A Master in the Making

As I have been reading Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again, the author Johann Hari deep dives into many of the reasons why we are unable to focus for long amounts of time and have become more easily distracted when we are trying to get important tasks done. A lot of the chapters highlight and go into detail on how technology advancements have had great impact on our attention spans.

Before reading this book, I likely would have assumed that technology was one of the primary reasons behind the massive decline in our ability to focus. It’s easy to blame the constant notifications, endless social media scrolling, and the overwhelming digital distractions that surrounds us. While technology does play a significant role, what I never expected was just how many other factors have contributed to this decline in our attention. 

More specifically, reading Chapter Twelve, Causes Nine and Ten: Our Deteriorating Diets and Rising Pollution, opened my eyes to the fact that there are multiple factors affecting our attention that are far less controllable than I had originally thought. While we can make various small changes to focus on personal habits like screen time or multitasking, I never fully considered how much our environment and lifestyle, particularly the quality of our food and the air we breathe, can impact our ability to concentrate.

After reading about how the air we breathe actively contributes to our inability to focus, I felt a mix of confusion and defeat. It was surprising to learn that something as fundamental as air could directly impact our ability to pay attention. The idea that pollutants and toxins in our environment disrupt our brain’s ability to function was never something I would have ever considered. Additionally, I’m left wondering if it has already become too late to try and stop the air from having these types of effects.

Thinking more about the food we eat, it’s obvious that there has been a big shift in what we consume. Most of what is easily available for us to eat is super processed or packed with chemicals to make it last longer. Even the food at local grocery stores, stuff we assume is fresh, is often filled with preservatives and artificial ingredients that our bodies are not meant to handle in such large amounts. This topic has also been discussed in my Health Psychology class as a massive societal issue impacting our overall health. We discussed how the prices for healthy foods have become too expensive for many, leaving fast food as the default option. 

What’s most clear to me is that there will need to be huge societal changes made in order for these factors not to contribute to our attention difficulties. Simply addressing personal habits isn’t enough; we must confront the systemic issues that affect our diets, air quality, and overall well-being. As systems thinker Donella Meadows points out in her article Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System, there are areas where interventions can lead to significant changes in our overall systems. She emphasizes that “The only way to fix a system that is laid out wrong is to rebuild it…,” while I don’t think the answer will be to completely rebuild our lifestyles, I think it will be important to consider creating new lifestyles that focus on healthier fundamentals like cleaner air and fresh foods.