Quick Reads: “The Distraction Addiction” by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang


 

The Distraction Addiction

The Distraction Addiction

By Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY

In this rumination on our shrinking digital-era attention spans, Alex Soojung-Kim Pang reminds us that our brains are still capable of feats far beyond the reach of computers. We may be afflicted with “monkey mind,” he concludes, but rather than fight our compulsions with web-blocking software like Freedom, we’re better off embracing technology as an extension of self, wielding it as unthinkingly as we would a bionic arm.

This review originally appeared in our July/August issue of Mother Jones. 

 


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While our work is free to read, watch, and listen to online, it’s incredibly costly to make. Court documents, travel, research: It all adds up. Because we’re a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on reader support to fund our investigations. Will you stand with us in these extraordinary times, as headlines clamour for our attention and disinformation is rampant? We can’t get the truth out without you.

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