Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention--and How to Think Deeply Again

Stolen Focus offers a powerful critique of the attention crisis plaguing modern society. Hari compellingly reframes the issue, moving away from dismissive comparisons to past obsessions like comic books or video games. Instead, they explain how today’s "stolen focus" is a systemic phenomenon, shaped by factors such as the overwhelming flood of information, the addictive designs of social media, and the economic incentives driving Big Tech. The book highlights that the root cause is not individual weakness but structural forces that demand collective action and policy change to address.Hari also delves into deeper societal questions, pointing out that the development of digital technologies comes with negative externalities, akin to environmental issues stemming from economic growth. The book argues that just as society has responded to environmental challenges with regulation, we must address attention exploitation by curbing the addictive mechanisms of digital products.In addition to discussing the role of Big Tech, the book explores other contributors to the attention crisis, such as changes in the food industry, chronic sleep deprivation, and the erosion of flow states. While these points are well-researched and supported by expert interviews, personal anecdotes, and engaging stories, the structure of the book could be improved. The author lists over ten causes of the attention crisis, but they often feel like isolated points rather than an interconnected framework. A more hierarchical or layered approach to these arguments would make the overall narrative more cohesive.Despite this structural issue, Stolen Focus succeeds as both an informative and thought-provoking work. Written from a journalist's perspective, it balances scientific rigor with readability, capturing the reader’s attention through vivid storytelling. It leaves the reader with a stronger awareness of their digital habits and the societal implications of attention exploitation. This book is not only a wake-up call for individual action but also a compelling case for systemic reform. A must-read for anyone seeking to understand and reclaim their focus in the digital age.

The digital hijacking of our brains by media and social media brainwashing was very informative and highlights the need to change our habits as individuals and define/implement guardrails as a society. The author escapes to Provincetown to do a digital detox and it is mentioned literally 70 times in this book. We get it. You spent 3 months in Provincetown. But the content is worth reading.

This is not the book I was expected. It was far more valuable. I bought it in hopes of gaining a better understanding of some displeasing personal habits I've newly developed (which it has), but more importantly, it's helped me gain a deeper understanding as to why and how our world has arrived at our current, alarming circumstance. Unlike self-help books that offer over-simplistic, doomed-to-fail hacks to regain one's focus, STOLEN FOCUS takes a deep dive into the topic, exploring the vast range of human functions and joys dependent on our capacity to focus, how a dearth of it (within ourselves and society at large) impacts our lives, plus, how and why our capacity to focus has diminished over time. Only when we understand the how and why, can we begin to tackle the question: what must we do to restore it? Granted, the author does not offer fast and easy resolutions, primarily because there are none. However, knowledge is power, and even though he tackles the subject with the gravity it deserves, he presents this wake-up call with wisdom, compassion and caring. To boot, it's a riveting page-turner and hauntingly prescient. Published back in 2022, the book foretells so much of what has since happened to our society. However, that's not to suggest it ends on a negative note. Throughout the book,the author uses practical solutions from history to show how current problems may be overcome. As such, I finished the book with greater incentive to protect my focus from the many who aim to steal it, and it's working. 3 months later, I find myself way less distractable and feeling oddly empowered. Seeing the world from a clearer perspective doesn't fix the myriad problems around us, but it makes it easier to determine where we might best focus our energies and where we best not. This makes an excellent companion piece to Charles Duhigg's THE POWER OF HABIT (published in 2012 but even more resonant now) and Kate Murphy's YOU'RE NOT LISTENING.I wish everybody would read these 3 books (oh, and also the 2008 classic Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's FLOW: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.") if these were required reading for everybody in the world, the world would be a much happier, pleasanter place.