A study by Microsoft of 2,000 consumers discovered some interesting things. The first is that the average human attention span has gone down. In 2000 it was 12 seconds, but now people generally lose concentration after eight seconds, highlighting the effects of an increasingly digitalized lifestyle on the brain.

As a comparison, scientists think that a goldfish has a 9-second attention span. (That's not to be confused with a goldfish's memory. There's a myth that a goldfish forgets everything every 3 seconds, but studies show it can remember things for months, just like any other animal.)

"Heavy multi-screeners find it difficult to filter out irrelevant stimuli—they're more easily distracted by multiple streams of media," the report read. On the positive side, the report says our ability to multitask has drastically improved in the mobile age.

Microsoft theorized that the changes were a result of the brain's ability to adapt and change itself over time and a weaker attention span may be a side effect of evolving to a mobile Internet. The survey also confirmed generational differences for mobile use; for example, 77% of people aged 18 to 24 responded "yes" when asked, "When nothing is occupying my attention, the first thing I do is reach for my phone," compared with only 10% of those over the age of 65.

And now congratulate yourself for concentrating long enough to make it through this illustration.