Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention And How to Think Deeply Again
All over the world I interviewed experts who said that we all know this change has been bad for our waistlines and our hearts, but we have been neglecting another key effect: it is stealing large parts of our ability to pay attention.
Johann Hari • Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention--and How to Think Deeply Again
Every single action we take — calling our grandparents, cleaning up the kitchen or, today, scrolling through our phones — is a transaction. We are taking what precious little attention we have and diverting it toward something. This is a zero-sum proposition, he realized. When you pay attention to one thing, you ignore something else.
nytimes.com • Opinion | Michael Goldhaber, the Cassandra of the Internet Age - The New York Times
He said that “we have to shrink the world to fit our cognitive bandwidth.” If you go too fast, you overload your abilities, and they degrade. But when you practice moving at a speed that is compatible with human nature—and you build that into your daily life—you begin to train your attention and focus.
Johann Hari • Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention--and How to Think Deeply Again
you need to protect your attention from, because they will sicken or stunt it: too much speed, too much switching, too many stimuli, intrusive technology designed to hack and hook you, stress, exhaustion, processed food pumped with dyes that amp you up, polluted air.