It was very important to me that I go to college in a city. The
people! The opportunities! The public transportation! Surely you
must develop certain skills navigating through streets full of
academics and artists and doctors, all with very cool places to
go and things to think, right? Some research suggests that city
life is less exciting and stimulating and more… draining us of
mental resources. Walking down that busy street dodging people
on cell phones, hopping over that crumbling bit of sidewalk,
staying aware of the honking, aggressive city drivers, all while
trying to spot a restaurant without an hour and a half wait on a
Friday night. Your mind is forced to allocate an extreme amount
of processing power to execute such controlled navigation. We
are simply asking too much of ourselves to maintain awareness of
such noxious, disagreeable stimuli and to still function at a
normal level. Marc Berman, psychologist at the University of
Michigan, recently published a study measuring cognitive
deficits after a