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The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World (Mit Press) Paperback – October 27, 2017

4.4 out of 5 stars 436 ratings

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A “brilliant and practical” study of why our brain isn’t built for media multitasking—and how we can learn to live with technology in a more balanced way (Jack Kornfield, author of The Wise Heart).

Includes practical strategies for fighting digital distraction—straight from a neuroscientist and a psychologist!

Most of us will freely admit that we are obsessed with our devices. We pride ourselves on our ability to multitask—read work email, reply to a text, check Facebook, watch a video clip. Talk on the phone, send a text, drive a car. Enjoy family dinner with a glowing smartphone next to our plates. We can do it all, 24/7! Never mind the errors in the email, the near-miss on the road, and the unheard conversation at the table. In
The Distracted Mind, Adam Gazzaley and Larry Rosen—a neuroscientist and a psychologist—explain why our brains aren’t built for multitasking, and suggest better ways to live in a high-tech world without giving up our modern technology.

The authors explain that our brains are limited in their ability to pay attention. We don’t really multitask but rather switch rapidly between tasks. Distractions and interruptions, often technology-related—referred to by the authors as “interference”—collide with our goal-setting abilities. We want to finish this paper/spreadsheet/sentence, but our phone signals an incoming message and we drop everything. Even without an alert, we decide that we “must” check in on social media immediately.

Gazzaley and Rosen offer practical strategies, backed by science, to fight distraction. We can change our brains with meditation, video games, and physical exercise; we can change our behavior by planning our accessibility and recognizing our anxiety about being out of touch even briefly. They don't suggest that we give up our devices, but that we use them in a more balanced way.
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Adam Gazzaley is Professor in the Departments of Neurology, Physiology, and Psychiatry at the University of Calfornia, San Francisco, where he is also Founding Director of the Neuroscience Imaging Center, Neuroscape Lab, and the Gazzaley Lab. He is cofounder and Chief Science Advisor of Akili Interactive, a company developing therapeutic video games and cofounder and Chief Scientist of JAZZ Venture Partners, a venture capital firm investing in experiential technology to improve human performance. Recipient of the 2015 Society for Neuroscience Science Educator Award, he wrote and hosted the nationally televised PBS special “The Distracted Mind with Dr. Adam Gazzaley.”

Larry D. Rosen is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills. He is a blogger for
Psychology Today and the author of iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession with Technology and Overcoming Its Hold on Us and six other books.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The MIT Press; Reprint edition (October 27, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 302 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0262534436
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0262534437
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.06 x 0.82 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 436 ratings

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4.4 out of 5 stars
436 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book informative and easy to read, with one review highlighting its thorough discussion of human information-seeking behavior. They consider it a worthwhile purchase. However, one customer mentions losing interest halfway through the book.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

27 customers mention "Insight"27 positive0 negative

Customers find the book informative and insightful, appreciating its interesting research, with one customer highlighting its thorough examination of human information-seeking behavior.

"...This is the best, most exhaustive list of attention aids that I’ve seen – a great reference even for the researcher planning to delve into this area...." Read more

"...that are mostly intuitive, but the hard science and rationality is refreshingly reassuring...." Read more

"...For me, the information was especially important because I've been feeling a lot of my energy and productivity frittering away from distractions..." Read more

"...It's also crucial to relax our attention and activate our default mode network. Take breaks to walk among trees and birds...." Read more

8 customers mention "Value for money"8 positive0 negative

Customers find the book to be good value for money.

"...This is the best, most exhaustive list of attention aids that I’ve seen – a great reference even for the researcher planning to delve into this area...." Read more

"...If you are up for that, it is worth a read...." Read more

"Very good book, full of links to scientific research. Very recommended in this age full of tech distractions" Read more

"Good, but not what I needed at the time - it has a prominent..." Read more

7 customers mention "Writing quality"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and extremely well written, with one customer noting it strikes a good balance between science and accessibility.

"...Overall, this book struck a great balance between great popular press writing, solid science, true insight, new information, and actionable and..." Read more

"...and information processing in a way that is thorough yet accessible to a general audience...." Read more

"...No grandiloquent language or overly abstract theories. An accessible read." Read more

"...our current distraction and information overload, this book is extremely well written so that even my 72-year-old brain can understand it...." Read more

4 customers mention "Interest"0 positive4 negative

Customers find the book uninteresting.

"...This third part of the book was meager and contained nothing that I was not already aware of...." Read more

"An ok book about tech and the brain. Not very interesting." Read more

"Quite possibly the most unremarkable book I've read in 2016...." Read more

"Lost interest half way into book..." Read more

Learn about yourself. It is the only way to achieve better results in life.
5 out of 5 stars
Learn about yourself. It is the only way to achieve better results in life.
Amazing how the brain works. If we understand our limitations, we can train ourselves to focus our attention on those things that will help us achieve our personal goals and learn to react vs external and internal distractions in a more conscious way.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2017
    This book is a fresh deviation from the many “self-help” pseudoscience books written by non-scientists that are populating Amazon. It is written by bona-fide neuroscientists and leaders in the field, Adam Gazzaley and Larry Rosen. The style, however, is that of a professional popular press science writer. I found myself completely drawn in and engaged as the writers hit the balance between science (without being too dry) and popular literature (without being too “fluffy”). In fact, at times, towards the middle to end, it was truly a page-turner. I didn’t want to stop reading.

    The book hits upon perhaps the singular problem of our day – how to stay focused with so many – primarily electronic – distractions. I personally struggle with this problem every day – wasting untold hours on FaceTime and Twitter every week. Our electronic distractions are extremely effective in grabbing our attention. This book describes the latest theories and insights on why this happens to us, precisely what is going on, and how we might be able to reclaim more control over our attention. There’s also a bit of fMRI research included.

    It is divided into three parts: 1. “Cognition and the Essence of Control,” 2. “Behavior in a high-tech world,” and 3. “Taking control.”

    The first is an evolutionary perspective of how our minds work to optimize our survival. Efficient information collection has been fundamental to our survival, however, our instinct for and intrinsic pleasure with absorbing new information through technology is starting to interfere with normal life. Here the authors develop a useful model for attention switching – called “optimal foraging theory” which I thought was a good setup to understand at an intuitive level the factors at play when we are distracted. The basic idea is brought forth with the observation of a squirrel looking for nuts. Once a patch of nuts is found, what determines when the squirrel decides to look for another patch of food? A major factor is how close the other patches likely are. We forage for information, however the “distance” we have to go to find more information is nearly zero (therefore infinitely easy), thus we are always switching, creating a highly non-optimal state. At this stage in the book, I was completely drawn in as the writing was outstanding.

    The second part goes into the many scientific studies (mostly from the Gazzaley lab) that demonstrate how our performance suffers and how we are absolutely fooling ourselves if we think we can multi-task without a – sometimes significant – deficit in performance for each task. It also further applies the “optimal foraging theory” to our daily lives. The authors explain the role that increased accessibility of information, anxiety, boredom, and reduced metacognition play. This part is packed with insight and puts the construct of attention into an easily understandable and quite accessible framework.

    3. I would have preferred this section to be a bit more substantial as I could use all the advice I can get! However, the information provided here was all useful and some was truly insightful and innovative. Here they provide a good discussion, based on their own research and that of others, on the pros and cons of what we can do to reign in our attention: traditional education, meditation, cognitive training, video games, exposure to nature, drugs, physical exercise, neurofeedback, and brain stimulation. I was particularly intrigued by several areas. First, Dr. Gazzaley’s most popular research has been on brain training games. Here he discussed what works and what doesn’t as this field is extremely popular yet has shown highly mixed results and has become a bit controversial. I appreciated how he addresses these issues head on – what works and what doesn’t and why . One central issue in brain training games has been with “transfer” of skills obtained in a game to other aspects of real life. Other research on how pretty mundane sounding things like a walk in the woods naturally engages our attention and refreshes our brains was extremely interesting. I personally know that physical exercise is a great short and long term aid for increasing the ability to focus, and was heartened to see the growing body of solid science backing this up. This is the best, most exhaustive list of attention aids that I’ve seen – a great reference even for the researcher planning to delve into this area. Lastly, he ends with some interesting suggestions of phone apps that give feedback on phone use, etc.. The idea here is that the more we are aware, quantitatively, of our distractions the better we can deal with them.

    Overall, this book struck a great balance between great popular press writing, solid science, true insight, new information, and actionable and practical advice. A satisfying read overall! Now to stop picking up my phone so much…
    20 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2021
    The book delivered on conclusions that are mostly intuitive, but the hard science and rationality is refreshingly reassuring. Read this to get a thorough explanatory breakdown of what our brains are going through in the 21st century. The suggestions for dealing with distraction felt sound, but were more like familiar reminders than revolutionary methods for change.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2016
    Have you noticed how many people are looking at their smartphones while walking, crossing the street or even driving? Does it drive you up the wall that your friends keep checking their phones while you're trying to talk to them or share a meal? Our addiction to gadgets and gizmos has brought us to the brink of an attention crisis, which is not just harmful but dangerous. 80% of all car accidents and 16% of highway deaths result from distracted driving, and every year texting while driving kills thousands of folks before their time. In addition, hundreds of billions of dollars in productivity are lost annually to distraction, not to mention the loss in overall quality of life. Why do we all do this even though we know it's terrible for us? And is there a cure?

    Goal interruption is the ultimate problem, and the culprits are distractions and interruptions (there's a difference!). According to Drs Gazzaley and Rosen, we are susceptible to them because we still have brains designed for foraging, always scoping the environment for novel information to enhance survival. Unfortunately, modern gizmos plug directly into this foraging circuit, making us go "Squirrel!" even when it's just a picture of one on a screen, and we don't really eat squirrels anymore anyway.

    Gazzaley and Rosen -- a neuroscientist and psychologist, respectively -- make a strong case that distraction is indeed diminishing the quality of our lives in significant ways. They lay out the science of attention and information processing in a way that is thorough yet accessible to a general audience. What I particularly like about this book is that they themselves have done some of the pioneering research on distraction and attention, so you're getting it straight from the source. I gained a lot of insight into how goal interruption happens. For example:
    -- Suppressing irrelevant information is not a passive process. It requires effort, and as you get older, you get worse at it, and are more distractable.
    -- Your brain can only handle one cognitive task at a time, so multitasking is impossible. What you're really doing when you think you're multitasking is 'task switching', and the brain can only do that via network switching: activating a whole different set of circuits. This slows you down, big time.

    So we've identified the problem -- now what? The last two chapters of the book propose some solutions: educational initiatives, meditation, exercise, brain games, and video games, some of which (like Beepseeker and NeuroRacer) are being developed in the Gazzaley Lab right now. This is cutting-edge stuff, folks, and potentially revolutionary.

    There's so much more in the book that simply won't fit in a short review. For me, the information was especially important because I've been feeling a lot of my energy and productivity frittering away from distractions like email and social media. How much more could I get done if I managed my mind better? "The Distracted Mind" non-judgmentally frames the problem as the urgent crisis that it is, while proffering some straightforward solutions. Maybe you, too, would like to take back some of your time and attention, or have a loved one that really needs help in this department. If so, this book is the persuasive wallop you need to make the change towards a more goal-oriented, productive, healthy life.
    -- Ali Binazir, M.D., M.Phil., author of The Tao of Dating: The Smart Woman's Guide to Being Absolutely Irresistible, the highest-rated dating book on Amazon for 4 years
    74 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Fausto
    5.0 out of 5 stars nulla
    Reviewed in Italy on February 4, 2024
    corrispondente alla descrizione del venditore
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  • Mike Haydon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful & Practical
    Reviewed in Australia on July 12, 2017
    This book is fantastic for understanding what's going on inside our heard when we get obsessed with technology. The practical discussions on why we act the way we do and how to take back some control of our brains are rooted in studies and effectiveness. An excellent book. Highly recommended.
  • Alexandre Filordi de Carvalho
    5.0 out of 5 stars Imprescindível
    Reviewed in Brazil on July 15, 2019
    Livro imprescindível para compreender como estamos perdendo a consistência humana da concentração, do pensamento profundo e da capacidade analítica.
  • Paul
    3.0 out of 5 stars Wouldn't necessarily read it again
    Reviewed in Germany on October 16, 2018
    Happy I red it, but wouldn't read it again. You know that feeling? 3 stars, because there are some interesting thoughts in the book that I fell enriched me. Go for it, if you like the topic, leave it if you're just curious.
  • Yannick Roy
    5.0 out of 5 stars Do you have more than 1 tab opened right now? If so, Click on Buy Now.
    Reviewed in Canada on December 7, 2016
    Adam Gazzaley is pioneering some very exciting research and has successfully condensed a lot of great content in a digestible way for everyone to benefit from reading that book.

    I must admit that I'm biased because I've been a fan of Gazzaley for few years and he's inspired me to go back to do my PhD in Closed-Loop system for cognitive training. But even if I'm very familiar with his work, he did a great job with Larry D. Rosen to put it all together in a great format. Not too long, not too short, packed with great scientific, yet understandable, useful information.

    Multitasking is more of a problem than a solution. If you praise yourself of being a good multitasker, read this book.
    Being connected 24/7 is more of a problem than a solution. If you praise yourself of answering super fast and being on top of what's happening on social media faster than anyone else, read this book.
    Being focused and just doing 1 task at the time is more of a solution than a problem. If you work and would like to achieve more with better results, read this book.

    If you are alive in this digital era, read this book.