Stolen Focus: Why Johann Hari’s Message Matters More Than Ever

Getting Johann Hari's Attention

The Library’s longstanding Beach Author series returns to Liberty Hall on Wednesday, June 11, opens a new window, with our very first international author — Johann Hari. Bringing Johann Hari across the pond seemed like a long shot, but I went to his website and sent him an email anyway. To my surprise, he responded personally within a few hours saying he had never been to Kansas and that he would like to and why don’t I email his agent and see if we could make it happen. So now Johann Hari is coming to Lawrence. I aim to get you as excited as I am about his visit to the Sunflower State.

How Our Focus Gets Stolen

I read Johann Hari’s 2022 bestselling book Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention–and How to Think Deeply Again a few years back. It resonated deeply with me. Like Hari, I blamed my inability to pay attention to anything for any length of time on my own lack of willpower or resolve. There are certainly protective factors we can employ to gain back our ability to think — and Hari enumerates several — but Hari also argues that our collective inability to focus isn't simply a personal failing but a systemic issue. Angela Haupt points out a major driving factor in her , opens a new windowWashington Post review of the book: “Big-name websites and apps strive to distract because that’s the key to profitability. When we’re looking at our screens, these companies make money; when we’re not, they don’t.” When keeping us distracted and constantly scrolling on our devices is tied directly to profit, how many companies will choose our mental and physical well-being over making money?

Our collective struggle to pay attention and to understand and discuss complex ideas is a serious problem, and it can feel daunting, if not impossible, to fix. None of us can single-handedly change how Big Tech makes money by capturing and holding our attention. It will take people demanding actual government regulation and reform to change that. There is one simple thing our library and public libraries across our nation are dedicated to that we believe can help: long-form reading. 

The Benefits of Long-Form Reading

A 2009 study conducted at the University of Sussex showed that reading for even six minutes reduced stress by 68%. Dr. David Lewis, a cognitive neuropsychologist who conducted the study, noted that reading “is more than merely a distraction but an active engaging of the imagination as the words on the printed page stimulate your creativity and cause you to enter what is essentially an altered state of consciousness.” 

This “altered state of consciousness” is, in my opinion, one of the primary tools we have to stretch our abilities to think deeply and pay better attention. As mentioned above, Hari discusses many things we can do as individuals to regain our stolen focus, and he has several ideas about things we could correct at a systemic level if we band together and collectively demand change. 

For now, I am committing myself to reading more and challenging you to do the same. Perhaps a pep talk from Johann Hari will help us all. I hope you’ll join me on June 11, opens a new window and hear what Johann Hari has to say.

—Brad Allen is the Library Director at Lawrence Public Library.