EVERYTHING IS A DISTRACTION
Have you noticed that more and more people seem to be
consumed by their phones, tablets, and computers? It doesn’t matter where they
are, on public transportation, in a restaurant, a store, a park, the gym, etc.,
even when walking or driving, most people are completely consumed by their electronic
devices most of the time, especially by their phones. It seems that there is not
a moment during the day when Facebook, Instagram, Tweeter, Tik Tok, game
applications, email or something else is not consuming their attention and
time. If so, if distraction is an integral part of our lives, then is this need
to be distracted a curse or a blessing?
Let’s start by understanding what distraction is. Distraction
is the process of diverting the attention of an individual or group from a
desired area of focus and thereby blocking or diminishing the reception of
desired information. Distraction is caused by: the lack of ability to pay
attention; lack of interest in the object of attention; or the great intensity,
novelty or attractiveness of something other than the object of attention. Distractions
come from both external and internal sources. External distractions
include factors such as visual triggers, social interactions, music, text
messages, social media, books and magazines, phone calls, etc. Internal
distractions include such things as hunger, fatigue, illness, worrying,
daydreaming, etc. (Source: Wikipedia)
Basically, everything is, or you can make it be, a
distraction if it takes you away from your objectives or goals! Now, let’s
look really deep inside of us to get some facts about how we work, or better,
how our brain works (our biology) because this may give us a clue on how we
behave. Understanding how the human ‘attention’ works is key to answering many
questions. Researchers at Princeton University and the University of California
have found that rather than being laser-like, attention in humans and some
animal species is actually more akin to a spotlight that continually dims and
comes back on again. In other words, they have found out that although we
perceive reality as a continuous movie, our ability to focus is designed to
work in bursts of attention, rather than uninterruptedly.
For instance, while it may seem that you are continuously
focusing on something like reading this article, the reality is that you’re
zooming in and out of attention up to four times per second. The study
shows that our brain cannot process everything in the environment. This finding
is remarkable because it contradicts the old debate of whether perception is
continuous or not. The reality is that our perceptions go through rhythmical
changes and that these rhythms can be linked very closely to behavioral outcome
(our behavior).
In fact, this ability to shift our perception unconsciously
may have given us an evolutionary advantage, the study says. In the past,
it helped us to relax instead of being constantly on the lookout when there
were signs of danger. In modern life, this particular feature of the brain
allows us to realize, for instance, that a car is coming as we are crossing the
street. Our spotlight of attention, in this sense, has been and still is key
to our survival. (Source: Wired, in the article titled: Here's
scientific proof your brain was designed to be distracted)
This world is made to keep us busy and entertained
(distracted). The busier and more entertained you are, the less time you have
to think, to question what is going on, to wake up and do something about it,
and to really exist. We are human guinea pigs going around and around in a
wheel and we are not even aware of it. We are always rushing and stressing,
from the moment we get up to the moment we go to sleep. When we are not rushing
or stressing about getting ready, working out, taking the children somewhere,
paying bills, or about the next project, the family, the spouse or significant other,
the children, etc.; we are decompressing and trying to block out reality by
doing sports, drinking, smoking, reading a book, watching TV, playing games, or
browsing and texting. The reality is that we seem to have a lot of time for
everyone and everything but ZERO for ourselves.
If you add to this the fact that everything is designed
to distract you, to take your attention away from what is important, to hook
you and mesmerize you, then we, as human beings, have very little chance in
this life. Everything is designed to use the way our brain (biology) and
the mind (psychology) works. All these applications, websites, and devices use
that inability of our brain to focus and the ability to jump from one thing to
the next one quickly to consume you, to keep you using them, to numb you and dumb you.
For instance, your phone. Everything about it is designed to attract you, distract
you, and addict you, including how the apps, lights, notifications, sounds,
etc. work. The same applies to websites, applications, games, etc.
If you are not able to be by yourself, if you must always be
distracted by listening to music, reading a book, watching TV, texting, talking by phone, playing
games, checking your email, and/or browsing or writing on
Facebook/Tweeter/Instagram, then it is because you are in bad company. “If
you yourself cannot be alone, it is obviously because you are in bad company,”
says Sadhguru, a prominent Indian visionary, mystic and guru. On the
other hand, when you learn to be by yourself without distractions, when you
learn to exist instead of simply live, your senses become more sensitive and
your emotions acuter, allowing you to experience life in a more SIGNIFICANT
way. Put all that stuff away, learn to be with yourself, and for the first
time, learn to savor existence, raw and magnificent as it is.
To be
continued…
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Author: Maurice Correa
Website: pathtoone.com
Blog: p2oblog.blogspot.com
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