Science and Inquiry discussion

For January 2023, we will be reading Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention- and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari.

Please use this thread to post questions, comments, and reviews, at any time.

I started reading Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention- and How to Think Deeply Again. The book is fantastic! I highly recommend it to everyone.

i am a bit more than half way through it. I have mixed feelings about it. There are some slow going parts where he says the same thing in different ways. So far the most interesting part is about tech geeks at Facebook, YouTube and Google speaking out about how social media is actively designed to cause your attention to wander all over the place and keep clicking ($$$$ for them) and how they gather your personal data to custom engineer the sites that will grab you. Not the first time I've heard of this but some pretty fascinating details.
The part I'm not so crazy about is, the author seems to view things through particularly left -wing lenses. Nothing illegal about that of course but I would expect a science book to be more balanced. He seems to see government interference and government aid as the solution to everything. One odd passage I noticed was about the woman who went to Harvard and went on to become California's surgeon general. "While many of her classmates went on to provide medicine for rich people , Nadine went to Bayview... which is a really poor, struggling neighborhood with a lot of violence." Well, good for her, but few medicines are developed strictly for "rich people." I just found that kind of peculiar. He also harps a lot on social media fanning the flames of white supremacists and right-wingers, which is no doubt true, but I'm sure BLM types and other left wingers work themselves up into an equal frenzy on the same social media.
Not a bad book but I am not a big fan of biased science writing, unless the clear and express purpose of the book is to explain and support a position.

Hi Nancy, I'm the one who nominated this book mainly because of the interesting and differing discussions it would lead to! I don't consider it a science book as much as a book on inquiry. It was a 4/5 star read for me -- I found it incredibly thought-provoking, but I thought Hari lost the plot toward the end as he veered farther away from his central thesis and engaged in speculation about things like autism and ADHD being driven by the attention economy. I also agree with you about the left-leaning of the book, though it's not as extreme as other books I'll touch upon below.

I've been a student, then a student/skeptic, of time management/focus management/productivity books for about 20 years. In my opinion, works in this genre have taken on various themes over the decades based on chronological gestalt. Peter Drucker coined the term "knowledge worker" in the late 50s, a time in the developed world, around the time when the modern "office job"/white collar job came into being (then, being largely restricted to well-educated, well-off white men). Many of the time management books of the 80s, 90s, 00s that I've read (Brian Tracy, Julie Morgenstern, Stephen Covey, David Allen, Tim Ferriss) were based on personal accountability, were generally right-leaning, and emphasized maintaining rigid systems (to varying degrees) and making your surroundings conform to them. Willpower was a muscle to be honed to enforce the system. In the last 10-15 years, there's been a noticeable shift in this genre, in my opinion -- out with the rigid systems and squeezing in every minute of work possible, in with working smarter and creating psychological hacks to muster focus (Cal Newport, James Clear, Laura Vanderkam, Charles Duhigg, Oliver Burkeman). In the last few years, there's been yet another trend I've noticed -- the emergence of "anti-productivity" books (Madeleine Dore, Anne Helen Peterson, Devon Price, Olga Mecking, Jennifer O'Dell), usually left-leaning and heavily influenced by the mindfulness/self-care movement, that talk about how hard and depressing modern life is, how (electronic) distractions are everywhere, and how we should give ourselves credit for just trying. (In the interest of full disclosure -- most of these books are by millennial authors, and I'm a millennial myself who's experienced much of the same burnout as many of this generation, though I'm very privileged compared to many.)

The last 10-15 years have also featured exponential technological changes. Though various social critics have been sounding the alarm of distraction for decades (Neil Postman in the 1980s, Nicholas Carr in the early 2010s), things seem to have reached a fever pitch since the early 2010s when smartphones became widely adopted, internet connection speeds improved, and the ability to constantly be "plugged in" anytime and anywhere became ubiquitous. Social media continues to grow and occupies many hours of time per day for many, especially younger folks, with all of the positive and negative implications that brings. As you mentioned, and Hari (and many others) discuss at length, social media is deliberately engineered to maximize our engagement, and even manipulate our thoughts/actions/votes, and has been a huge (often negative) force for tipping certain events on the global stage in recent years. Neil Postman would probably be rolling in his grave if he was around today, in the era of streaming entertainment (sports/streaming services like Netflix/Youtube), which also sucks up hours a day for many.

This is the context in which I read Stolen Focus. I found it to be a very interesting synthesis of many of the above ideas, capturing the gestalt of where we are in the early 2020s, and offering many far-reaching suggestions of where to go from here. On the spectrum of personal accountability to societal accountability, I fall more on the side of personal accountability, but even partially solving the attention crisis needs accountability from both the individual and society.

I have not started this yet, but with the your discussion @Catreader, I am looking forward to it.

Anastasia wrote: "I have not started this yet, but with the your discussion @Catreader, I am looking forward to it."

Me too!

I really enjoyed this book. It explores a wide range of aspects of our losing our ability to focus. Here is my review.

Article in the Guardian last week on the topic and a related book. Hari's book is also mentioned in it.

https://www.theguardian.com/technolog...

Nice review, David, and thank you for sharing that article, Susan!

Re: the article - what do you think is the fundamental problem in our "stolen focus" these day -- is it that technology is so much more compelling and addictive than it used to be, or is it that we don't have enough willpower and self-discipline to command our own attention? Or is this a false dichotomy?

I haven't read Stolen Focus, but I tend to agree with Gloria Mark as described in the Guardian article.

I am a fan of technology. I've been a fan since the mid-1960s when I started working as a programmer. After five years I had to leave the field because I felt I was losing touch with my humanity, becoming too identified with the demanding logic of computers. But I was still a fan. Not long after the first personal computers came on the market, I bought one and became a big user in my personal space. Eventually I became more involved in technology at work, too, but more peripherally.

But, as Mark describes, I had to learn to balance the seduction of technology with my other needs and abilities. I can easily sit at a computer for many hours reading and processing emails, social media, and news articles. And I usually have one of the latest smartphones. But I strictly limit what I use the phone for. I don't even have an email app on my phone. And I don't have Facebook or Instagram on my phone. I also strictly reject all the attempts of politicians to add me to their texting lists. I do have Facebook and a few other social media apps on my computer (desktop), but I don't use those for news, even though I'm something of a news junkie. I get a couple of news newsletters in my e-mail. But I get most of my online news through an aggregator which displays headlines from a number of different outlets. And I often settle for just those headlines. Whenever I click on an article to read in depth, there are links both related to the article and in unrelated ads that beckon me down the rabbit hole. I know I can be seduced.

Of course, I'm retired so I don't have some of the pressures that others have to deal with. If I miss checking my e-mail for a few days, it's rarely disastrous. But I do feel that I'm in control of my life. It's been a work of many years, but it's worth it.

CatReader wrote: "Nice review, David, and thank you for sharing that article, Susan!

Re: the article - what do you think is the fundamental problem in our "stolen focus" these day -- is it that technology is so muc..."

I believe that the chief culprit is the addictiveness of all the apps on our cell phones. As I sit reading a book, I feel a huge pull toward my cell phone, primarily YouTube and Facebook. Email is also a big pull. It takes a lot of willpower to override these pulls. Many of us don't have that sort of willpower.

Betsy, thank you for sharing! It sounds like you've built a lot of systems to consciously help you focus and limit your screentime and protect your attention. It's really fascinating to hear that you were a programmer in the 60s, decades before the general public started using computers more broadly! I bet that perspective has given you tremendous insight and foresight into today's world.

David, I agree about the addictiveness of cell phones! I think all electronics are addictive, from video games to desktop/laptop computers to tablets to phones, but phones are really the ones the majority of people carry on their person all the time. It takes a lot of willpower to stay focused and not seek a dopamine rush by checking your phone.

I wish I didn't feel the pressure over technology that I do. I guess I would be considered a "digital native" -- I was first introduced to computers in kindergarten (Apple IIes), my family bought a home computer when I was 6 or 7, we went online when I was 8 or 9, I got my own personal computer at around 12, my first mobile phone (a flip phone with no internet) at around 18, and my first smartphone at 29 (I was late to that game -- used iPads and public wifi for years). Facebook started a few years before I entered college, but it was still exclusively for college students when I joined and played a big social role in my college years (though I quit Facebook entirely at 30 -- I felt like it was just making me feel badly about myself and promoting superficial connections over genuine ones). I'm very relieved I was a teen in the '00s and not the '10s or '20s as social media has become an even bigger influence on today's young folks. Still, I do most of my work on computers and online, and it's my major way of learning and exploring my interests. I still find it hard to use smartphones after using desktops and laptops for decades - the screen is too small, the keyboard is tiny and my typos are rampant, and I can't easily multitask with multiple windows open at a time as I do on computers.

Ahhh multi-tasking. I also have 2 screens for my computer and a cell phone beside me and how I love it and hate it at the same time. I know that I am less efficient and less creative because of multi-tasking. Now that I have read about it in black and white (Chapter 1 of Stolen Focus) I feel compelled to do something about it, specifically in my work.

After I finished Stolen Focus, I went back to read David's review and I noticed there were lots of things that made his review that did not make mine so I really enjoyed reading that. I also made lots of notes on this book which tells me that it had quite an impact on me.

I agree with Nancy that the author seems to see things through "left-wing" lenses. What's interesting is that focus is a human issue and should not be politically charged. It says something that we see everything through right and left lenses (myself included). Politicians own our thoughts just as much as social media. We need to learn how to think again and that's what this book is about.

I could also note that some of the author's solutions are not liberal or progressive in the sense of the word "progress". He wants to go back to a time when kids could play freely for example. That's the opposite of moving forward or "progress". That's going back to something we know worked in the past.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Great review, Jessica!

I assume most everyone is aware of the Cambridge Analytica scandal that manipulated people's votes by gauging their personality on the OCEAN (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism) framework via innocuous-seeming Facebook surveys, then targeted ads to them based on their OCEAN findings (it's nicely recapped in Christopher Wylie's book Mindf*ck), but I would also posit this is happening globally and across political persuasions (see also: Kai Strittmatter's excellent book We Have Been Harmonized: Life in China's Surveillance State, and Sheera Frankel and Cecilia Kang's intriguing work, An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination).

I agree with you, though, that maintaining focus and learning to recognize and avoid distraction and manipulation shouldn't be a "right" or "left" issue - it's a human issue! I felt like the weakest parts of Stolen Focus were the last few chapters as Hari strayed farther away from his starting focus (pun semi-intended) to talk about multifactorial causes and solutions, some more compelling than others.

fantastic insights in the book in why and how we losing focus. I can see a lot of issue also with my self, e.g. not reaching my reading target year on year and spending a lot of time on the Iphone, although I'm no member of facebook, Instragram etc. I see with my kids (7 -10) the issues raised by Hari. But I'm no pessimist so believe this can change and there is a role for Government to take a lead here. But I'm also a liberal so what can I do about this. screentime and that sort of stuff. For me certainly a 5 star, I like reading this sort of books, no self help but giving some insight and more on what is going on in society.

Jessica wrote: "After I finished Stolen Focus, I went back to read David's review and I noticed there were lots of things that made his review that did not make mine so I really enjoyed reading that. I also made l..."

I liked your review! I responded but I'm also including my reaction here so I don't have to reinterate.....

Very good and thoughtful review! It seems like I read something, some time back, that talked about the sensory rewards of playing a slot machine. The way people focus on facebook and other social media remind me of this behavior. I've also fallen into the trap. Had great fun during the 2016 presidential election campaign, the banter was like a sport to me; fortunately I've simmered down a bit since then. My entire social life was pretty much facebook!
I was a little disappointed that the book was not about attention deficit problems stemming from actual mental phenomena (meaning, I got hit on the head a LOT of times, and I know the stories about football players and boxers and how multiple concussions affect attention span. The book doesn't address this. I wish one would.)

I sort of agree with of your points on how the book is not perfect. However, I felt like there is plenty i took home.

Here are a few:
1. Surveillance capitalism and how its changing our society at such a fast pace
2. How he explains that the medium itself says a lot more about what comes out of the medium
3. Defining Cruel optimism and how its not scalable
4. Moral panics and how they might not always hold true
5. How political pessimism is not correct
6. How 4 day work week will ensure more happiness and more focus at work

I think political pessimism can be an appropriate response. For example, the author says that there is no potential downside to a ban on surveillance capitalism, even if it doesn't work. But that is not entirely accurate if you think it all the way through based on things that have happened in the past. If the current big tech companies secure their exemption to parts of this theoretical ban on surveillance capitalism law by using their money to lobby politicians, then this can make it harder for new and upcoming social media companies to come into the arena and compete. Then the big companies get bigger, and the little companies are done before they even start.

I just read the Wikipedia article on Hari. It's very interesting. Not very complementary. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_...

Betsy wrote: "I just read the Wikipedia article on Hari. It's very interesting. Not very complementary. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_..."

Indeed. Seems like journalism isn't a good career for him, so he's shifted to writing books on various, ostensibly less politically-charged topics. Though some of the research presented in Stolen Focus strikes me as not totally grounded in facts and containing a good amount of conjecture, I don't doubt the general premise of the book, and I think he has a unique take on this subject that goes deeper and broader than most others on this subject I've read. I talk a lot about nuance and shades of gray in books, and this one (and this author) are no exception! I really appreciate all the great discussion this book has generated.

CatReader - Thank you for the book nomination. I probably would not have picked it up if it wasn't the book of the month.

With that said, I was very pleased with the amount of take aways that received from the read. I truly expected the focus to on the phones and social media but the author truly wove a web of many related but less thought of Focus breakers affecting our lives. I found the connection to early history as our world shrunk due to technology our focus started to slip some as more and more information began flooding our brains (a throwback to the Space Time Compression and popularized by David Harvey). From the early shrinking of the world to the amount of information that jockeys for our attention currently, I am amazed that any of us have any sanity.

The scariest part of the read is for me the "Surveillance Capitalism"; the extreme level of manipulation is completely detremental to the society (in my humble opinion). The amounts of manipulation that take place are even worse than I had believed. I also am extremely bothered at how the algorithms are establishing a society that goes to extremists beliefs on both sides of the political fence. This is deteriorating the the solid, central -moderate thought and is creating (or helping create) the extreme polar opposites that seem to be dividing our current societies.

I was happy to see the author also look at other environmental items that are lessening our focus - diet, pollution, lack of free play for children, etc. There are many areas to look at and try to incorporate back into our lives. A lot of validity but also there is a huge amount of work on multiple fronts to turn the Focus Problems around.

I'm about halfway through the book and I find some points valid and interesting, but other times I think his huge (personal) revelations are common sense. For example, he mentioned that any time he stands in line for more than two minutes he pulls out his phone, and then he seems shocked to learn the apps are designed to make money and make users spend more time on them. I'm barely older than him and don't care how many people engage in my social media feeds so I find it a bit odd that a middle aged man cares how many people reply to his tweets.

I've enjoyed seeing everyone's comments on this book, which I happened to read last winter. I hadn't expected that much from it, and did find it a overly personal at times, which to me detracted from his arguments.

To me what stood out over time was his take on individual vs. collective & corporate responsibility, a topic not unique to him, but which I really appreciated in this book, and which shows up in so many different areas of life. The extent to which individual actions can be an effect to systemic problems is a huge one, and I really appreciated his examination of this topic in a number of chapters.

Daniel (and everyone else who's contributed to the discussion) - glad you enjoyed the book! I wasn't sure how it would be received by this group (which I'm still fairly new to!) but I really appreciate all the great discussion :).

I am finally getting around to finishing this book...had to reserve it from the library again... I found what I consider so far to be the author's most important issue, which is modern children in the US anyway not being allowed to roam, play and function without adults constantly hovering over them and telling them the rules. I have often worried how we can expect people to be able to think and function independently while not allowing them to stretch their wings as children. I can see where this might cause people to expect to be entertained and governed constantly.

Better late than never - I finally have this book in my hands!

The discussion of mind wandering really resonated with me. For many years I’ve noticed that solutions to data puzzles (epiphanies) are most likely to come to me during a long shower. I began discussing this observation with my colleagues and at least half of them had noticed the same thing. I have attributed this to the peaceful and comfortable time of a shower - and can now label this as a time conducive to mind wandering.