#215: Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction
The Art of Manliness
The Art of Manliness
4.7 • 14.8K Ratings
🗓️ 6 July 2016
⏱️ 42 minutes
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Summary
A common complaint of the modern age is the sense of distraction and lack of focus that pervades our lives. We typically blame technology like the internet or smartphones for our inability to concentrate on the task at hand. But my guest today argues that the culture of distraction we face runs much deeper than that and actually began several hundred years ago with the Enlightenment.
His name is Matthew Crawford, and he’s the author of Shop Class as Soulcraft as well as his latest book The World Beyond Your Head: On Becoming Human in an Age of Distraction. Today on the show, Matthew and I discuss the origins of our distracted culture and the deeper implications of lives lived totally inside our own heads.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | [♪ INTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ |
| 0:13.9 | Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast. |
| 0:18.0 | A common complaint of the modern age is the sense of distraction and lack of focus that |
| 0:22.1 | prevails in our lives. |
| 0:23.1 | And we typically blame technology like the internet or smartphones for an ability to concentrate |
| 0:27.4 | on the task at hand. |
| 0:28.5 | But my guest today argues that the culture distraction we face today runs much deeper |
| 0:31.9 | than that and actually began several hundred years ago with the enlightenment. |
| 0:35.6 | His name is Matthew Crawford. |
| 0:37.0 | He's the author of the book, Shop Class, as Soulcraft. |
| 0:39.7 | And his latest book is called The World Beyond Your Head on becoming a human in the |
| 0:43.4 | Age of Distraction. |
| 0:44.4 | And today on the show, Matthew and I discuss the origins of our distracted culture and |
| 0:47.9 | the deeper implications of our lives lived totally inside our own heads. |
| 0:51.0 | When we explore the idea that we really want to live a life of focus, we need to go beyond |
| 0:55.1 | just blocking time-wasting sites on our computers and phones. |
| 0:58.5 | Are you ready to take that journey and discover the world outside your head? |
| 1:01.0 | Stay tuned for a great discussion. |
| 1:03.5 | And after the show, make sure to check out the show notes at aowm.is slash Crawford. |
| 1:07.9 | [♪ INTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ |
| 1:13.2 | Alright, Matthew Crawford, welcome to the show. |
| 1:16.4 | Thanks for having me on. |
... |
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