Stolen Focus audiobook cover - Why You Can't Pay Attention – and How to Think Deeply Again

Stolen Focus

Why You Can't Pay Attention – and How to Think Deeply Again

Johann Hari

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Categories:
Society & CultureTechnology & the FutureProductivity

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Stolen Focus
The Attention Crisis+
Addictive Tech Design+
Algorithmic Outrage+
The Multitasking Myth+
Cultivating Flow+
Systemic Solutions+
Actionable Advice+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 7
According to Sune Lehmann's analysis of Google Books, what is a key insight regarding our shrinking attention spans?
  • A. The decline in our capacity to focus is a phenomenon that actually predates the internet.
  • B. The internet is the sole and exclusive cause of our declining collective focus.
  • C. People read significantly fewer books today than they did in the 1880s.
  • D. Attention spans remained entirely stable until the invention of the smartphone.
Question 2 of 7
How did B.F. Skinner's psychological experiments with rats influence the design of modern social media platforms?
  • A. They proved that humans and animals prefer infinite choices over limited ones.
  • B. They inspired the use of unpredictable rewards, like 'hearts' and 'retweets,' to motivate repetitive behavior.
  • C. They showed that negative reinforcement is the most effective way to keep users engaged.
  • D. They demonstrated that visual stimulation is far more addictive than physical rewards.
Question 3 of 7
Why did tech designer Aza Raskin come to regret his invention of the 'infinite scroll'?
  • A. It failed to generate as much advertising revenue as traditional pagination.
  • B. It caused users to quickly become overwhelmed and abandon social media platforms.
  • C. It removed natural, built-in pauses, causing users to spend significantly more time online without realizing it.
  • D. It made it too difficult for algorithms to accurately track user engagement and preferences.
Question 4 of 7
According to Facebook's internal investigation called 'Common Ground,' what was the primary finding regarding their algorithms?
  • A. They successfully prioritized community-building and local activism over commercial content.
  • B. They exploited the human brain's natural attraction to divisiveness and outrage to keep users engaged.
  • C. They were ineffective at keeping users on the platform for more than a few minutes at a time.
  • D. They actively suppressed political content in order to maintain a neutral, calming platform.
Question 5 of 7
What happens to the human brain when a person attempts to 'multitask'?
  • A. It creates multiple parallel processing pathways to handle the increased cognitive workload.
  • B. It enters a state of 'flow' where time seems to slow down and creativity spikes.
  • C. It rapidly switches between tasks, incurring a 'switch-cost' that temporarily decreases mental performance and IQ.
  • D. It increases its overall cognitive capacity to match the speed of incoming information.
Question 6 of 7
Which of the following is a necessary condition for achieving a state of 'flow,' as identified by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi?
  • A. The task must be extrinsically rewarded with money, praise, or social media engagement.
  • B. The task must be easy enough to complete passively without much mental effort.
  • C. The task must involve actively switching between at least two different activities to keep the brain stimulated.
  • D. The task must be intrinsically rewarding and challenging enough to demand your full attention.
Question 7 of 7
What was the result when companies like Perpetual Guardian and a Toyota factory in Gothenburg reduced their employees' working hours?
  • A. Employees experienced a drop in overall productivity but reported higher levels of happiness.
  • B. Employees engaged in more performative multitasking to make up for the lost time.
  • C. Employees demonstrated better deep focus, increased productivity, and decreased susceptibility to distractions.
  • D. The companies suffered significant financial losses due to decreased factory output.

Stolen Focus — Full Chapter Overview

Stolen Focus Summary & Overview

Stolen Focus (2022) begins with author Johann Hari experiencing a common problem: his attention span is diminishing. He can’t seem to focus on much outside of Twitter and online news. Over three years, Hari tries to identify the root causes of this problem. He uncovers a collective attention crisis that’s affecting the entire globe. From social media to the culture of productivity, Hari identifies the culprits behind our stolen focus – and wonders if, and how, we can claim it back.

Who Should Listen to Stolen Focus?

  • Anyone who feels like they just can’t concentrate the way they used to
  • Multitaskers with brimming to-do lists who still feel like they don’t get much done
  • Anyone scrolling through social media while they’re reading this!

About the Author: Johann Hari

Johann Hari is a journalist and writer. His books, on topics ranging from the war on drugs to mental illness, have topped the New York Times best-seller list and been translated into 38 languages.

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