The Distracted Mind

Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World

By: Larry D. Rosen, Adam Gazzaley

Narrated by: Chris Sorensen

In The Distracted Mind, leading psychologist Larry Rosen and pioneering neuroscientist Adam Gazzaley explain why our minds have become addicted to email, text messages, virtual worlds, and social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Through compelling true stories and scientific research, they show how digital distractions affect every aspect of life, from work, safety, and communication to our relationships and health.

The way our brains work mean we're all too easily hijacked by 'weapons of mass distraction', but there are countermeasures we can take. Rosen and Gazzaley offer proven strategies for regaining and retaining control over where we choose to focus our attention, making The Distracted Mind essential listening for anyone who wants to make best use of their brain today.

©2016 Adam Gazzaley and Larry D. Rosen (P)2016 Recorded Books

Interesting Psych book

It is very heady and slightly boring in some areas in the beginning, but the last few chapters contain valuable information to keep your brain strong and balanced.

Monotonic

The reader seems to end every sentence on the same note. It's hard to pay attention once you start hearing it

Narrator sucks

Chris Sorensen’s voice and enunciation is terribly dull. What’s wrong with him? You might want to consider listening at a faster speed if you’re interested in the content

incredible

learning about the distractions that were holding me back has forever changed my work and will be extremely valuable to me the rest of my life

I felt uncertain about the supporting research

Having worked in mental health for over a decade now I could easily say that humans are facing new and challenging social problems everyday, and I could find tons of support for that. I feel like that is about all this book does, at least for me. If anything, it helped me to focus a little more on my distractions and interference. Being a Generation X'er, I can say that I did not quite feel as distracted prior to computers and smartphones. However, during my childhood people spent hours upon hours talking on the phone and that would also be a distraction. Throughout history we can find points like this to blame, such as the rise of the TV taking away people from other duties, and the rise of the newspaper and print media leading people to sit around reading! There will always be something "worse."
The narrator seemed robotic at times.