Homo Podcastus
By: Boris Bielik
I am sitting on a train listening to a podcast about the history of communism in Slovakia (where I am from). While all is very interesting, my attention slips to an older lady in front of me. I see her solving the crosswords, reading magazines, and looking out of the window. The podcast is a long one, but I do not have the patience as the promise of companionship during a long train journey is more attractive. We start to talk. Distance and slow beginnings are soon exchanged with more personal insights. Our dialog journeys through dogs, family, and eventually towards how it was to live in communism. The lady told me how her parents had explained to her not to participate in any petitions or protests otherwise, they might lose their jobs. She studied well and by some chance she got selected for a bus trip to Norway, there was “no way” you could travel to those countries she said laughing, but she did.. She continued to tell me much more, not only about communism, but about her life, her goals, and her family.
After getting off, we shook hands, wished each other a nice day and I thanked her for the lovely train ride.
Whilst reflecting on our conversation later, I realised what I would have missed if I had isolated myself and listened to my podcast. This thought stayed. I thought that through podcasts I could learn so much, improve languages and yet here I was confronted with the precious companionship of the lady.
Rationally I should be better off with listening to podcasts and, yet it was not the case. The rationality and maximisation of productivity for which we many times strive, simply did not work. From the concept of Homo economicus, which assumes us as very rational beings, to Homo podcastus.
So what is Homo Podcastus?
It’s us, the podcasts lovers and the believers that think we can learn, improve, and have fun anytime we put our headphones to our ears.
The podcast market is booming as the number of listeners and producers increases. Does it mean we have more time to listen? Probably not. Very rational and calculated option is that every commute, cooking, cleaning, maybe even exercise can be complemented with learning, news, languages, fun everything that podcasts have to offer. And yet we might terribly fail if we attempt to.
In the first story we could see that many times it's either talk or podcasts, both at the same time is impossible.
Secondly, why can homo podcastus also fail?
Its brain. It can take in a lot, especially if we are motivated to listen. Currently there are a vast variety of topics ranging from sexuality to economics. The phrase: I have heard in podcasts … is also increasing. However, according to Michael Grabowski, professor of communication at Manhattan College in New York, who specialises in neuroscience and the human brain, “consuming information is just the beginning — our minds need time to absorb and synthesise that information, to critically examine it.” In other words if we constantly consume, there is little space for our brains to work with what is consumed. Imagine constantly eating, your stomach says no at some point,but does your brain say no?
Sort of, this is known as brain hum, when the brain is being flooded with lots of information, which can have harmful effects,on sleep for example. Computational and cognitive neuroscientist Gallant from UC Berkeley shared findings in Freakonomics podcasts. Experiment involved a person listening to a Moth podcast in an MRI scanner and led to surprising results on how much brain activity is involved in audio listening. This means that listening to podcasts is much more than just background. It needs the active attention of our brains.
After researching and learning about this, I don’t plan on giving up on podcasts. I still believe that they can be amazing sources of information, entertainment, inspiration, and much more. However, what is worth second guessing is the amount and the situations when I listen. Listening to podcasts about the psychology of loneliness, while having a chance to talk to someone is a sad paradox.So last, but not least, understanding podcasts might not be the best choice for every free moment is something, which will stay with me next time I reach for my headphones.