CNN's John Defterios is on a book tour in the UK. He talks about Marshall McLuhan and how social media has changed our way of being with the world. The Canadian information theorist argued that when you absorb a medium, whether it's a book, television or although of course, you know, you're not going to be able to do it. It's like putting on a set of goggles and seeing the world through that medium.
Johann Hari is a writer and journalist. He has written for the New York Times, Le Monde, the Guardian, and other newspapers and his TED talks have been viewed over seventy million times. His work has been praised by a broad range of people, from Oprah Winfrey to Noam Chomsky to Joe Rogan.
Eric and Johann discuss his book, Stolen Focus Why You Can’t Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again
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Johann Hari and I Discuss Stolen Focus and Attention and…
- His book, Stolen Focus Why You Can’t Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again
- His experience of spending 3 months with no internet or smartphone
- The negative effects of consuming too much of social media
- How the evidence is showing we are in an attention crisis
- The deep forces at work that are damaging our attention
- Understanding the two levels of response to the attention crisis; individual and collective
- Cruel optimism is offering a simple solution to complex problems that may not work
- The alternative to cruel optimism is bringing awareness to the many layers of the problem
- How the human brain can only think about one thing at a time
- The negative effects of multitasking, or the switch cost-effect
- The debate between being “pro” tech and “anti” tech
- The damaging effects of the current business models of social media designed to steal people’s attention
- How technology could be used to heal and aid your attention rather than steal it
- How the current model of economic growth contributes to dwindling attention
- His thoughts on the need for an attention movement to resist the forces invading our attention
Johann Hari Links:
Stolen Focus Book Website
Johann’s Website
Twitter
Instagram
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If you enjoyed this conversation with Johann Hari you might also enjoy these other episodes:
Johann Hari (2015 Interview)
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