Attention and Distraction - Haelan LifeStream Center

This Journal is about a relatively new addiction which began to envelope the lives of people on a global scale in the mid 1980s.

A recent email writing from well known and well regarded functional medicine practitioner Chris Kresser, M.S., L.Ac., successfully describes the distraction addiction dilemma we have allowed ourselves to become entangled with through our growing reliance and addiction to technology devices.

Kresser’s writing, insightful as usual, is posted below as a follow up to the previous Journal writing entitled Brain Wash. This prior entry called attention to a new and important book written by Dr. David Perlmutter, M.D., and his son Austin Perlmutter, M.D.

Their book Brain Wash is an excellent composition of research and thoughtful writing. The central themes of the book are ones which we need to practice in these times: the importance of forming strong interpersonal relationships, the mindful use of technology, the benefits of time spent in nature, and the importance of healthy eating and nutritional practices.

I heartily recommend this book if you have an interest in learning about the science and the importance of how to protect your mind from the distractions wrought by technology, and how to practice developing a more balanced life.

Please contemplate Kresser’s message and its relevance and meaning in your life.

The Power of Attention in a Distracted World by Chris Kresser

“The Nobel Prize-winning economist and cognitive psychologist Herbert Simon once said:

‘A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.’

His words have perhaps never been more relevant than they are today.

We live in a world where information is abundant, yet attention is increasingly scarce.

This has profound consequences.

Attention is what allows us to filter out the noise and focus on what is truly important.

It is also what defines how we experience life, on a moment-to-moment basis.

As the Zen Buddhist author and teacher Cheri Huber is fond of saying:

‘The quality of our lives is determined by the focus of our attention.’

If our attention is fragmented, distracted, shallow, and pulled in a million different directions, that will also be the quality of our experience.

Unfortunately, this is what our modern lifestyle and relationship with technology has wrought.

If you purchase a smartphone, install a bunch of apps, and enable notifications for all of them—you have just given permission to be interrupted and distracted multiple times a day for virtually any reason, whether those reasons are truly important or not.

The internet and social media, powerful tools that they are, both overwhelm with information and, by their very nature, feed distraction.

How many times have you opened your computer or picked up your phone to do one thing, only to ‘wake up’ a half hour or an hour later, realizing that you not only didn’t accomplish that initial goal, but you ended up doing 23 other things that you had no intention of doing?

This is our challenge.

Our brains are highly susceptible to distraction, because that ‘distractibility’ would have protected our survival in a natural environment. It alerted us to threats and kept us vigilant.

But today, this inherent tendency to lose focus works against us. And we have to take conscious steps and build in safeguards to prevent it.

For me, this involves:

Spending time in stillness and meditation daily
Turning off all notifications on my phone (except phone calls, text messages, and calendar reminders)
Having a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual system for establishing priorities and goals
Significantly limiting my use of social media

Attention is perhaps one of the most valuable resources we have.

In fact, I would go as far as calling it a “superpower” in today’s increasingly distracted world.

Those who are able to clearly focus their attention on what is most important will not only have a tremendous advantage in the workplace and in achieving their personal goals, the quality of their experience—and, thus, their lives—will be so much richer and more rewarding.”

In health,
Chris

Disconnection Syndrome

Dr. Austin Perlmutter, M.D., who co-authored the new book Brain Wash with his father Dr. David Perlmutter, M.D. descibes the new phenomenon of disconnection syndrome in this short writing.

The authors also describe 8 core issues of the disconnection syndrome, and in each of these 8 links below they offer some ideas to help mitigate the problem.

Crestone and Beyond

The internet, and the electronic devices which allow us to access it in an unrestricted and immediate manner, comprise the greatest global distraction modality and addiction process that I know of.

We are made to think that we are inadequate in every way and that more engagement with social media platforms and more useless information gathering is going to solve our perceived deficiencies.

Any addiction is driven by fear and the need to placate our limiting perception that the fear is too much to deal with. We feel that the fear, and the past events which supplant it, need to be kept suppressed in the background of our psyche. We are conditioned to be content to maintain the status quo belief systems that supplant our comfort zone of living. Such suppression inhibits our evolution. Thus, an addiction is any behavior that we do which is driven by a fear of internal growth.

I think there are 4 basic types of fear. One of these fears leads to the next. They become entangled in our subconsciousness and consciousness, and are usually carried for a lifetime without resolution.

The fear of scarcity, or lack
The fear of not being good enough
The fear of rejection
The fear of loss of control

These 4 fears all come from the intrinsic fear which we are born into this world to deal with in our spiritual growth journey…that fear is the illusion of separation from Source energy…we feel separate from our own Divinity, our own Spirit force, our own self, and each other. This sense of separation is the grand illusion of living on this earth plane.

If we practice that foundational fear and those 4 subsequent fears for a lifetime, then we wind up with the final fear which is the fear of death. The net result of such a practice of fear for a lifetime is that we never fully live. Having never fully lived, we are naturally afraid to die.

The insanity level on this planet is rising. Because of the built-in problems we seem to have with greed and power control, insanity chaos has always been with humanity. However, there are more people on the planet now. As we continue to overpopulate the planet, more and more global problems will arise.

Will human consciousness evolve out of fear and power control?

Will our social institutions ever begin to allow our conditioning to embrace higher consciousness evolution, or will these institutions continue to promote fear and ignorance?

Abba Poemen was an early Christian mystic who lived from 340 to 450. He wandered in the desert. He taught that the right question in all circumstances is “Who am I?”

He once said, “A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him saying, ‘You are mad…you are not like us.’”

Thank you for reading.

Signing off from Crestone and Beyond

Related Reading

In my writings on this website I frequently cite the work and writings of the 3 health practitioners, listed below. These links are to their websites. I recommend that you sign up for all 3 email lists. These are the best functional medicine thought leaders and teachers that I know of. The information they share is consistently good, and is easy to read. These health care practitioners bring the information that you need to keep up with.

For the sake of completeness, I also frequently cite the writings of Franciscan priest and teacher Richard Rohr who offers his wisdom and writings from the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, NM. He is a spiritual health care practitioner who is able to bring all religions and spiritual paths into modern day focus and perspective. His writings have enriched my life. I believe that a daily spiritual focus and contemplation is the most essential health practice in life. Spirit is constantly supporting and sustaining our lives…it is our true identity as we live out our human journey.

The reading reference list below will be expanded over time. More and more people and researchers are beginning to speak out about the negative aspects of EMF and the technology which allows it into our lives.

Articles

Brain Wash…the website Journal writing covering the aforementioned book by Drs. David and Austin Perlmutter, M.D.
Beware the quick tech fix when…in a Washington Post article, from September, 2013, the author states that when children do not spend enough time in the creative, or day dreaming mode, then creativity declines, especially for young children from kindergarten through sixth grade. Children and teens now spend an average of 5.5 and eight hours a day, respectively, playing with screens, phones, and games. What will the effects of this be?
Body Fat Threatens Ability to Make Good Choices…a 2-5-20 writing from Dr. Perlmutter’s website which explains how obesity harms the prefrontal cortex executive function and allows for bad decisions due to the resulting dominance of the amygdala, which is associated with impulsivity and narcissism. “Brain Wash focuses on reclaiming our ability to make good choices by reconnecting to the prefrontal cortex.”
Groundbreaking Study Discovers an Association Between Screen Time and Actual Brain Changes…NIH researchers studied 4,500 nine- and ten-year-olds and found premature thinning of the cerebral cortex in those that used screens more than seven hours a day.
Digital Dementia…an important article about this growing toxicity. Note the comment about doctors and nurses spending more time looking at digital devices than interacting with patients.
Internet Exposure and Your Brain…a recent posting by neurologist David Perlmutter, M.M. on his website, explaining a study in adolescents which appeared in the European Journal of Radiology. Dr. Perlmutter states, “Interpreting their findings would indicate that some important areas of the brain are negatively affected in teenagers who satisfy the criteria for being internet addicted.” The criteria for internet addiction, as defined by the authors of the research article are: 1) excessive use, 2) withdrawal (people have difficulty when they suddenly stop, 3) tolearance (meaning you need more and more), and 4) negative repercussions (interfering with productivity at work, relationships, etc.
Health Effects of Isolation…the health effects of loneliness are explained. Also, the illusion of false connectedness via electronic devices is alluded too, and this is just one more toxic aspect of EMF devices.
4 Ways to Build Connection Into Your Day…a message from David Perlmutter, “There’s a painful paradox in the modern world: superficially, we seem to be more connected than ever, and yet, in some of the most important ways, the exact opposite is true. In fact, we are increasingly lonely, separated from nature, and struggling to connect with ourselves. Here’s the thing: we know we need more healthy connection in our lives. Our bonds with those we care about, the natural environment and our own sense of self must be reclaimed for good mental and physical health.”
Eliminating the Human…the seeming inexorable take-over by artificial intelligence. Our apps and devices are “quietly reducing the amount of meaningful interaction we have with each other.” We have traded genuine connection with nature and each other for being plugged in to some electronic device.
The Tech Industry’s War on Kids…a must read article about how children (and adults) are being purposefully psychologically altered and harmed by tech devices.
Microwave frequency electromagnetic fields (EMFs) produce widespread neuropsychiatric effects including depression…a science abstract from PubMed, from September, 2016, on this problem.
Dystopia Starter Kit: The data privacy nightmare of facial recognition and location apps in the SEC…a striking article about the Orwellian push in colleges for snooping on students and their whereabouts, from football game attendance to classroom attendance.
The Dangers of Cell Phones…a website Journal written in 2012. I still use the same flip phone…sparingly, maybe one time a month, if that. We think we need all of these gadgets of distraction, but…do we?
Emotional Intelligence, Shadow Fear, Part I, Part II…GABA, Part III…Mental Strength…3 writings on this website, from 2014, about fear.
The Velocity of Life…a 2015 writing on this website. It is time for us to slow down out of the current insanity pace. There is still time to help the earth recover. Humanity needs to curb its greed and struggle for control and “power.”
Minding Your Meditation…a 2015 website writing about the best way to slow down and get a reality check that I know of.
Prayer…a 2018 writing on the website about how a little bird helped my experience and understanding about one aspect of my spiritual life.
The End May Be Nearer: Doomsday Clock Moves Within 100 Seconds Of Midnight…a writing from NPR on 1-23-20 about the Doomsday Clock, which was created in 1947 at the outset of the Cold War. The Clock was founded by scientists who worked on the atomic bomb during WWII. Currently 13 Nobel laureattes sit on its board of directors and speculate about humanity’s problems and state of chaos. It is unveiled annually.
When There’s So Much That Needs Our Care…the people at HeartMath offers some practices to curb our anxiety when we are in “overcare” mode.
Do Less, Accomplish More…a Zen priest and worldly man describes the 5 pitfalls of fear, assumptions, distractions, resistance, and busyness…and how to work with these hindrances to our happiness.
Exploring the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare…a thoughtful article explores potentials vs. pitfalls of AI in healthcare…”we must ensure that we are using the technology, rather than the technology using us.”
Why you should get bored more often…the author Ozan Varol states that unstructured time that isn’t filled with activities—what we might call “boredom”—has dropped precipitously for many of us: “We fill — no, stuff — every moment of our day with activity. We switch from one form of social media to the next, check our email, catch up on the news — all within a span of twenty minutes. We prefer the certainty of these distractions over the uncertainty of boredom (I don’t know what to do with myself, and I’d rather not find out).”
Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self…author Manoush Zomorodi says that boredom serves a very important purpose…”When our minds wander, we activate something called the ‘default mode,’ the mental place where we solve problems and generate our best ideas, and engage in what’s known as ‘autobiographical planning,’ which is how we make sense of our world and our lives and set future goals. The default mode is also involved in how we try to understand and empathize with other people, and make moral judgments…When we let ourselves space out and our minds wander, we do our most original thinking and problem solving; without distraction, your mind can go to some interesting and unexpected places. Creativity—no matter how you define or apply it—needs a push, and boredom, which allows new and different connections to form in our brain, is a most effective muse.” Posted here on 3-17-20

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