Your attention didn’t collapse. It was stolen
- Type:#blog
- Year read:#read2021
- Subject: (in brackets, can also bracket keywords in text)
- Author: Johann Hari
- Bibliography: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/jan/02/attention-span-focus-screens-apps-smartphones-social-media
Example citation
Key takeaways
- Sustained and deep focus is becoming increasingly harder for all of us
- He tried a three-month retreat without a smartphone and access to the internet
- When we believe we are multi-tasking, we are actually just constantly switching our focus between different tasks: The switch-cost effect.
- He calls for an “attention movement” to put pressure on law-makers to restructure the way our society treats attention. For example French workers recently got a “right to disconnect” outside work hours.
- We should not blame ourselves but demand change from employers, tech companies, and politicians.
At the moment it’s as though we are all having itching powder poured over us all day, and the people pouring the powder are saying: “You might want to learn to meditate. Then you wouldn’t scratch so much.”