Stolen Focus
By Johann Hari
3 crucial reasons :
- Life full of distraction, is at an individual level, diminished.
- Society problem, systematic problem
- If we understand what is happening, we can begin to change it. (hopeful)
Study: By Prof Michal Posner, it takes on average 23 min for you to get back to the same state of focus after getting interrupted.
Fun fact: We touch our phones 2617 times every 24 hours. Authors mentioned: James Baldwin, Tolstoy, Jose Ortega y Gasset, Homer’s Odyssey, Henry David Thoreau Music mentioned: Cat Among the Pigeons, The Day We Caught the Train.
CAUSE 1: THE INCREASE IN SPEED, SWITCHING AND FILTERING Three responses toward his decision of going off to Princetown with no internet:
- No understanding, bizarre idea to cut back on his internet use.
- Panic on his behalf, what happens in case of an emergency?
- Envy
Jitterbug phone. Designed for old people Technique: tying yourself to the mast, also pre-commitment works in the short term.
Sune’s research: All the data suggested that, as time passed, we were focusing less on any one indicidual topic. The more information you pump in, the less time people can focus on any individual pice of it. “We are collectively experiencing a more rapid exhaustion of attention resources.” basically saying we are bombarded with way more information we could actually process. “If we don’t change our course, he fears we are headed toward a world where there’s going to be an upper class of people aware of the risks to their attention and find ways to live within their limits, and then there will be the rest of the society with fewer resources to resist the manipulation, and they’re going to be living more and more inside their computers, being manipulated more and more.”
Professor Earl Miller: “There’s one key fact that every human being needs to understand: Your brain can only produce one or two thoughts in your conscious mind at once. That’s it. We’re very, very single-minded. We have very limited cognitive capacity. This is because of the fundamental structure of the brain, and it’s not going to change.”
Practice montasking. Our brain is like a muscle. You need to train it. And it will, with time become stronger.
CAUSE 2: THE CRIPPLING OF OUR FLOW STATES