Concentration in a Time of Crisis: Concentration by Stefan Van Der Stigchel
Tuesday, April 28, 2020 at 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Virtual EventMIT Press Live! presents a virtual author talk with Stefan Van der Stigchel, author of Concentration.
Never in recent history has the news been so distracting, or have so many of us been forced to work under unexpected stress and in unideal conditions. This talk from Stefan Van der Stigchel, Professor of Cognitive Psychology at Utrecht University, will explain what makes it hard for us to concentrate and show you how to concentrate under the most distracting of circumstances.
We are in the midst of an attention crisis—caused in large part by our smartphones. There's a constant stream of information that we are powerless to withstand because it shows up in our notifications. More and more of us are finding it harder and harder to concentrate. In this book, attention expert and cognitive psychologist Stefan Van der Stigchel explains how concentration works and offers advice on how to stay focused in a world of beeping smartphones, channel surfing, live-tweeting, pop-up ads, and other distractions.
The good news, Van der Stigchel reports, is that we now know more about brain and behavior than ever before, and he draws on the latest scientific findings in his account of concentration. He explains, among other things, that the battle for our attention began long before the digital era; why our phones are so addictive; the importance of working memory (responsible for executing complicated tasks) and how to increase its capacity; and why multitasking is bad for our concentration, but attention rituals help it. He describes the 2017 Oscars debacle (when the Best Picture presenter was given the wrong card) as a failure of multitasking; argues that daydreaming can be good for our concentration; and shows that the presence of a passenger in a car reduces the risk of an accident. He explains the positive effects of taking “tech breaks” (particularly in natural surroundings), meditation, and even daydreaming. We can win the battle for our attention, Van der Stigchel argues, if we have the knowledge and the tools to do it.
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