The video discusses the dual nature of distraction throughout human history, highlighting how distractions have been both essential for survival and a source of vulnerability in the modern digital age. Historically, our natural inclination for distraction led to groundbreaking discoveries, such as fire or antibiotics. However, in the present day, our devices perpetually draw our focus away from reality, leading to a fragmented attention span and difficulty in remaining engaged.

The speaker reflects on the significant shift in how attention has been commodified and monetized in the digital era. As technology continues to infiltrate daily life, it creates a continuous struggle to maintain focus amidst never-ending digital distractions. The speaker emphasizes that major industries capitalize on this shift, tailoring content to captivate and retain user attention, ultimately influencing behaviors, beliefs, and decisions.

Main takeaways from the video:

Please remember to turn on the CC button to view the subtitles.

Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. periphery [pəˈrɪfəri] - (noun) - The outer limits or edge of an area or object. - Synonyms: (edge, fringe, margin)

if it wasn't for our ability to quickly shift our attention to predators in our periphery,

2. monetize [ˈmɒnɪtaɪz] - (verb) - To convert into or express in the form of currency; to make money from something. - Synonyms: (commercialize, capitalize, profit from)

technologies that are designed to capture and monetize our attention.

3. intimation [ˌɪntɪˈmeɪʃən] - (noun) - An indication or hint. - Synonyms: (suggestion, implication, hint)

Is this has led companies to develop and develop smarter designs whose purpose is to create Dependence and reward content that attracts the most attention.

4. deliberate [dɪˈlɪbəˌreɪt] - (adjective) - Done consciously and intentionally. - Synonyms: (intentional, considered, conscious)

What we are experiencing now is distraction that's growing reactionary on our end and increasingly deliberate on the companies that profit from us staying on.

5. cynically [ˈsɪnɪkli] - (adverb) - In a way that shows a deliberate disregard for integrity or moral standards. - Synonyms: (pessimistically, skeptically, contemptuously)

we come to know our politics as entertaining, perhaps cynically so.

6. fragmentation [ˌfræɡmənˈteɪʃən] - (noun) - The process or state of breaking or being broken into small or separate parts. - Synonyms: (disintegration, division, splintering)

our attention is constantly divided by our technologies that are designed to capture and monetize our attention.

7. ebb and flow [ɛb ənd floʊ] - (noun phrase) - A recurrent or rhythmical pattern of coming and going or decline and regrowth. - Synonyms: (fluctuation, variation, rise and fall)

And this ebb and flow of our attention might seem disruptive, but can also be seen in a different way.

8. onus [ˈoʊnəs] - (noun) - The responsibility for doing something. - Synonyms: (burden, obligation, duty)

This also brings an onus on us to be intentional about how to participate in the space.

9. cultural markers [ˈkʌltʃərəl ˈmɑːrkərz] - (noun phrase) - Features or activities seen as significant in the identification of a culture. - Synonyms: (cultural symbols, identifiers, features)

we see attention shift away from the real world to the big screens, where our cultural markers have been primarily viewed through the lens of reality tv

10. intention [ɪnˈtɛnʃən] - (noun) - An aim or plan. - Synonyms: (purpose, aim, objective)

intention is perhaps the most important thing we have left in a world that constantly competes for our distraction.

Reclaiming Autonomy in a Digital World - Melody Chen - TEDxUCSB

I want to ask you all to consider for a second that most of us here would not be alive if it weren't for distractions. Now, what does that mean? Well, if it wasn't for our ability to quickly shift our attention to predators in our periphery, or to discover fire out of a diversion between rubbing two sticks together, or if it wasn't for the chance observation of mold on bread that led to discovery of antibiotic medication saving millions of lives, many of us would not be here today.

The nature of distraction has shifted. Our devices now offer a quick escape from the demands of our daily lives, inviting us to be perpetually distracted, disengaged, entertained, and on autopilot. A couple months ago, while I was drafting this talk, I received a notification on my phone alerting me to a crossroads puzzle that was just updated a couple minutes ago on New York Times. And so one clue led to the next, and before I knew it, I was surprised to find that there are over 10,000 islands in Oceania. 10,000. And it's true. I'm not joking. I opened Google Maps on a different tab, and I discovered that you can go onto underwater street view. I'm not kidding. There's an underwater street view on Google Maps. And so how ironic, am I telling you, while researching distraction, that I found myself deep underwater off the coast of New Zealand, over 7,500 miles away from where I was in Santa Barbara.

Needless to say, I belong to a generation that has never known a world without distractions. Today, we find ourselves caught in a delicate battle for our attention. In fact, a study by Harvard researchers involving more than 2,000 adults found that nearly 47% of our waking hours are spent lost in thought, thinking about what's not going on around us. In today's world, our attention is constantly divided by our technologies that are designed to capture and monetize our attention. This relentless demand of our focus is not just distracting, it's fundamentally reshaping how we think and engage with the world.

So how do I define distraction? It's anything that diverts our attention away from our intended path, current activities, and our specific goals. It's not surprising that today we often find ourselves feeling less in control of. Of what we do with our phones. To really get what's going on, it's important to look back at history, because understanding the events that shape how we behave today helps us see why our generation is uniquely struggling with managing where we focus our attention.

And so let's start with 200 years ago, back in the Industrial revolution, when the rise of factories and mass production had pushed people into the workforce, where spaces have grown more crowded, polluted, noisy and commercialized, with ads telling us what to buy, who to trust, and what to believe in. 100 years later, it's clear that we see attention shift away from the real world to the big screens, where our cultural markers have been primarily viewed through the lens of reality tv, late night shows, comedy, where, according to media theorist Neil Postman, our politics, journalism, education, and even religion have become subject to the demands of our laughter and entertainment.

Now, as we enter the digital age with our smartphones, with social media and the Internet, we see that we're redirecting our attention to an even smaller screen. Smartphones, which contain everything that you think to search, including every media that existed the age before and now the ability to reach anyone in the world at any given time have taken up everything that we know today.

It's this capability that has made it easier for people to stay connected with others, regardless of distance, Providing access to vast amounts of information Dating from historical archives to current events. And it's also this wealth of information that can sometimes lead to positive distractions, like when your mind wanders to a conversation in the coffee shop, or you overhear a new segment informing something that you see on the news. Perhaps that conversation that you overheard sparked a brilliant idea for an essay, or a new segment that informed you about a cause that you're just getting curious about. However, the same digital interfaces that once offered an escape from the mundane Is now the very source of distraction that we see today.

In a world that seems chaotic and unforgiving, We've crafted digital spaces that offer a sense of control and personalization. Here, we can choose to engage with content that makes us laugh, react in ways the content programs us to all from the isolation of our personal devices, the digital world can in fact do just enough to keep us tolerably distracted. And it's this measure of tolerance that makes us come back for more. Because what we're experiencing today is that our devices are more tolerable than what we find in our day to day lives.

Because our sense of place is not so much different than it was 200 years ago, where the places that we used to hang out are now disappearing to make room for commercial spaces, it's fair to say we start to pay attention to what's in there. Businesses and industries have started to pick up on this fact, which is how intimately valuable and profitable human attention is. Is this has led companies to develop and develop smarter designs whose purpose is to create Dependence and reward content that attracts the most attention. Now this has become the core value proposition for businesses and industries to follow, to design information that keeps us captive and interested. So we do exactly what they wish us to do. We can react to it. We can buy their products, vote for this candidate and not the other.

What we are experiencing now is distraction that's growing reactionary on our end and increasingly deliberate on the companies that profit from us staying on. And so when we get distracted by all the voices telling us to do this, to buy that believe in this, the idea of choice takes on a certain absurdity. So where attention goes becomes all the more important, where you dedicate your time to what you buy, who you vote for and what you believe in.

Now it's clear that our attention is a limited resource, which means we can only truly focus on one thing at a time. As a result, information has become increasingly competitive now, fighting for our focus. And now this dynamic ensures that the most interesting content is most likely to be seen and heard. Interesting becomes far more important than the information. What's real becomes harder to follow. Long form interviews and political debates are now cut into shorts and reels, stripping context into the nutshell. Persuasion captures explanation as the most important part of our information space.

And so we're contending with information that leaves no context, because detailed context requires time, a luxury in our fast paced world that markers fear we don't have the patience for. Take for example, how a 90 minute political debate is reduced to a 90 second video where context is lost in favor of catchiness and depth is reduced to appeal. And so now we're not guaranteed truth nor meaning. Anything that captures your attention, no matter how fleeting or shallow, can dominate our perceptions. In this environment, we are often left navigating a space where impressions are mistaken for deep understanding.

Because as we consume information and sound bites and shorts, we risk engaging superficially with complex topics. When we view politics strictly through comedy, we come to know our politics as entertaining, perhaps cynically so. And now when we think about global warming, we think about human rights violations, gun rights. We think about these topics only when a major headline blows up on trending. We come to know these issues as only sporadic events rather than ongoing issues.

And now this raises a stake for for us, because it's not likely that digital information will disappear. Perhaps we can call for more regulation, more governance, but that doesn't take away what we can do in the meantime, it's more important now to be critical about what we consume. And perhaps there was a strong reason why the Use spaces had existed for us. When we think about how we can reach people across the globe, that truly requires your attention, or even to collectively band together to champion issues that matter.

Yet we need to accept that our screens are making it easier to be distracted and harder to pay attention to. This also brings an onus on us to be intentional about how to participate in the space. Because it's unfair for us to drop our phones and screens in despair, because in doing so, we risk being uninformed now, losing context about the world around us. Now we live in this real world that balances between the physical and the digital. And now that makes it more necessary for us to practice choice of how we spend our time and think about these spaces. And it's in these moments of intentionality where we can accept how things are and how you are as an individual.

Now the question we should ask ourselves is what do you fundamentally want at any given moment? What do you want out of your screens? The answer is that there is no right or wrong way of using technology. I believe that we are moralizing technology in a way that makes it an individual weakness, when in fact these technologies are fundamentally designed to maximize our attention. We're purely just responding to the incentives that we interact with in in our digital world.

This context makes it crucial to actively manage and rethink how we engage with technology. And so, to address these challenges, I suggest considering two ways to navigate our digital world. The first strategy involves fighting moments of disengagement from your phones, while balancing and filling that time with engaging with the real world. Perhaps you want to create more art, you want to spend more time with your loved ones, you want to explore new eateries or engage in community advocacy. Balancing these moments also requires a sense of knowing where your attention goes when you pick up your phones.

Perhaps you want to find inspiration for your artwork or find places around to eat on social media and find groups to engage with in your advocacy work. This strategy involves figuring out what you want and what you don't want. And now you can then direct your attention using any method you like, whether that be habit setting or willpower or time management, time blocking. And it's also this practice of attention that gives you the practice of choice to attend to what matters most to ensure that your mind goes through what you find meaningful and important to you. Because so much of the quality and time of your daily life will be determined by how you create protected time and space for what matters most to you.

Now, when we find ourselves distracted, what do we do? Now, what I propose is that we rethink distraction entirely as compatible with human nature. It's important to accept that distraction comes with being a human, where the mind wanders and engages with thoughts and sensations that are not strictly focused or directed all the time.

According to research by scientists from Berkeley and Princeton, our ability to focus is designed to work in bursts of attention, where in between those moments, we get carried away, we get distracted. And this ebb and flow of our attention might seem disruptive, but can also be seen in a different way. For example, philosopher Henry Bergson thinks that our tendency to drift towards distraction can be seen as a form of instinct, intuition, and creativity. And now this perspective actually encourages to reevaluate our interruptions, potentially embracing them as opportunities for innovative thought.

What's crucial is that we remain intentional despite these distractions. By distracting ourselves as intentionally as we practice attention, such as when we decide to spend half an hour on social media or embrace time to find leisure in mind wandering when you're going on a hike, we can better manage and understand our focus as we navigate a world dense with distractions.

The power to direct where your attention goes lies with our intentions. When we think about how we can spend more time with people that we love, or when we can choose to take in information that matters to us, what we also need to do is to consider that when we do find ourselves distracted, we are not at fault. In fact, we're given a chance to take a step back and evaluate when we begin to pay attention. intention is perhaps the most important thing we have left in a world that constantly competes for our distraction. Thank you for your attention.

TECHNOLOGY, HARVARD, INNOVATION, ATTENTION ECONOMY, DISTRACTION MANAGEMENT, DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT, TEDX TALKS