Rita Berto writes in "The Role of Nature in Coping with Psycho-Physiological Stress", that it's more likely to experience mental fatigue in the built environment when compared to the natural environment: "built content captures attention dramatically, requiring attention to be overcome,” (p.396)[^1]. This onset of mental fatigue must be balanced with a place that one can “rest” their thoughts, and “plans for urban settings should consider the need for restoration,” (p. 402). Berto also describes how “research can help integrate natural elements and structural features into built environments in order to plan urban environments that are **cognitive sustainable**," (p. 402). While Berto was advocating for more natural "resting points" within urban design, it is interesting to think about what equivalent resting points might be in terms of the digital realm. More and more often we reference the [[Attention and Memory in the Digital Age#^63aa5b|"attention economy"]], and it's easy to see the repercussions of consuming too much information online. In my notes on digital gardens, I have written about the [[Digital Garden#^70bd0d|issues with recalling large streams of information]] consumed via social media, a type of digital stream. ^b461e0 If we consider the internet as a type of "digital city", social media might be more aptly compared to Times Square, NYC than the peaceful landscape one imagines when they hear the word "stream". In Times Square, there are few places for rest and respite, but there's a reason that tourists go: it's exciting, stimulating, and it has an energy like few other places in the city can match. Walking through Times Square also involves constant consumption: of sights, sounds, and smells, with very little time to think about what's happening. If we listen to Berto, however, we need to think about how to make our experiences in cities more cognitively sustainable, and program in mental resting places. In an internet full of Times Squares, where are the natural resting places to limit mental fatigue? The [[Digital Garden|digital garden]] may fulfill this requirement, both metaphorically and literally. The metaphoric garden becomes a peaceful respite for one to tend to their own thoughts, in their own personal space, before venturing back out into the city. ^9c4347 The digital garden may also fulfill the role of "mind and cognitive technologies" to cope with the digital revolution that Luis Emilio Bruni writes about in "Cognitive Sustainability in the Age of Digital Culture": >The digital revolution has set in motion an irreversible development of a huge technosphere which by the principle that “technology brings more technology” (in a sort of positive feedback) should be expected to continue a rapid evolution and expansion around the whole planet with increase in connectivity, pervasiveness and “immersiveness”. To these developments we need to add the advent of so-called mind and cognitive technologies and the promises and perils of the new “neurocivilization” (see Rose, 2005). (p. 481)[^2] [^1]: Berto, R. (2014). The Role of Nature in Coping with Psycho-Physiological Stress: A Literature Review on Restorativeness. _Behavioral Sciences_, _4_(4), 394–409. [https://doi.org/10.3390/bs4040394](https://doi.org/10.3390/bs4040394) [^2]: Bruni, L. E. (2011). _Cognitive Sustainability in the Age of Digital Culture_. 10.