Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention— and How to Think Deeply Again
by Johann Hari
View on GoodreadsHari's argument — built from interviews with attention researchers worldwide — that the collapse of attention isn't individual moral failure but a structural assault from a dozen overlapping causes.
Core ideas
- Twelve factors are systematically degrading attention: app design, sleep deprivation, sedentary lifestyles, processed food, pollution, ADHD overdiagnosis, education changes, stress, etc. — frame fights the "just use your willpower" individualism head-on.
- Tech business models built on engagement metrics are functionally incompatible with users' attentional well-being; the fix has to be regulatory and design-level, not personal.
- Attention is treated as a collective good (like clean air) — when degraded, it weakens democracy and creativity at scale, not just individual lives.
Published2022
Pages357
ISBN9780593138519
ReadFeb 2023
