whereas no any prior knowledge of any kind is needed to follow the argument and teachings of ‘the distracted mind’, a love – or least tolerance – of fascinating, but dense academic reading is a must.
psychology 101 textbook
part one read like one of my psychology 101 textbooks. or in other words when evolutionary psychology meets cognitive psychology. so far, so good.
philosophical history lesson
part two starts with an almost philosophical lesson on the history of technology and then covers in detail its impact on our modern lives with facts ranging from illuminating to creepy: for instance did you know that according to research studies 12% of adults use their phone in the shower and 9% during sex? say whaaat?!?
disappointment at the end?
it’s part three that i was looking forward to the most. because if we’re being honest, the overall message from parts one and two are not exactly news.
in this part, the authors go over different solutions ranging from the obvious such as going into nature more or mediating to the more structural (aka reforming education) to the counter-intuitive like even more technology.
and they do so by scientific standards where evidence is being evaluated based on how strong it is. and i like it when do authors do that. science trumps opinions any time.
however, it’s also where disappointment set in for me, because – spoiler alert – there isn’t a lot of good, robust evidence.
while the authors state that they are ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the future, after reading ‘the distracted mind’ i am more determined than ever to watch and limit the intrusiveness of technology in my life.
which is why my notifications are now as minimal and sparse as my wardrobe! among others.
