“Big Brother isn’t watching. He’s singing and dancing. He’s pulling rabbits out of a hat. Big Brother’s busy holding your attention every moment you’re awake. He’s making sure you’re always distracted.” ~ Chuck Palahniuk, Lullaby
Distraction might seem like a modern issue, but it’s just part of being human. John Cassian, a medieval Christian monk and theologian, wrote about the jumpy human mind back in the 420s (no, not THAT kind of 420, the year kind), complaining that the mind “seems driven by random incursions.” Staying focused on prayer or a song or any other task proved challenging enough the monk wrote about it. Can you imagine what he might have said about our multi-tasking, information-dumping, attention-economy culture?
In our time we’ve pathologized distractibility, attempted to medicate it, manage it and subdue it, often to no avail. In fact, now we’re frequently distracted by our own distractibility. And while those medieval monks were upset with themselves for constantly checking the time on the sun dial, and sometimes blamed their wandering thoughts on demonic activity, today we have weaponized distraction — people who purposefully use distraction for manipulation and control.
“Oh, don’t look at THAT. Look at THIS!”
It’s the same strategy we use with toddlers to divert their attention from something we don’t want them to play with. Don’t want the kid splashing in the dog water? Present a shiny new toy instead, or startle the child into getting away from the bowl with a loud noise. Oddly, this strategy is just as effective with adults. Remember the story of the Trojan horse? Distracted by the gift of a huge wooden horse statue, the city of Troy failed to realize Greek soldiers were hiding inside the statue, ready to attack the city from within.
By bombarding people with so much information they can’t process it, using psychological tricks like “appeal to emotion” to pull them into a net, creating an atmosphere of tribalism that plays on their survival instincts, etc., distraction is used to steer the masses in a particular direction.
We see this in action when we try to have a discussion or ask questions and the response starts with “yeah, but…” and then rolls into a laundry list of logical fallacies like whataboutism, ad hominem attacks, projection, and red herrings. Perhaps the comment section on social media is so toxic because it’s a bunch of distracted people (and millions of bots and hacked accounts) trying to communicate with other distracted people.
Let’s go back to that 5th century monk for some words of wisdom. What can we do about distraction in a world designed to keep us that way?
1. Identify and manage your internal distractions. Being sad or angry, for example, makes you more susceptible to distraction. Have you ever tried to meditate or pray when you’re furious about something? It’s next to impossible.
2. Use mantras — short, repeated phrases — to refocus the mind and attention.
3. Practice focus and intentionality. Do one thing at a time. I know, who even does that? But studies indicate multi-tasking actually makes humans less efficient, not more.
4. Be honest with yourself. You’re going to get distracted. Don’t let it derail you. Just get back on track.
I’ll add one more that’s applicable to our modern society. When you read, hear, or see something, before you react, ask yourself who’s trying to trigger you, and why. Is that meme a zinger for your emotions? Did that headline trigger fear or sorrow or anger? Who wants you sad, mad, or glad, and why? And then, ask yourself if the 15 seconds you’ll waste joining 1000 other commenters, or the five minutes lost to returning a snarky email with equal snark, is really a worthy use of the one thing we have a limited and unknown quantity of: time.
