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How Social Media Affects Our Reasoning Capacities
A book is like a mirror: if an ass looks in, you can’t expect an apostle to look out. ‒ G. C. Lichtenberg
What is the true value of our attention?
The other day I was walking down a bridge in my hometown in Ruzomberok, Slovakia, and I looked up at the river and the mountain in the background. It was dark outside, but not dark enough to not be able to make out the distinct features of both.
I thought to myself, what else do I want? This here is all there is. There’s nothing else in this moment. Everything that comes to mind quite literally does not exist. I am just a recipient of thoughts at the mercy of changing experience. And I felt completely at ease. Luckily, I have often felt like I could truly look at any hilltop or tree with that earnest attention as if I was looking at these things for the first time.
This is what it is like to pay close attention. But paying close attention can be very challenging. And we all know that we can be distracted and disconnected from our lives. Paying attention is to stop the narratives in the mind and be present with whatever it is that occupies us here and now.
In the age of distraction, where texts, e-mails, notifications, phone calls, and…
