{ "archive_path": "archive/1738476722.238626", "base_url": "bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/attention/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us", "basename": "", "bookmarked_date": "2025-02-02 06:12", "canonical": { "archive_org_path": "https://web.archive.org/web/bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/attention/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us", "dom_path": "output.html", "favicon_path": "favicon.ico", "git_path": "git/", "google_favicon_path": "https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=bigthink.com", "headers_path": "headers.json", "htmltotext_path": "htmltotext.txt", "index_path": "index.html", "media_path": "media/", "mercury_path": "mercury/content.html", "pdf_path": "output.pdf", "readability_path": "readability/content.html", "screenshot_path": "screenshot.png", "singlefile_path": "singlefile.html", "warc_path": "warc/", "wget_path": null }, "domain": "bigthink.com", "downloaded_at": "2025-02-02T06:12:06.969026+00:00", "downloaded_datestr": "2025-02-02 06:12", "extension": "", "hash": "XVKSN2J88W3ATGGQSFEX", "history": { "archive_org": [ { "cmd": [ "/usr/bin/curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--proxy", "socks5://tor-socks-proxy:9150", "--head", "--max-time", "60", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/128.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/{VERSION} (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/)", "https://web.archive.org/save/https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/attention/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us" ], "cmd_version": "8.10.1", "end_ts": "2025-02-02T06:14:49.014413+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "TimeoutExpired: Command '['/usr/bin/curl', '--silent', '--location', '--compressed', '--proxy', 'socks5://tor-socks-proxy:9150', '--head', '--max-time', '60', '--user-agent', 'Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/128.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/{VERSION} (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/)', 'https://web.archive.org/save/https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/attention/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us']' timed out after 60 seconds", "pwd": "/data/archive/1738476722.238626", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2025-02-02T06:13:48.951263+00:00", "status": "failed" } ], "dom": [ { "cmd": [ "/usr/bin/chromium-browser", "--proxy-server=socks5://tor-socks-proxy:9150", "--disable-features=DarkMode", "--run-all-compositor-stages-before-draw", "--hide-scrollbars", "--autoplay-policy=no-user-gesture-required", "--no-first-run", "--use-fake-ui-for-media-stream", "--use-fake-device-for-media-stream", "--simulate-outdated-no-au='Tue, 31 Dec 2099 23:59:59 GMT'", "--headless=new", "--no-sandbox", "--no-zygote", "--disable-dev-shm-usage", "--disable-software-rasterizer", "--disable-sync", "--window-size=1440,2000", "--user-agent=Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/128.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/{VERSION} (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/)", "--user-data-dir=/data/personas/Default/chrome_profile", "--profile-directory=Default", "--dump-dom", "https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/attention/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us" ], "cmd_version": "131.0.6778", "end_ts": "2025-02-02T06:13:17.274197+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "TimeoutExpired: Command '['/usr/bin/chromium-browser', '--proxy-server=socks5://tor-socks-proxy:9150', '--disable-features=DarkMode', '--run-all-compositor-stages-before-draw', '--hide-scrollbars', '--autoplay-policy=no-user-gesture-required', '--no-first-run', '--use-fake-ui-for-media-stream', '--use-fake-device-for-media-stream', \"--simulate-outdated-no-au='Tue, 31 Dec 2099 23:59:59 GMT'\", '--headless=new', '--no-sandbox', '--no-zygote', '--disable-dev-shm-usage', '--disable-software-rasterizer', '--disable-sync', '--window-size=1440,2000', '--user-agent=Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/128.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/{VERSION} (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/)', '--user-data-dir=/data/personas/Default/chrome_profile', '--profile-directory=Default', '--dump-dom', 'https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/attention/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us']' timed out after 60 seconds", "pwd": "/data/archive/1738476722.238626", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2025-02-02T06:12:16.887693+00:00", "status": "failed" } ], "favicon": [ { "cmd": [ "/usr/bin/curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--proxy", "socks5://tor-socks-proxy:9150", "--max-time", "60", "--output", "favicon.ico", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/128.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/{VERSION} (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/)", "https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=bigthink.com" ], "cmd_version": "8.10.1", "end_ts": "2025-02-02T06:12:11.365084+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "favicon.ico", "pwd": "/data/archive/1738476722.238626", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2025-02-02T06:12:07.608232+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "git": [], "headers": [ { "cmd": [ "/usr/bin/curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--proxy", "socks5://tor-socks-proxy:9150", "--head", "--max-time", "60", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/128.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/{VERSION} (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/)", "https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/attention/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us" ], "cmd_version": "8.10.1", "end_ts": "2025-02-02T06:12:11.614448+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "headers.json", "pwd": "/data/archive/1738476722.238626", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2025-02-02T06:12:11.410849+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "htmltotext": [ { "cmd": [ "(internal) archivebox.extractors.htmltotext", "./{singlefile,dom}.html" ], "cmd_version": "0.8.5rc51", "end_ts": "2025-02-02T06:13:41.542178+00:00", "index_texts": [ "(https://gmpg.org/xfn/11) (https://use.typekit.net) (https://use.typekit.net) (https://use.typekit.net/oms5dcs.css) (https://use.typekit.net/oms5dcs.css) (https://use.typekit.net/oms5dcs.css) The evolutionary reason you can't pay attention - Big Think (https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/attention/) (//stats.wp.com) (https://bigthink.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/search/elasticpress/dist/css/related-posts-block-styles.min.css?ver=4.2.2) (https://bigthink.com/wp-content/themes/bigthink/build/css/bigthink.css?ver=2.0.5) (https://bigthink.com/wp-content/plugins/ninja-forms/assets/css/display-structure.css?ver=6.7.1) (https://bigthink.com/wp-json/) (JSON) (https://bigthink.com/wp-json/wp/v2/ftm_article/222331) (RSD) (https://bigthink.com/xmlrpc.php?rsd) (https://bigthink.com/?p=222331) (oEmbed (JSON)) (https://bigthink.com/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbigthink.com%2Fthe-learning-curve%2Fattention%2F) (oEmbed (XML)) (https://bigthink.com/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbigthink.com%2Fthe-learning-curve%2Fattention%2F&format=xml) (https://bigthink.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/cropped-bt-icon-512x512-1-1.png?w=32) (https://bigthink.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/cropped-bt-icon-512x512-1-1.png?w=192) (https://bigthink.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/cropped-bt-icon-512x512-1-1.png?w=180) (/feed/all) (RSS Feed for Big Think) (/feed/the-learning-curve) (RSS Feed for The Learning Curve) Skip to content Video (/series/the-big-think-interview/) The Big Think Interview (/series/your-brain-on-money/) Your Brain on Money (/playlists) Playlists (https://bigthink.com/video-library/) Explore the Library Collections (/collections/the-universe-a-history/) The Universe. A History. (/special-issues/the-progress-issue/) The Progress Issue (/collections/brief-history-quantum-mechanics/) A Brief History Of Quantum Mechanics (/collections/6-flaws-in-our-understanding-of-the-universe/) 6 Flaws In Our Understanding Of The Universe (/collections/hindsight/) Hindsight Big Thinkers (/people/michiokaku/) Michio Kaku (https://bigthink.com/people/neildegrassetyson/) Neil deGrasse Tyson (/people/michelle-thaller/) Michelle Thaller (/people/zenahitz/) Zena Hitz (/people/stevenpinker/) Steven Pinker (/people/paulbloom/) Paul Bloom (/people/RayKurzweil/) Ray Kurzweil (/people/CornelWest/) Cornel West (/people/HelenFisher/) Helen Fisher Sections (/business/) Business (/neuropsych/) Neuropsych (/thinking/) Thinking (/leadership/) Leadership (/smart-skills/) Smart Skills (/high-culture/) High Culture (/the-past/) The Past (/the-present/) The Present (/the-future/) The Future (/life/) Life (/health/) Health (/hard-science/) Hard Science (https://bigthink.com/special-issues/) Special Issues Columns (https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/) Starts With A Bang (/collections/everyday-philosophy/) Everyday Philosophy (https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/) The Learning Curve (/the-long-game/) The Long Game (https://bigthink.com/the-well/) The Well (/perception-box/) Perception Box (https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/) Strange Maps (https://bigthink.com/13-8/) 13.8 Subscribe (/subscribe/) Free Newsletters (https://members.bigthink.com/pages/become-a-big-think-member?&utm_campaign=header-nav) Memberships (/plus/) Get Big Think for Your Business. Enable transformation and drive culture at your company with lessons from the biggest thinkers in the world. (/plus/) Learn More \u2192 Follow Us (https://www.youtube.com/user/bigthink) View our Youtube channel (https://www.facebook.com/BigThinkdotcom/) View our Facebook page (https://www.instagram.com/bigthinkers/) View our Instagram feed (https://twitter.com/bigthink) View our Twitter (X) feed (https://www.linkedin.com/company/thebigthink/) View our LinkedIn account Search for: (SEARCH) () Open the Main Navigation Search (/) Return to homepage (/) (/plus/) For Business (/subscribe/) Subscribe (https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/) The Learning Curve \u2014 November 27, 2023 An ancient technique can improve your attention span The modern attention economy hijacks our ability to focus, but an ancient technique offers a means to get it back. (A young girl giving her undivided attention to a TV screen displaying an engaging cartoon.) Bettmann / Getty Images Key Takeaways Attention is a scarce economic resource; you only have so much to give in your lifetime. Life\u2019s modern distractions, such as news and social media, have overwhelmed our evolutionarily designed attention spans. According to neuroscientist Amishi Jha, 12 minutes of mindfulness training a day strengthens your attentional systems. (https://bigthink.com/people/kevin-dickinson/) Kevin Dickinson Copy a link to the article entitled http://An%20ancient%20technique%20can%20improve%20your%20attention%20span (https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/attention/) Share An ancient technique can improve your attention span on Facebook (https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/attention/&text=An%20ancient%20technique%20can%20improve%20your%20attention%20span) Share An ancient technique can improve your attention span on Twitter (X) (https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/attention/) Share An ancient technique can improve your attention span on LinkedIn Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people Notice: JavaScript is required for this content. This article was first published on Big Think in July 2022. It was updated in December 2023. Does this sound familiar? You can\u2019t focus. You\u2019re bored one minute, overwhelmed the next, and stressed either way. You make mistakes you shouldn\u2019t and then dwell on them for hours. When you try to be productive, you can\u2019t go five minutes without checking your texts, dreading some future engagement, or walking into another room to check on \u2026 something. (What was it again?) Neuroscientist (https://bigthink.com/people/amishi-jha/) Amishi Jha opens her book, (https://amishi.com/books/peak-mind) Peak Mind , with this vignette to illustrate an important truth: You\u2019re not alone. Most people (https://news.gallup.com/businessjournal/23146/too-many-interruptions-work.aspx) can\u2019t go three minutes at work without being interrupted by a chatty colleague, and students cite (https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2019/07/10/survey-shows-nearly-half-students-distracted-technology) the allure of social media and other digital distractions as a major disruptor to their studies. \u201cI\u2019ve seen certain universal patterns in the way all of our brains function \u2014 both how powerfully they can focus, and how extraordinarily vulnerable they are to distraction \u2014 no matter who you are or what you do,\u201d Jha writes. At the heart of this predicament, Jha argues, is (https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/peak-mind-crisis-attention/#:~:text=A%20crisis%20of%20attention%20can,any%20task%2Dat%2Dhand.) attention \u2014 specifically, the many ways we can disconnect from it. Depleted attention creates a mental fog. Hijacked attention manifests as anxiety and worry. Fragmented attention shatters our ability to focus. Disconnected attention keeps us detached from others. Each attentional affliction causes you to grow out of sync with what\u2019s happening around you, affecting what you think, how you feel, what you learn, how you react, and your relationships with others. In short, attention isn\u2019t just a matter of where your focus happens to be. It\u2019s the internal force that shapes how you encounter and experience your life in its entirety. Attention: A cognitive currency In her book, Jha compares attention to a currency. You can pay it to others, and they can give theirs to you. You can request it in the spirit of charity \u2014 \u201cWill you give me your attention, please?\u201d And as any parent whose (https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/marshmallow-test/) child is within earshot of an ice cream truck can attest, attention can be stolen outright. This connection is more than metaphorical. Attention is a scarce economic resource; you only have so much to give in your lifetime. When you focus on a person, tweet, daydream, or TV show, you are spending a moment of attention. You can never get it back, and you can\u2019t provide it elsewhere. The same is true for any $10 bill that\u2019s left your wallet. But like that ten-spot, attention is also a means of exchange. In exchange for yours, you may receive love, knowledge, entertainment, (https://bigthink.com/thinking/authenticity-self-actualization/) self-understanding , and much more. \u201cGiven how powerful attention is, we need to really respect where we place this precious brain resource,\u201d Jha said in an interview. Evolutionary life insurance This cognitive currency is traded through your brain\u2019s attention system. This system filters out unnecessary noises, sights, and sounds from the environment alongside distracting thoughts and (https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/chatter/) mental chatter . Without it, you couldn\u2019t focus at all. Your conscious mind would stall from the vast amounts of information bombarding it \u2014 like a computer with overloaded RAM. This attention system isn\u2019t foolproof, though. It becomes easily distracted when it encounters novel, exciting, threatening, or self-related information in the environment. And this backdoor hack isn\u2019t a flaw; it\u2019s a feature of evolutionary design. For example, imagine you\u2019re an ancient human who is spearfishing in an African river. You\u2019re focused intently on the glittering water, trying to aim your thrust to account for the bending light. Suddenly, your eye catches something in its periphery. It\u2019s long, brown, and moving half-submerged through the water. Your attention system will break its focus and snap toward that potential threat. If it\u2019s a log, you\u2019ve paid a pittance of attention and can return to fishing. But if it\u2019s a Nile crocodile, then your attentional insurance paid out big. (https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/distraction/) Distraction just saved your life. () News headlines drip with tragedy and threatening news because such information pulls at our attention. (Credit: Priscilla Du Preez / Unsplash) Living in the attentional red While distraction has its uses, today it\u2019s an ever-present quality of our lives, wrenching us from our attention when we need it most. That\u2019s because, Jha writes, while attention is powerful, it\u2019s also fragile. It can be easily broken by stress, threats, and negative moods. And the prevalence of these forces is causing our crisis of attention. Don\u2019t get the wrong idea. Much like distraction, these three forces can be advantageous. Stress has a positive side called eustress . It\u2019s the low-to-medium levels of stress that motivate you to accomplish something. Without it, you\u2019d have no drive, and every day would be a listless lull in the doldrums. Similarly, a negative mood can signal that something is wrong. That unease can propel you to solve the problem and lift the emotional pall. But the modern world has hyper-charged these forces beyond the tipping point of usefulness. (https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/self-inflicted-stress-management/) Stress has become distress , negative moods have become chronic melancholy, and threats are overrepresented. There are many reasons for this hyper-charging, but a prominent one is the attention economy. Technology companies, news media, and political players now recognize attention as the resource it is and, in some ways, regard it as more valuable than money. \u201c[M]oney follows attention, whereas the reverse is not necessarily true. As our economy becomes more dependent on attention, the medium of exchange flows from the holders of the old to the holders of the new,\u201d writes (https://econreview.berkeley.edu/paying-attention-the-attention-economy/) the Berkeley Economic Review . Given attention\u2019s value, it\u2019s little wonder enterprises have built products and services to target the attentional back doors left open by evolution. News organizations, for example, favor (https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/headline-stress-disorder/) headlines that drip with threat and tragedy \u2014 the so-called \u201cif it bleeds, it leads\u201d standard. That\u2019s because we\u2019re hardwired to assess threats and determine what can be done. Essentially, we need to find out if the story represents a log or a crocodile. The more people compelled to perform that assessment, the more newspapers sold. These threats don\u2019t have to be physical. As Jha writes, \u201cOur reputation, financial well-being, or sense of justice can all be under threat.\u201d People used to pay some of their daily attention to the news, either a morning read of the paper or an hour watching the evening broadcast. But in the era of 24/7 news coverage \u2014 the era of the attention economy \u2014 we\u2019re paying that attentional cost throughout the day. Over time, it becomes a sizable withdraw of our mental energy, yet we continue to check our news feeds for threats even when we should be focused on something else. Without devoting attention, we don\u2019t experience care, and we can\u2019t extend care. In fact, you might say that paying attention to another person is our highest form of love. ~ Amishi Jha Train your attention Is the answer then to wall yourself off from stressors, disconnect from social media, and choose not to engage with news coverage? \u201cMy answer is a resounding no ,\u201d Jha writes. \u201cMany stressors are unavoidable, while others are part of our journey to fulfillment and success \u2014 if we remove them, we would be limiting ourselves.\u201d While attention is both powerful and fragile, it has a third feature: It\u2019s trainable through (https://bigthink.com/mind-brain/mindfulness-science/) mindfulness . Just as exercise trains the body, mindfulness trains the mind by strengthening your meta-awareness \u2014 that is, your ability to be aware of where you\u2019re placing your awareness. The stronger your meta-awareness becomes, the more control you have over your attention system. That control then helps you keep your attention on the present moment, enriching how you encounter and experience your life. Through her research, Jha discovered what she calls the \u201cminimum effective dose\u201d of mindfulness. Her team found that lab participants who practiced mindfulness for 12 minutes or more a day saw benefits in objective measures of attention and mood. Those who practiced for less did not. In Peak Mind , Jha lays out a four-week regimen to help readers build their mindfulness habits. But in her interview, Jha shared an exercise you can do right now to exercise your attentional system. Simply follow these steps: Start by settling into your body. Notice yourself sitting and breathing. If you feel comfortable, close your eyes. Ask: What\u2019s most vividly tied to my breath? Is it the coolness of air moving in and out of my nostrils? Or are my shoulders moving up and down? Direct your focus on this sensation. If you notice your attention has wandered, redirect it back to your breath. On the page, the exercise seems painfully easy. Maybe even a little boring. But you\u2019ll likely find your mind often drifts away from the sensation of your breathing. You\u2019ll become lost in reliving a childhood memory, worrying over an unfinished project, or delighting in a favorite fantasy. Whatever the case, it\u2019s not a failure on your part. Redirecting your focus back to the breath is the whole point. That\u2019s the key to strengthening your attention span. \u201cMinds wander. It\u2019s a natural thing that the brain does. When our mind moves away, gently return it back. Simply begin again,\u201d Jha reminds you. Learn more on Big Think+ With a diverse library of lessons from the world\u2019s biggest thinkers, (https://bigthink.com/plus/) Big Think+ helps businesses get smarter, faster. To access Amishi Jha\u2019s full class for your organization, (https://bigthink.com/plus/request-a-demo/) request a demo . Tags (https://bigthink.com/tag/life-hacks/) Life Hacks (https://bigthink.com/tag/mental-health/) mental health (https://bigthink.com/tag/mindfulness/) mindfulness (https://bigthink.com/tag/neuroscience/) neuroscience In this article (https://bigthink.com/tag/life-hacks/) Life Hacks (https://bigthink.com/tag/mental-health/) mental health (https://bigthink.com/tag/mindfulness/) mindfulness (https://bigthink.com/tag/neuroscience/) neuroscience Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people Notice: JavaScript is required for this content. Related (https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/mindfulness-science/) () (https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/) The Learning Curve (https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/mindfulness-science/) Mindfulness: New age craze or science-backed solution? Research has shown the benefits of mindfulness, but the current mindfulness craze cannot deliver on its overhyped promises. (https://bigthink.com/health/sleep-mindfulness/) () (https://bigthink.com/health/) Health (https://bigthink.com/health/sleep-mindfulness/) An extra half-hour of sleep shown to improve mindfulness A new study of nurses shows the importance of sleep\u2014and staying aware on the job. (https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/walking-meditation/) (A man walking along a woodland path.) (https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/) Neuropsych (https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/walking-meditation/) What is walking meditation? Thich Nhat Hanh, the late Vietnamese monk, thought walking could be a profound contemplative practice. (https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/mindfulness-goal-setting/) () (https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/) Neuropsych (https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/mindfulness-goal-setting/) \u2018Mindful\u2019 people are better goal-setters according to new research Aligning your goals with deeply held values produces better results\u2014in your career and life. (https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/chatter/) (Chatter represents the dark side of your inner voice.) (https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/) The Learning Curve (https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/chatter/) Chatter: The dark side of your inner voice Your inner voice can be the devil on your shoulder or the angel. It depends on where your focus lies. Up Next (https://bigthink.com/high-culture/navajo-language/) (Two navajo men in military uniforms working on a radio.) (https://bigthink.com/high-culture/) High Culture (https://bigthink.com/high-culture/navajo-language/) Why Navajo is the world\u2019s hardest language to learn The tonal Native American language differentiates words based on pitch and makes Spanish conjugation look like child\u2019s play. Footer Subscribe Get counterintuitive, surprising, and impactful stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday. Notice: JavaScript is required for this content. Follow Us (https://www.youtube.com/user/bigthink) View our Youtube channel (https://www.facebook.com/BigThinkdotcom/) View our Facebook page (https://www.instagram.com/bigthinkers/) View our Instagram feed (https://twitter.com/bigthink) View our Twitter (X) feed (https://www.linkedin.com/company/thebigthink/) View our LinkedIn account Sections (/business/) Business (/neuropsych/) Neuropsych (/thinking/) Thinking (/leadership/) Leadership (/smart-skills/) Smart Skills (/high-culture/) High Culture (/the-past/) The Past (/the-present/) The Present (/the-future/) The Future (/life/) Life (/health/) Health (/hard-science/) Hard Science (https://bigthink.com/special-issues/) Special Issues Columns (https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/) Starts With A Bang (/collections/everyday-philosophy/) Everyday Philosophy (https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/) The Learning Curve (/the-long-game/) The Long Game (https://bigthink.com/the-well/) The Well (/perception-box/) Perception Box (https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/) Strange Maps (https://bigthink.com/13-8/) 13.8 Video (/series/the-big-think-interview/) The Big Think Interview (/series/your-brain-on-money/) Your Brain on Money (/playlists) Playlists (https://bigthink.com/video-library/) Explore the Library About (https://bigthink.com/our-mission/) Our Mission (https://bigthink.com/work-with-us/) Work With Us (https://bigthink.com/contact/) Contact (https://bigthink.com/privacy-policy/) Privacy Policy (https://bigthink.com/terms-of-use/) Terms of Use (https://bigthink.com/accessibility/) Accessibility (https://bigthink.com/careers/) Careers Subscribe (/subscribe/) Free Newsletters (https://members.bigthink.com/pages/become-a-big-think-member?&utm_campaign=header-nav) Memberships (/puzzles/weekly-crossword/) The Weekly Crossword (/plus/) Get Big Think for Your Business. Enable transformation and drive culture at your company with lessons from the biggest thinkers in the world. (/plus/) Learn More \u2192 \u00a9 Copyright 2007-2025 & BIG THINK, BIG THINK PLUS, SMARTER FASTER trademarks owned by Freethink Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Close Advertisement (https://bigthink.com/wp-content/plugins/ninja-forms-style/layouts/assets/css/display-structure.css?ver=3.0.29) " ], "output": "htmltotext.txt", "pwd": "/data/archive/1738476722.238626", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2025-02-02T06:13:41.374658+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "media": [ { "cmd": [ "/usr/local/bin/yt-dlp", "--restrict-filenames", "--trim-filenames", "128", "--write-description", "--write-info-json", "--write-annotations", "--write-thumbnail", "--no-call-home", "--write-sub", "--write-auto-subs", "--convert-subs=srt", "--yes-playlist", "--continue", "--no-abort-on-error", "--ignore-errors", "--geo-bypass", "--add-metadata", "--format=(bv*+ba/b)[filesize<=750m][filesize_approx<=?750m]/(bv*+ba/b)", "--skip-download", "--cache-dir=/data/yt-dlp-cache/", "--cookies=/data/yt-dlp-cache/cookies.txt", "--proxy=socks5://tor-socks-proxy:9150", "--no-playlist", "https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/attention/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us" ], "cmd_version": "2024.10.7", "end_ts": "2025-02-02T06:13:48.900584+00:00", "index_texts": [], "output": "media/", "pwd": "/data/archive/1738476722.238626", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2025-02-02T06:13:43.440298+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "mercury": [ { "cmd": [ "/home/archivebox/.npm/bin/postlight-parser", "https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/attention/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us" ], "cmd_version": "2.2.3", "end_ts": "2025-02-02T06:13:41.332447+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "mercury/", "pwd": "/data/archive/1738476722.238626", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2025-02-02T06:13:36.797361+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "pdf": [], "readability": [ { "cmd": [ "/home/archivebox/.npm/bin/readability-extractor", "/tmp/tmpoefsg_p1", "https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/attention/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us" ], "cmd_version": "0.0.11", "end_ts": "2025-02-02T06:13:25.702801+00:00", "index_texts": [ "Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter \n \n A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people \n \nThis article was first published on Big Think in July 2022. It was updated in December 2023.Does this sound familiar? You can\u2019t focus. You\u2019re bored one minute, overwhelmed the next, and stressed either way. You make mistakes you shouldn\u2019t and then dwell on them for hours. When you try to be productive, you can\u2019t go five minutes without checking your texts, dreading some future engagement, or walking into another room to check on \u2026 something. (What was it again?)Neuroscientist Amishi Jha opens her book, Peak Mind, with this vignette to illustrate an important truth: You\u2019re not alone. Most people can\u2019t go three minutes at work without being interrupted by a chatty colleague, and students cite the allure of social media and other digital distractions as a major disruptor to their studies.\u201cI\u2019ve seen certain universal patterns in the way all of our brains function \u2014 both how powerfully they can focus, and how extraordinarily vulnerable they are to distraction \u2014 no matter who you are or what you do,\u201d Jha writes.At the heart of this predicament, Jha argues, is attention \u2014 specifically, the many ways we can disconnect from it. Depleted attention creates a mental fog. Hijacked attention manifests as anxiety and worry. Fragmented attention shatters our ability to focus. Disconnected attention keeps us detached from others. Each attentional affliction causes you to grow out of sync with what\u2019s happening around you, affecting what you think, how you feel, what you learn, how you react, and your relationships with others.In short, attention isn\u2019t just a matter of where your focus happens to be. It\u2019s the internal force that shapes how you encounter and experience your life in its entirety.Attention: A cognitive currencyIn her book, Jha compares attention to a currency. You can pay it to others, and they can give theirs to you. You can request it in the spirit of charity \u2014 \u201cWill you give me your attention, please?\u201d And as any parent whose child is within earshot of an ice cream truck can attest, attention can be stolen outright.This connection is more than metaphorical. Attention is a scarce economic resource; you only have so much to give in your lifetime. When you focus on a person, tweet, daydream, or TV show, you are spending a moment of attention. You can never get it back, and you can\u2019t provide it elsewhere. The same is true for any $10 bill that\u2019s left your wallet.But like that ten-spot, attention is also a means of exchange. In exchange for yours, you may receive love, knowledge, entertainment, self-understanding, and much more.\u201cGiven how powerful attention is, we need to really respect where we place this precious brain resource,\u201d Jha said in an interview.Evolutionary life insuranceThis cognitive currency is traded through your brain\u2019s attention system. This system filters out unnecessary noises, sights, and sounds from the environment alongside distracting thoughts and mental chatter. Without it, you couldn\u2019t focus at all. Your conscious mind would stall from the vast amounts of information bombarding it \u2014 like a computer with overloaded RAM.This attention system isn\u2019t foolproof, though. It becomes easily distracted when it encounters novel, exciting, threatening, or self-related information in the environment. And this backdoor hack isn\u2019t a flaw; it\u2019s a feature of evolutionary design.For example, imagine you\u2019re an ancient human who is spearfishing in an African river. You\u2019re focused intently on the glittering water, trying to aim your thrust to account for the bending light. Suddenly, your eye catches something in its periphery. It\u2019s long, brown, and moving half-submerged through the water.Your attention system will break its focus and snap toward that potential threat. If it\u2019s a log, you\u2019ve paid a pittance of attention and can return to fishing. But if it\u2019s a Nile crocodile, then your attentional insurance paid out big. Distraction just saved your life.News headlines drip with tragedy and threatening news because such information pulls at our attention. (Credit: Priscilla Du Preez / Unsplash)Living in the attentional redWhile distraction has its uses, today it\u2019s an ever-present quality of our lives, wrenching us from our attention when we need it most. That\u2019s because, Jha writes, while attention is powerful, it\u2019s also fragile. It can be easily broken by stress, threats, and negative moods. And the prevalence of these forces is causing our crisis of attention.Don\u2019t get the wrong idea. Much like distraction, these three forces can be advantageous. Stress has a positive side called eustress. It\u2019s the low-to-medium levels of stress that motivate you to accomplish something. Without it, you\u2019d have no drive, and every day would be a listless lull in the doldrums.Similarly, a negative mood can signal that something is wrong. That unease can propel you to solve the problem and lift the emotional pall.But the modern world has hyper-charged these forces beyond the tipping point of usefulness. Stress has become distress, negative moods have become chronic melancholy, and threats are overrepresented. There are many reasons for this hyper-charging, but a prominent one is the attention economy.Technology companies, news media, and political players now recognize attention as the resource it is and, in some ways, regard it as more valuable than money. \u201c[M]oney follows attention, whereas the reverse is not necessarily true. As our economy becomes more dependent on attention, the medium of exchange flows from the holders of the old to the holders of the new,\u201d writes the Berkeley Economic Review.Given attention\u2019s value, it\u2019s little wonder enterprises have built products and services to target the attentional back doors left open by evolution.News organizations, for example, favor headlines that drip with threat and tragedy \u2014 the so-called \u201cif it bleeds, it leads\u201d standard. That\u2019s because we\u2019re hardwired to assess threats and determine what can be done. Essentially, we need to find out if the story represents a log or a crocodile. The more people compelled to perform that assessment, the more newspapers sold.These threats don\u2019t have to be physical. As Jha writes, \u201cOur reputation, financial well-being, or sense of justice can all be under threat.\u201dPeople used to pay some of their daily attention to the news, either a morning read of the paper or an hour watching the evening broadcast. But in the era of 24/7 news coverage \u2014 the era of the attention economy \u2014 we\u2019re paying that attentional cost throughout the day. Over time, it becomes a sizable withdraw of our mental energy, yet we continue to check our news feeds for threats even when we should be focused on something else.\nWithout devoting attention, we don\u2019t experience care, and we can\u2019t extend care. In fact, you might say that paying attention to another person is our highest form of love.\n~ Amishi Jha\nTrain your attentionIs the answer then to wall yourself off from stressors, disconnect from social media, and choose not to engage with news coverage?\u201cMy answer is a resounding no,\u201d Jha writes. \u201cMany stressors are unavoidable, while others are part of our journey to fulfillment and success \u2014 if we remove them, we would be limiting ourselves.\u201dWhile attention is both powerful and fragile, it has a third feature: It\u2019s trainable through mindfulness. Just as exercise trains the body, mindfulness trains the mind by strengthening your meta-awareness \u2014 that is, your ability to be aware of where you\u2019re placing your awareness.The stronger your meta-awareness becomes, the more control you have over your attention system. That control then helps you keep your attention on the present moment, enriching how you encounter and experience your life.Through her research, Jha discovered what she calls the \u201cminimum effective dose\u201d of mindfulness. Her team found that lab participants who practiced mindfulness for 12 minutes or more a day saw benefits in objective measures of attention and mood. Those who practiced for less did not.In Peak Mind, Jha lays out a four-week regimen to help readers build their mindfulness habits. But in her interview, Jha shared an exercise you can do right now to exercise your attentional system. Simply follow these steps:\nStart by settling into your body.\nNotice yourself sitting and breathing.\nIf you feel comfortable, close your eyes.\nAsk: What\u2019s most vividly tied to my breath? Is it the coolness of air moving in and out of my nostrils? Or are my shoulders moving up and down?\nDirect your focus on this sensation.\nIf you notice your attention has wandered, redirect it back to your breath.\nOn the page, the exercise seems painfully easy. Maybe even a little boring. But you\u2019ll likely find your mind often drifts away from the sensation of your breathing. You\u2019ll become lost in reliving a childhood memory, worrying over an unfinished project, or delighting in a favorite fantasy. Whatever the case, it\u2019s not a failure on your part. Redirecting your focus back to the breath is the whole point. That\u2019s the key to strengthening your attention span.\u201cMinds wander. It\u2019s a natural thing that the brain does. When our mind moves away, gently return it back. Simply begin again,\u201d Jha reminds you.Learn more on Big Think+With a diverse library of lessons from the world\u2019s biggest thinkers, Big Think+ helps businesses get smarter, faster. To access Amishi Jha\u2019s full class for your organization, request a demo.\n\n\n \n Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter \n \n A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people" ], "output": "readability/", "pwd": "/data/archive/1738476722.238626", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2025-02-02T06:13:21.772766+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "screenshot": [], "singlefile": [], "title": [ { "cmd": [ "/usr/bin/curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--proxy", "socks5://tor-socks-proxy:9150", "--max-time", "60", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/128.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/{VERSION} (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/)", "https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/attention/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us" ], "cmd_version": "8.10.1", "end_ts": "2025-02-02T06:13:20.079175+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "The evolutionary reason you can't pay attention - Big Think", "pwd": "/data/archive/1738476722.238626", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2025-02-02T06:13:19.482518+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "wget": [] }, "icons": null, "is_archived": true, "is_static": false, "latest": { "archive_org": "TimeoutExpired: Command '['/usr/bin/curl', '--silent', '--location', '--compressed', '--proxy', 'socks5://tor-socks-proxy:9150', '--head', '--max-time', '60', '--user-agent', 'Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/128.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/{VERSION} (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/)', 'https://web.archive.org/save/https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/attention/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us']' timed out after 60 seconds", "dom": "TimeoutExpired: Command '['/usr/bin/chromium-browser', '--proxy-server=socks5://tor-socks-proxy:9150', '--disable-features=DarkMode', '--run-all-compositor-stages-before-draw', '--hide-scrollbars', '--autoplay-policy=no-user-gesture-required', '--no-first-run', '--use-fake-ui-for-media-stream', '--use-fake-device-for-media-stream', \"--simulate-outdated-no-au='Tue, 31 Dec 2099 23:59:59 GMT'\", '--headless=new', '--no-sandbox', '--no-zygote', '--disable-dev-shm-usage', '--disable-software-rasterizer', '--disable-sync', '--window-size=1440,2000', '--user-agent=Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/128.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/{VERSION} (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/)', '--user-data-dir=/data/personas/Default/chrome_profile', '--profile-directory=Default', '--dump-dom', 'https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/attention/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us']' timed out after 60 seconds", "favicon": "favicon.ico", "git": null, "media": "media/", "pdf": null, "screenshot": null, "singlefile": null, "title": "The evolutionary reason you can't pay attention - Big Think", "warc": null, "wget": null }, "link_dir": "/data/archive/1738476722.238626", "newest_archive_date": "2025-02-02T06:13:48.951263+00:00", "num_failures": 2, "num_outputs": 7, "oldest_archive_date": "2025-02-02T06:12:07.608232+00:00", "path": "/the-learning-curve/attention/", "schema": "Link", "scheme": "https", "snapshot_abid": "snp_01JK2MK66G4B6E61A401V5CSK2", "snapshot_id": "016af4be-8eba-48fd-b911-7b2136566662", "sources": [ "/data/sources/1738476719-import.txt" ], "tags": null, "tags_str": "", "timestamp": "1738476722.238626", "title": "The evolutionary reason you can't pay attention - Big Think", "url": "https://bigthink.com/the-learning-curve/attention/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us" }