witchcraft started at a young age (14) because she grew up "on an island" surrounded by nature. She recalled that "paganism made sense to me because I was immersed in nature; it was all around me." D’Aoust reported that the word witch is derived from "knowledge or wisdom" and fits her personality because she has always been curious about the world around her and how it works. She characterized her type of magic and witchcraft as "based on willpower and discipline" to achieve what the practitioner wants in their lives.
Open Lines occupied the last hour. Doug in New Jersey, who called himself the "Unofficial East Coast George Noory Fanclub President" asked George to do a live show in New Jersey or New York City and George replied that producer Tom would look into it. Ray called from South Dakota and asked if the show could have an "astronomer or astrophysicist on" to speak about terraforming Mars. Doc from Northern California reported on the continuing situation of amazing fish catches near San Francisco. He believes it may be a precursor to a major earthquake.