Unable to focus? Welcome to our distracted society's attenti...(nents of an advanced democratic society....),Health

Date:6/19/2008

nents of an advanced democratic society. Parents' lack of focused attention directed toward their children often leads to a myriad of emotional and behavioral problems. Not giving loved ones our undivided attention causes relationships to disintegrate. The erosion of attention is largely equivalent to the erosion of our society. Jackson warns that dark ages have been marked by brilliant technological innovations coupled with a lack of widespread interest in academic pursuitsmuch like the current atmosphere. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL agrees that DISTRACTED "concentrate[s] the mind on a real problem of modern life."

Still, Jackson remains optimistic. Although she makes it clear that if we squander our powers of attention our technological age could ultimately slip into cultural decline, she also notes that we are just as capable of igniting a renaissance of attention by strengthening our skills of focus and perception. Scientific studies have found that people derive real benefits from practicing meditation. Many researchers are harnessing technology itself to improve our ability to sustain attention. Scientists have utilized computer-based programs to increase the IQs and focus of children. Others have used programs to increase the working memory of children with ADHD. And programmers are developing software that prioritizes interruptions and identifies the best times to actually interrupt workers. We are capable of bringing sustained focus back into our lives.

Peter C. Whybrow, MD, director of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, calls the book "An important and timely work [that] challenges us to reconsider the information saturated and demand driven world that we have created. Does our sensate culture, in eroding attention, threaten the self that is at the very pith of our humanity?" In his foreword, Bill McKibben agrees, "This bookforces our attention oninattention. And in so doing, it asks us implicitly the uncomforta
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Contact: Jill Maxick jmaxick@prometheusbooks.com 800-853-7545 Prometheus Books Source:Eurekalert

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