Despite his argument that we can’t focus on problems, including global warming, apparently some people did possess the ability to concentrate and close down Britain’s coal industry. Then came the last 20 pages of “Stolen Focus,” when Hari suddenly jumped from our age of distraction to writing a screed about global warming, which he calls “an unprecedented crisis.”Īpril is the season when Chaucer’s pilgrims gathered before setting off to Canterbury and…Īll well and good, but there are two problems with Hari’s reasoning here. As is the case for millions of us, the Internet is the great disturber of that stillness, and Hari’s diagnosis and advice on how to revive our ability to focus resonated with me.

Though I don’t engage in social media, like the people Hari describes, I feel driven to jump from one task to another every few minutes - writing a book review, but then stopping to wash the dishes, telling myself to clean the basement but then settling down with a glass of wine on the front porch.Įarly on in his book, Hari writes “Through no fault of your own, there never seems to be enough stillness - enough cool, clear space - for you to stop and think.” I live a life of solitude, for the most part, and should have plenty of “cool, clear space,” yet that observation struck home with me. While reading these pages, I was nodding in agreement, knowing that I too was one of those who, for instance, skims articles on the internet rather than absorbing them.

He gives example after example of our vanished talent for deep reading, of being unable to stick with tasks for more than a few minutes, of children lacking the power to apply themselves to their school lessons. For nearly the entire book, Johann Hari focuses our attention on our inability to pay attention.

Stolen focus by johann hari