Rapt Chapter Ten:

"In little more than a decade, computers and the Internet, cell phones and BlackBerries have become surrogate body parts that enable nonstop attention to myriad sources of information and entertainment as well as great numbers of other people. This technological bonanza creates a major expansion of the targets for your focus and a potential drain on its finite resources."

"By and large, if you want to learn and remember something—a new neighbor’s name or the directions to the restaurant—you really have to pay attention to it. If you don’t, the information probably won’t make it to your short-term much less long-term memory, where what you’ve learned is stored."

" 'When you become great with memory, you become naturally superfocused. At work, I often become so engrossed that I have to set the alarm clock, so that I remember to stop and do whatever else I have planned that day.' " 

" “it got so intense that after a little while, the audience became really quiet. I said to them, ‘The silence is palpable. You should see the focus, the attention, you’re giving to me. It’s kind of frightening.’ A woman said, ‘Well, you should see the attention you’re giving us. It’s quite frightening.’ They were mirroring what I was doing.”

"Everyone who has an intact brain can focus, but some people are much better at it than others. Like every human trait or ability, attention can be plotted on a bell-shaped curve, with many individuals clustered toward the middle and fewer toward each tail. Those at one end are champion focusers, and those at the other are said to suffer from “attention deficit.” "

"Rather than alienate the young Western and Eastern consumers who drive the market, powerful communications companies increasingly cater to kids’ preference for qwik-n-ez information that can be grasped in smaller and smaller bits, encouraging a superficial mentality that’s only lightly disguised by keyboard athletics. The young can get away with IM-ING while playing a computer game or the like, but there’s a risk: if you grow up assuming that you can pay attention to several things at once, you may not realize that the way in which you process such information is superficial at best. When you’re finally forced to confront intellectually demanding situations in high school or college, you may find that you’ve traded depth of knowledge for breadth and stunted your capacity for serious thought."

"The young in particular might fail to consider how many people in their electronic address book really know them and would be there for them if they needed help, as a friend or relative does and would."

"William James knew all too well that some things are just plain more interesting than others. As Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote in a sonnet, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” Yet he argued that even a tedious topic can take on a certain fascination if you make an effort to look at it afresh: “The subject must be made to show new aspects of itself; to prompt new questions; in a word, to change. From an unchanging subject the attention inevitably wanders away.” "

"James urges you to enliven dull work with “frequent recapitulations, illustrations, examples, novelty of order, and ruptures of routine.”"

"Science mostly talks about attention as a restriction and filtering of information ..."

"attention has shaped your identity and experience by enabling you to learn and remember. When distractions interfere with that process, your ability to store information and acquire knowledge and skills suffers."

"Where fears about the ability to focus in the early twenty-first century are concerned, the truth is more complicated than most headlines and sound bites suggest. Many attentional lapses are not only normal but even beneficial. All minds wander sometimes, and they often stray in productive directions. On the other hand, embracing the vogue for multitasking, fueled by seductive electronics, can make you inefficient and even endangered. Inordinate amounts of time spent fixated on various screens and keyboards pose particular risks for young people who should be focused on learning and exact a cost in terms of real-life experience, particularly with other living, breathing people. One crucial fact often gets overlooked in laments about the electronic assault on your ability to focus: your machines are not in charge of what you attend to—you are. When they prove distracting, you have only to turn them off."

"Considering attention’s importance, it’s surprising that coffee and Ritalin are still the most popular if imperfect ways to improve it."

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grok:

"Chapter 10 of Rapt explores the challenges and dynamics of attention in an era dominated by technology, emphasizing how focus is essential for learning, memory, and personal growth while warning against the pitfalls of digital distractions. The author, Winifred Gallagher, delves into the tension between technological abundance and the finite nature of human attention, arguing that while devices like computers, the internet, cell phones, and BlackBerries expand our access to information, entertainment, and social connections, they also fragment our focus, acting as a "potential drain on its finite resources." This creates a constant pull on our attention, making it harder to sustain deep engagement.

A core theme is the critical role of attention in cognition: to learn or remember something—such as a name or directions—one must actively pay attention, as unattended information rarely reaches short-term or long-term memory. Gallagher illustrates this with examples of "superfocusers," like individuals who become so immersed in tasks that they need alarms to break away, highlighting how mastery in memory fosters intense concentration. She also recounts a performer's experience of mutual, "frightening" focus with an audience, demonstrating attention's reciprocal and contagious nature.

Human attention varies widely, plotted on a bell curve where most people fall in the middle, with "champion focusers" at one end and those with attention deficits at the other. However, societal trends exacerbate issues, particularly for the young. Powerful tech companies cater to preferences for "qwik-n-ez" information in bite-sized formats, promoting superficial processing disguised as multitasking prowess. Gallagher warns that habitual multitasking—such as IM-ing while gaming—may seem efficient but risks stunting depth of thought, especially when youth encounter demanding intellectual tasks in school. This superficiality extends to relationships: electronic address books inflate perceived social networks, but many contacts lack the depth of true friends or family who provide real support.

Drawing on psychologist William James, the chapter offers strategies for sustaining attention on dull subjects by reframing them to reveal "new aspects," prompting fresh questions, or introducing novelty through recapitulations, illustrations, or routine disruptions. Distractions not only impair immediate tasks but hinder knowledge acquisition and skill development over time.

Addressing contemporary fears about declining focus, the author presents a nuanced view: not all attentional lapses are harmful—minds naturally wander, often productively—but the cultural embrace of multitasking, amplified by seductive electronics, can lead to inefficiency, safety risks, and diminished real-world experiences, especially for youth fixated on screens rather than interpersonal interactions. Crucially, Gallagher empowers readers by asserting that "your machines are not in charge of what you attend to—you are," urging simple solutions like turning devices off when they distract.

The chapter concludes on a reflective note, noting the irony that, despite attention's profound importance, the primary tools for enhancing it remain rudimentary—like coffee or Ritalin."