Nicholas Carr on Building Attention in a Digital Age

Doomscrolling, algorithms, artificial intelligence—these concepts have become so familiar to us and such a part of our everyday monotony that they’ve become jokes.

But Nicholas Carr isn’t laughing. 

Carr’s work in tech journalism has given him a front-row seat to watch the shift of culture around technology over the last decade. His recent book, Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart, explores his observations—and the news isn’t great. Online platforms and algorithms seem to know us better than our churches, families, or friends do—especially when the products we glanced at for a fleeting moment now fill our timelines and social media feeds.

But we already knew that, right? 

And still we face obstacles to capture our own conscious minds. Carr’s work is a call for a cultural revolution to reclaim the human experience from the clutches of technology. Especially when what’s at stake is the understanding of community, which finds its roots in the ability to focus to form empathy for others.

This conversation shines a light on the profound need for deeper connections and the importance of attention in fostering meaningful relationships. Moore and Carr also talk about the mirage of screens as socialization, an AI priest (whose story doesn’t end well), positive outcomes from machines and technology (gasp! Is it possible?), and the way separating from technology might feel an awful lot like excommunication. 

If you need to be emboldened to cut your screen time or make a change in the way you use technology for your sake and the sake of future generations, this conversation may be the thing you need.

Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include:

• Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart by Nicholas Carr

• “The Vacation” Wendell Berry poem

• The Empathy Diaries by Sherry Turkle

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