✳flâneur — a map of the web's best reading

Your attention didn’t collapse. It was stolen | Psychology | The Guardian

theguardian.com · 3,840 words · saved by 1 readers

Social media and many other facets of modern life are destroying our ability to concentrate. We need to reclaim our minds while we still can W hen he was nine years old, my godson Adam developed a brief but freakishly intense obsession with Elvis Presley. He took to singing Jailhouse Rock at the top of his voice with all the low crooning and pelvis-jiggling of the King himself. One day, as I tucked him in, he looked at me very earnestly and asked: “Johann, will you take me to Graceland one day?” Without really thinking, I agreed. I never gave it another thought, until everything had gone wrong. Ten years later, Adam was lost. He had dropped out of school when he was 15, and he spent almost all his waking hours alternating blankly between screens – a blur of YouTube, WhatsApp and porn. (I’ve changed his name and some minor details to preserve his privacy.) He seemed to be whirring at the speed of Snapchat, and nothing still or serious could gain any traction in his mind. During the deca

Illustration by Eric Chow. View image in fullscreen Illustration by Eric Chow. Psychology This article is more than 4 years old Your attention didn’t collapse. It was stolen This article is more than 4 years old Social media and many other facets of modern life are destroying our ability to concentrate. We need to reclaim our minds while we still can Johann Hari Sun 2 Jan 2022 05.00 EST Last modified on Tue 8 Mar 2022 02.59 EST Share Prefer the Guardian on Google W hen he was nine years old, my godson Adam developed a brief but freakishly intense obsession with Elvis Presley. He took to singin

Explore this link on the map →

related reading