Pyramid Health Book Club #1: Stolen Focus by Johann Hari
Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Pyramid Health Book Club, where we summarise and discuss our latest health-related reading. Our first selection, "Stolen Focus" by Johann Hari, delves into the perils of digital distraction and the erosion of our attention spans in the modern age.
Summary: What’s It About?
In "Stolen Focus," Johann Hari takes readers on a poignant exploration of the effects of digital distractions on our ability to concentrate and connect. Drawing on interviews with Silicon Valley insiders, leading scientists, and his own personal experiences, Hari exposes some of the more alarming consequences of today’s Internet hyper-connectivity.
The book opens with Hari's candid reflection on his own struggle with digital distractions, particularly the addictive allure of social media platforms like Facebook. He illuminates the tactics employed by tech companies to hijack our attention through features like the infamous "infinite scroll," which keeps users endlessly scrolling through their feeds.
Through engaging conversations with tech experts and whistleblowers, Hari uncovers the unsettling truth about Silicon Valley's profit-driven agenda, where behind-the-scenes decisions shape how we interact with these apps. Screen addiction is not a bug of mobile apps, it’s a feature - more screen time means more profits.
“It’s not your fault you can’t focus. It’s by design”
He reveals how algorithms are engineered to exploit our psychological vulnerabilities. Individualised feeds keep us hooked on a never-ending stream of content designed to elicit strong emotional reactions - mostly negative. In this way, tech companies are knowingly prioritising profits over individual and societal well-being.
Hari delves into the devastating impact of digital distractions on our mental health, relationships, and society at large. He confronts uncomfortable truths about the erosion of our attention spans, the decline of recreational reading, and the alarming rise of social and political polarization fueled by online echo chambers.
Review: Worth a Read?
Many of the cold hard facts in this book won’t be news to a lot of people, following the popularity of documentaries such as Terms and Conditions May Apply, The Social Dilemma and The Great Hack. “The algorithm” has become a bit of a boogeyman in recent years, but Hari takes direct aim at the damage these sites are doing when it comes to our health and our ability to connect to others and the world around us.
The book paints a compelling picture, particularly when contrasting the author’s extended break from screen time in a small New England town with his usual notification-laden days in the cut-and-thrust of his big-city journalistic career.
However, it can feel as though parts of the book might be reaching, particularly when dealing with the prevalence of ADHD in younger people, and extrapolating short attention spans to big and complex societal problems.
That said, as someone whose screen time statistics over the years would not make pretty reading, the book definitely touched a nerve. And did it change my behaviour? Absolutely. My first action when I’d finished the book was to uninstall the Facebook and Instagram apps from my phone! Hari’s paradise-like description of that long season in New England with zero screen time serves as a potent ideal of what our lives could be like if we unplugged more.
Stolen Focus is not supposed to be a rigorously-researched scientific study on attention. It’s a call-to-arms, a motivational speech asking us to consider what we could achieve when we step out of the endless scroll. If you’re feeling like screen time is getting the better of you, this book will definitely give you the nudge you need.
Have you read “Stolen Focus”? Share your thoughts with us! Comment with your experiences of screen-time struggles or other book recommendations for future editions of PH Book Club!