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The michael shermer show is brought to you by wondriam. The former great courses teaching company, which i've been a fan of and a supporter of since the 19 nineties. My guest to day is doctor amishi yah whose new book is pike mine n find your focus. She's one of the world's leading experts in a neuro science of attention. 50% of our waking time is spent distracted, unattentive to what we'd actually like to attend to.

Research shows we are missing 50 percent of our lives because we aren’t paying attention. Many of us often feel mentally foggy, scattered, and overwhelmed. Why is it that no matter how hard you try, you seem to find yourself somewhere else — if you’re even aware you’ve drifted off to that place.

In this conversation with the acclaimed neuroscientist Amishi Jha, she recounts what her neuroscience research revealed, and shows why whether you’re simply browsing, talking to friends, or trying to stay focused in an important meeting, you can’t seem to manage to hang on to your attention.

Shermer and Jha discuss: the neuroscience of attention; what attention evolved to do; how stress, attention bias, negativity bias, thought flooding, and active listening affect attention; multitasking; the “flashlight” metaphor; mindfulness and well-being, and more…