Numb - How The Information Age Dulls Our Senses And How We Can Get Them Back

How does repeated exposure to news of tragedy and unhappiness impact our ability to attend to the needs of those around us? How does regular exposure to the instantaneous nature of technology impact our ability to communicate orally, and even in writing, to our friends, family, and co-workers? How do algorithms based upon our past choices create and reinforce tribalism? How do repeated images of sexuality impact our ability to love and sustain relationships? Numb tackles some of these important issues, bringing an accessible and humorous approach to pertinent research that answers some of these important questions and most importantly, how we can devote more attention on what we believe is important and less on what isn't as important to us. Using research from various areas of psychology, including cognitive, education, positive, and clinical psychology, this book identifies all of the sources of noise in our world and helps the reader manage them in a way that refocuses their attention and therefore, their care, concern, and effort.

Some topics Numb will cover include:

• Our expanding (and thinning) locus of concern
• Managing our locus of control
• What is attention and why is it important
• Our "thought marination" process
• Replacement of social interaction
• How we identify (and do not) with the suffering of others
• Defining commonalities rather than differences
• Balancing what we have and what we want
• How do we focus?