Attention

It has taken ages to write this post. I keep getting distracted. It has resulted in rambles. Luckily, you don’t have to read it. Scroll up to the next one, or down to the one before. (The blog is a great equalizer. assuming you are like me and read a paragraph here and there like a bird randomly pecking for seeds).

The problem is attention. I don’t have enough attention to read all the posts (I'm editing this post-publish because I saw someone else already published an "Attention" blog, citing Mark Bauerlein), much less keep up with the one-decent-sized-paragraph-a-week assignment. It’s not too much, I just keep forgetting, and then there isn’t much that has not been said by everyone else. I’m almost certain that you don’t want to read a bulleted confessional, but I also suspect that the 1 or 2 people who have made it to the centre (even past the half way mark!) of this paragraph—its deepest darkest depth—must be bored. Perhaps I lack creativity, or brain space. Maybe I’m just tired, but I have this growing feeling in the back of my mind that I’m forgetting about something.

A bunch of brain scientists went walking through the woods. ( I don’t know the punch-line to this joke). They have suggested the possibility that technology is over-taxing our brains, and spawning a class of forgetful and worried people. Technology produces anxiety. The anticipation of emails takes up brain energy. They suggest we take a hike to clear our minds (assuming that we go somewhere relaxing, away from the lions and tigers and gun-runners, etc.). I’m not averse to physical activity, but who has the time?

The next thing is to study people’s brains on meditation because those people can focus. Or maybe they already have. No surprises, those people also have bigger brains, especially in that attention span area of the brain. Somehow, they have found the time. I’ll think about adding that to my to-do list, right after “remember what it is that I’m supposed to do before Monday. sell all my stuff, do whatever it is I'm supposed to do before Monday, and not to forget, take a hike.”