In Rapt, behavioral science writer Winifred Gallagher advances the argument that the quality and accomplishments of our lives depend significantly upon those things that we choose to give our attention to.
Can we train ourselves to better focus and create a so-called, “stimulus shelter,” a quiet place that allows us to remove the distractions that assault our daily lives?
Whether it be our Facebook page, the Twitters and text messages you send and receive throughout the day, or so much more, there’s no doubt that distractions abound. And you don’t have to be in your office, or your home, to be surrounded by distractions, just walk down a city street. From billboards, to window video displays, there’s an endless list of attention stealing devices all around us. Even the back seat of a taxi won’t allow you to escape a noisy world with seat back television screens that you can’t turn off.
In response to this endless stream of distractions, Gallagher looks at recent advances in neuroscience and psychology that examine the human capacity to focus on one task and reduce, if not eliminate, the buzz of our environment. Today’s research indicates that our minds can process only a relatively small amount of information at a time, or an estimated 173 billion bits over an average lifespan.
Rapt advances the theory that we all have a finite resource for cognitive processing and therefore we should spend it wisely. It suggests that the idea of “multi-tasking” is essentially fictional when discussing any task that requires some actual degree of focus to accomplish.
Gallagher presents a diverse cast of characters in her book: artists, cattle ranchers, naturalists, and several scientists, all of whom have learned to focus on a particular area of their lives, while largely tuning out issues that are of particular interest to them.
To some, this may sound a bit selfish and self-absorbed. After all, aren’t we told of the benefit of the “well rounded” life? To know a little about a wide range of topics as opposed to a great deal about one particular pursuit.
Gallagher, who spent several years fighting and winning a difficult battle with cancer, makes a strong case for focusing more on what pleases and engages us and less on those things that have no real lasting meaning in our lives. And that is the argument that Rapt effectively puts forth, that the wise investment of your attention is the single most important thing you can do to improve your well being.
In a recent interview in the New York Times, Gallagher explained that she managed to remain relatively cheerful during her illness by focusing on the words of 17th-century English poet, John Milton: “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make heaven of hell, or a hell of heaven.”
“When I woke up in the morning,” Ms. Gallagher said, “I’d ask myself: Do you want to lie here paying attention to the very good chance you’ll die and leave your children motherless, or do you want to get up and wash your face and pay attention to your work and your family and your friends? Hell or heaven — it’s your choice.”
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