Conserving attention span & wellness

My husband recently shared an article with me that deals with technology’s effect on our attention span and well-being and it contains such important information that I want to share it with you.

The full article Conserving your superpower, which is your attention span was written by Riane Lumer and can be found on the CNN Health and Wellness page.

I was fascinated by some of the research presented in the article which found “a strong correlation between higher stress levels and frequency of switching attention”, and I learned that our attention has been monetized and exploited:

“The market has priced our attention by competing in an “attention economy” that’s influencing the internet, social networks and our lifestyles, according to D. Graham Burnett, the founder and director of a nonprofit dedicated to attention activism, the Institute for Sustained Attention, and cocreator of the Strother School of Radical Attention in Brooklyn, New York, who calls this the “commodification of our attention.”

“Our attention is being monetized as never before,” said Burnett, who is also the Henry Charles Lea Professor of History at Princeton University in New Jersey. “We are living through a kind of gold rush, a gigantic technologically intensive and heavily capitalized program of financial exploitation of our most intimate and fundamental attentional capacities.”

I was so struck by the idea that our attention span is an INTIMATE and precious part of our being, and yet we are freely giving it away when we scroll endlessly or click mindlessly. It reminded me of the importance of being intentional about where we place our focus and how much those choices affect how we experience our life and our world. It made me aware that my attention is PRECIOUS and gave me the feeling that it’s something I want to GUARD more carefully and use more wisely.

Johann Hari, one of the researchers quoted in the article sums it up well:

“It’s important to fight back, Hari said. Although companies are seeking control over your attention, you do have the power to develop healthier habits and live more present, fruitful lives, he noted. “We are the citizens of democracies. And we own our own minds. And together, we can take them back if we want to,” he said.”

I invite you to read the full article and hope you find it useful. Here again is the link.