An Age of Distraction
12:9:43 2024-11-09 760

In a recent book by neuroscientist Anna Lembke, she makes the claim that we live in a time of unprecedented leisure time. Despite persistent feelings of working too much, by historical standards, humans have more free time than ever before. The modern conundrum, in many ways, is what to do with this extra time?

In her book Dopamine Nation, Lembke argues that excessive free time can feel boring, and boredom can at times be “terrifying.” As she puts it, boredom “forces us to come face-to-face with bigger questions of meaning and purpose.” As a result, we often rush to fill the existential void of boredom with distractions that pull us away from ourselves into various forms of dopamine-boosting activities, from the relatively banal to the more extreme compulsive behaviors that she chronicles in her book. We may not be cognizant of our escape from boredom into distraction at first, but anyone who has tried to cut back on major dopamine-enhancing activities like coffee, or even doom scrolling, quickly and frequently reports experiences of dullness, boredom, and overall lack.

Given the vast new array of digital technologies available to us 24/7, it is not surprising that new commerce has capitalized on our anxiety around distraction in order to create spaces and experiences free of devices and distraction, so as better to connect with others and ourselves.

 

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