On A Mission

The focus of Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention–and How to Think Deeply Again (Hari, 2023) is the double-edge sword of technology’s benefits and how Western societies have tipped the balance to the point of constant overwhelm and distraction. Stolen Focus highlights the way Silicon Valley is geared to steal mindshare, to the point of unhealthy manipulation in the name of profit.

Capabilities like websites infinite scrolling and Snapchat streaks became the advancements that consumer engagement technologists chased while banning their own offspring from the very programs they designed.

In Jay Shetty’s book, Think Like A Monk (2020) he shares the wisdom gained from his multi-year sabbatical living with monks in contrast to Western lifestyles where technology feeds our brains with a steady dopamine hit as we bounce from scrolling news feeds, YouTube videos and seemingly endless streams of social media.

Shetty shares a story about taking a shower in India, which involved a muddy trek in flip flops to find a creaky outdoor stall where he couldn’t distinguish between the cold water falling from the overhead shower and the rain that had begun. The benefit of this primitive and uncomfortable situation in his estimation was that it “strengthened his resolve”.

“True growth requires understanding the mind. It is the filter, judge, and director of all our experiences, but, as evidenced by the conflict I felt on my shower adventure, we are not always of one mind.” (2020)

Once we quell any external distractions and discomforts, we can turn our attention to our internal thought processes. Oprah Winfrey refers to these as the “quiet whispers” that point you in the right direction. Activities may include:

• Keeping a diary as a way to empty the mind on paper with either things you are grateful for or things that are bothering you.

• “Single-tasking” like reading, painting, walking or meditation – anything that is immersive where we lose track of time.

If I have an hour to take care of my health, I prefer to go to the gym than sit quietly and meditate. I took a class many years’ ago where the instructor sounded a Tibetan singing bowl and we sat there in silence for an hour, which felt like an eternity.

In the Sanskrit language of Hindu philosophy, the term for a monk is brahmacharya, which means ‘the right use of energy’ (2020). While four hours of daily meditation is unlikely for most, we are beginning to wake up to the intellectual, emotional and social costs of hours lost in ‘technology space’.