It’s quite the experience to read that “on average, a student would switch tasks once every sixty-five seconds. The median amount of time they focussed on any one thing was just nineteen seconds.” (p. 10). Even as I transferred browser tabs to copy Johann Hari’s words into this document I found myself reaching for my phone and only not grabbing it because the language of the quote describes the exact behavior I was about to engage in.

Stolen Focus, written by Johann Hari, is a book that explores what focus is and how it has been impacted by forces external to the individual. As I began this reading, two questions became apparent that I will be keeping in mind throughout the duration of the book. It was clear to me that the way humans focus has changed significantly, so How can we get back to the way we used to focus? And, do we need to entirely change the way we focus into something new? The external forces on focus are so strong that without having thought about it before, most people can quickly come to the conclusion that aspects of focus like attention span are shrinking.

The experiences and observations described in detail throughout the early chapters of this book are, in most cases, not unique at all. However, looking at them with the perspective of focus, the way that Hari does instantly changes the significance of seemingly mundane activities. Hari’s experience depriving himself of the internet and observing conversation leads him to this revelation: “Narcissism, it occurred to me, is a corruption of attention—it’s where your attention becomes turned in only on yourself and your own ego.” (p. 48). The functionality of our media creates an environment where everyone is so focused on projecting themselves that there is almost a total absence of reception and listening. Considering people are only looking to broadcast themselves, it leaves little time for deep understanding or close examination, thus it creates an environment where simple acknowledgment and quick signaling is the primary response. It is no secret that this type of relationship involving information is not a good one because of its extreme imbalance.

I look forward to reading more about Hari’s experiences and ideas pertaining to focus and I hope that he is able to articulate feasible solutions that I can be a part of to create change.