Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age

by Maggie Jackson and Maggie Jackson

Book Overview

In this gripping expose of our cyber-centric, attention-deficient life, journalist Maggie Jackson argues that we are eroding our capacity for deep attention and mindfulness - the building blocks of intimacy, wisdom, and cultural progress. The implications for a healthy society are stark.Despite our wondrous technologies and scientific advances, we are nurturing a culture of diffusion and detachment. With our attention scattered among the beeps and...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591026237
• ISBN13: 9781591026235
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: Prometheus Books
• Length: 327 Pages
• Weight: 1.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Losing Focus Fast

Impressive is not strong enough. Vast, in-depth, challenging, thorough, detailed and triumphant may describe it better. Maggie Jackson's Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age is a tightly written treatise on the state of American culture in the Technological Age. Where has our attention gone? According to Ms. Jackson, it has seeped into blue split-screen living with a dash of nomadic transience. We're skimming the surface of our lives like a dragon fly on a pond with dripless, crustless, tasteless food, shattered conversation, and information overload. Intensity has escaped us. We lead a vacuum-packed existence. The book claims we are quickly losing the capability of deep thinking. It may sound radical, but consider how much we read (on the Web) and how little we retain. Fragmented scraps of data float in our brains with little cohesion. We task-switch without concentration, making more errors than if we were to refrain from juggling. Thinking the book might focus solely on the Internet itself, I was pleasantly surprised to see the breadth of Ms. Jackson's treatment of our collective attention deficit disorder. Quoting Nietzsche, William James and Derrida, Ms. Jackson delves into the treasure trove of philosophy to explain how we've gotten into the state we're in. Satisfyingly academic, her book requires attention and commitment to slog through the text without the culturally threatening distraction she bemoans. If you're looking for a guide on modern living, you won't find it here. Distracted is a lovely compilation of ideas sewn seamlessly together by anecdotes and academia. It made me miss the penetrating hum of the overhead lights in my cubicle at Smith College so many years ago. It was the only distraction we had. My daughter's generation is challenged by the ring-tone culture that leapfrogs our focus from one thing to the other without thought. Thankfully, Ms. Jackson has offered us an eye-opening discourse, torch in hand, illuminating the darkening walls as we edge closer to the light. Christine Louise Hohlbaum, author of Diary of a Mother: Parenting Stories and Other Stuff and Sahm I Am: Tales of a Stay-at-Home Mom in Europe, lives near Munich, Germany with her husband and two children.

Now, Readers, Please Pay...Uh...Attention!

There is little doubt that over the past few decades, particularly during what has been referred to as "the computer age," the world of intellectual activity has substantially changed. So-called "multitasking" has become common. "Sound-bites" provide many people with all the news they get. Rapid-moving video games provide many with most of the entertainment they experience. The technology of "virtual" reality is becoming so "real" it is becoming increasingly difficult to determine what is "actually real" from what is "virtually real." Add to all this the reports that attention deficit symdrome (ADD) and hyperactive behavior among the young are growing problems in our fast-moving society, and one might be tempted to conclude that we are, in fact, "distracted" to the point where the erosion of attention will result in a soon-to-occur "dark age." This latter point, of course, is a paraphrase of the title of Maggie Jackson's latest book "Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age." The major problem we face now, Jackson seems to say, is INATTENTION; that is, we are no longer engaging in such activities as reflection, searching for deeper meanings, taking time to relax and participate in traditionally intimate conversations, getting to know people in a personable way, taking the time to discern the really important from the merely transitory, and so on. We as a society and as individuals are, in other words, not paying ATTENTION. At least to the things we ought to be paying proper attention to. In her book, Jackson provides a historical survey of the problem, cites a lot of research drawn from a wide range of scholarly fields including empirical science and philosophy, and provides quotations from a diverse population of thinkers who have considered aspects of the main problem she addresses. There is a lot of detail here to be digested; the reader, hopefully, is not suffering from the very problem the author discusses. One may argue, however, as to whether the current situation will lead to a genuine "dark age." Some might say that that suggestion might be just a little bit hyperbolic. Nevertheless, the author does raise some interesting questions and attempts to provide some workable solutions. So, in this period of constant motion, multitasking, social networking, instant messaging, and electronic overload, it might just be worthwhile for everyone to slow down a little, sit back and relax, read this book, and pay ATTENTION to what Jackson is saying.

A book that deserves your undivided attention

A core concept of the martial arts is focus. That's where you get your power from ("your chi is concentrated"). The laser, which we use to cut through the hardest of steel, is nothing more than focused light. Any endeavor that requires brainpower, from sports to engineering, requires the ability to tune out everything except the task at hand. The ability to focus is a learned skill, and most people aren't learning it. In today's video and sound bite world, in fact, massive numbers of people are unlearning it. Why does the stupidity epidemic continue to spread, despite its horrible cost? One answer may simply be that people are too distracted to pay attention. Consequently, they are not fully engaging their brains and focusing on what they are reading, saying, seeing, or hearing. This is a real problem in, for example, the task of driving an automobile. All of us can spot the "cell phone driver" from a distance, and there's a reason why. It's the same reason this country has a shortage of qualified engineers, a shortage of senior project managers (average age now for the SMs in the construction industry is north of sixty), and such widespread ignorance of basic science, geography, and other subjects that require study. It's why only about half of voting-age Americans can correctly identify the three branches of the federal government. When people are chronically distracted, something is wrong with their ability, desire, or discipline to filter out nonessential things and focus on what matters or what really has value. The result is a watered down life experience and a weakened intellect. The effect is so pronounced and ubiquitous that, Jackson asserts, we as a society are poised on the edge of a coming dark time. I'm the first person to cry "alarmist" when an author raises dire warnings. But in this case, I have to agree with Jackson. When you read her book, which is the result of intense research, you will probably also agree. Many other factors contribute to the stupidity epidemic, such as toxic diets, stupidity immersion (e.g., television), idiotic lyrics blaring from radios, lack of serious reading, and a failed "education" system. But the widespread lack of focus may be the main problem. The cultural norms of today work against focus, as this book explains. Fortunately, that doesn't mean you have to accept those norms and sink into mindlessness. Jackson provides insight into the lack of focus issue and further insight into how to avoid being a casualty of this intelligence-sapping problem. This book is well-researched, well-written, and timely. Unlike many works that hit the non-fiction list today, it actually is non-fiction. Given the subject, the author could easily digress into editorializing her personal political agenda (which is a common problem with "non" fiction today). But, she doesn't. In fact, I have no idea what it is. The author stays focused on the issues the book is about, which, given what the book is about, should be

Distracted

In a very readable and engaging style this book calls attention to what many of us feel daily in our over stimulated lives; the lack of connectivity with one's environment and the void created by relationships lacking depth. Once I began reading the the book I found myself making a conscious effort to fully focus on the task I was involved in or person with whom I was interacting. Immediately I felt more productive and rewarded, and yet I was amazed by how unaccustomed I am to not multi-task. Jackson's book is serious in its exploration of the dangers of societal ADD, but also uplifting in its presentation of the intrinsic rewards, both individualy and globally, of simply "paying attention".

Distracted Review

I highly recommend Jackson's timely and thought provoking book. If you are feeling saturated with all the tools that are supposed to make life better(email, cell phone, blackberry,IM, drive through etc) yet still feel disconnected from friends and family members -then Distracted is a must read. In reading Distracted, I began to think of the many ways that I experience inattention both at work and at home. Yet I realize that the first step is awareness, and only then can we learn how to increase focus, perception and the ability to re-connect with the people and world around us. Excellent read!