Why You Can’t Pay Attention - And How to Think Deeply Again | Johann Hari

10% Happier with Dan Harris

10% Media, LLC

Dan Harris, Health & Fitness, Mindfulness, Dharma, Mental Health, Meditation

4.6 • 12.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 April 2022

⏱️ 83 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What is it about modern life that is completely disrupting our ability to focus, and how much of it is our fault?

Turns out, not a lot. A number of factors from technology to our sleep habits, and even air pollution, play a role in what causes us to have about the same attention regulation skills as a kitten. In this first episode of our two-part series on focus, guest Johann Hari breaks down why our ability to pay attention is collapsing, and what we can do about it.

Johann Hari is the author of Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention – and How to Think Deeply Again. His first book, Chasing the Scream: the First and Last Days of the War on Drugs was adapted into the Oscar nominated film The United States Vs Billie Holiday as well as a documentary series.

Johann is also the author of Lost Connections: Uncovering The Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions which was featured in a previous episode. His TED Talks have been viewed more than 80 million times.

In this episode we talk about:

Johann’s notion that there are twelve factors draining our focus
His argument for the importance of both collective and individual action to reclaim our attention
What he learned from a self-imposed three-month internet-free experiment
How this impacts our children, and what we might do about it

Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/johann-hari-439

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the 10% happier podcast.
0:06.6	I'm Dan Harris.
0:08.8	Hello, my fellow suffering beings.
0:13.4	Maybe I'm alone in this, but I have noticed that often when I sit down to meditate or try
0:19.2	to get any work done or endeavor to have a sustained conversation with another homo sapien,
0:25.3	my mind can be all over the place.
0:28.7	I seem to have the same attention regulation skills as Arquiton, Azimandius, who I have
0:34.1	noticed within a range of roughly 30 seconds can go from chasing a ladybug to chasing his
0:38.7	own tail to gnawing on my foot.
0:41.4	Again, maybe I'm alone in this, or maybe this is just part of the human condition.
0:47.3	I think a lot of people feel like they are uniquely distractible that they have some sort
0:51.2	of bespoke lunacy.
0:53.7	However, as I like to say, for better or worse, you are not special, at least in this
0:58.3	regard.
0:59.3	Evolution bequeathed us a racing mind that is really good at spotting threats and finding
1:04.0	food.
1:06.0	And my guest today will argue that modern life is making our inborn tendencies way worse.
1:12.3	He says we're in the midst of a perfect storm of cognitive distortion, but he doesn't
1:16.9	just complain about it.
1:18.0	He offers some practical solutions.
1:20.7	Johan Hari is a journalist and author.
1:22.9	His new book is called Stolen Focus.
	...

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