Good Life Project

Johann Hari | Why You Can’t Pay Attention (and how to get it back)

05 May 2022

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I’ve come to believe that the quality and richness of our lives is, in no small part, determined by the depth and quality of our attention. If it’s massively distracted, perpetually spinning out, and focused on negativity, that will also largely be the state of our lives, regardless of the actual objective circumstance of our lives. And, that is where we go in a powerful way with my guest today, Johann Hari. Johann is a writer and journalist, whose work appears in everywhere from the New York Times, Le Monde, to The Guardian and many other newspapers and media outlets. His TED talks and NowThis viral video have been viewed almost 100 million times, and his work has been praised by a broad range of people, from Oprah Winfrey to Noam Chomsky. He was the Executive Producer of the Oscar-nominated film “The United States vs Billie Holiday” and of a forthcoming eight-part TV series starring Samuel L Jackson. And following an incident with his Godson a few years back, he decided to turn his attention to the topic of attention, what attention actually is, how it affects us our mental and physical health, relationships, careers, and lives, what our ability to either harness or lose control of it is doing to us, and how our world, technology and global enterprise have built models designed to hijack our attention not in the name of the betterment of our lives or of humanity, but rather for their own good. Johann goes deep into his research and ideas in the groundbreaking book, Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention - and How to Think Deeply Again, and we explore what he calls an attentional pathogenic culture, how it’s making life both harder and sadder, and, importantly, what we can do about it to reclaim our attention and, in doing so, our lives.You can find Johann at: Instagram | WebsiteIf you LOVED this episode:You’ll also love the conversations we had with neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley about the way our brain works.Check out our offerings & partners: My New Book SparkedMy New Podcast SPARKED.Visit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount CodesWatch Jonathan's new TEDxBoulder Talk on YouTube now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zUAM-euiVI Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Good Life Project

Johann Hari | Why You Can’t Pay Attention (and how to get it back)

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Other episodes from Good Life Project

Invisible Grief: How Hidden Loss Holds You Back (and how to release it) | Dr. Lucy Hone

The 5 Types of Overthinking and How to Turn Each One Off | Emiliya Zhivotovskaya [Best of]

The Hidden Reason You Keep Putting Things Off | Jon Acuff

Your Childhood Patterns Are Still Running Your Life | Dr. Nicole LePera

Your Body Is Already Talking. Here's What It's Saying | Linda Clemons

The Science Behind Why Religion Actually Works | David DeSteno

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