Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention— and How to Think Deeply Again
I’ve largely turned away from the “Self Help” genre of reading for many years. Too much of it feels like I’m being sold something. Not enough of it feels scientific. Maybe I was just bored of it. I read Johann Hari’s Stolen Focus on the recommendation of a family member. It didn’t feel like self-help as much as it did an exploration into a specific topic. Nothing in particular in the book feels groundbreaking or revolutionary. It looks at the concepts of focus and attention in the context of our modern world from various angles. Hari makes his exploration into various related aspects of what affects our focus easily accessible to the reader, with each topic feeling like a well-linked part of a larger cohesive investigation.
The book is highly opinionated. To be fair, Hari suggests himself that there are contrary opinions on several topics, or that some of the data or studies’ results may be questionable. The book however is not scientific research itself; it’s a collection of the results of various interviews with others on their research or expertise. Much of it feels cherry-picked, and ultimately there is clearly a crafted narrative suggesting a clear opinion on the subject from Hari.
Some of it seems a bit problematic, specifically the ADHD section. To my knowledge, Johann Hari is not neurodivergent, and certainly is not a psychiatrist or a neurologist. To make strongly opinionated claims on the efficacy or need for medicating people with ADHD is dangerous. I felt myself cringing through this part of the book. That being said, most of the suggestions i.e., that adjustments to behavior, setting, diet, etc., and that addressing underlying psychological issues can play a huge role in improving focus for those with ADHD or ADHD-like behaviors, are consistent with my own personal experience as an ADHD-diagnosed, ND person. Again, these are not ground-breaking ideas. They are, however, well connected and made easily digestable in this book to any interested reader.
In the end, the book aligned well with my pre-existing interest in reducing distraction and focusing on fewer topics, more deeply— something I’d felt I needed to get back under control over the last couple of years. I sought it out because of that, and whether confirmation bias or not, it reaffirmed some simple thoughts on the matter. I got what I wanted out of this book.
I’m on the fence about whether I would recommend anyone read this or not. It’s a quick read and there are some anecdotes I assume most people would find interesting such as Aza Raskin and his reflections on Infinite Scroll and Tristan Harris and his call to Minimize Distraction & Respect Users’ Attention while working at Google. It’s worth reading if you’re interested in the subject, so long as you form your own opinion and validate the suggestions the book makes.
Log Details
- Date started: 2025-01-03
- Date completed: 2025-02-02
- Read via: audiobook
- Found via: recommendation (vc)
