I remember an elderly aunt talking about modern conveniences like dishwashers, etc. She said, "I feel so sorry for women these days. When do you ever have time to think? I've always done my best thinking while I was washing dishes, scrubbing the floor, etc."

@rileyhoffman6629

Жыл бұрын

Love this. Thanks.

@footwinner1

Жыл бұрын

I often wonder what we gain by subscribing to “convenience”. I think we are erasing the tasks that make us human.

After 20+ years on antidepressants & ADHD meds, I’m 15 months off of pharmaceuticals. It’s been quite a journey but I’m so happy to be getting to know myself.

TIP: If you’re watching/listening to this in headphones, go into your phone or computer settings and turn on “play stereo audio as mono” or “mix to mono” to be able to hear the conversation with your right ear too :)

@johnybrokeit

2 жыл бұрын

Aaaaaaah, too late, just finished this talk, but I sort of forgot about it thinking about the topic... I'm glad to know about this setting now, will keep it in mind. I wonder why this video had such a choice of audio. Thank you.

@baswallow

2 жыл бұрын

I've just discovered this after listening for 17 minutes with the distraction from my wife tossing and turning in bed. I can't sleep and can't concentrate. Even when I think they are about reveal to me why I can't concentrate my mind goes off on tangents.

@paulaharmon1643

2 жыл бұрын

Aaaah thank you!!!

@timmymorris91

2 жыл бұрын

I thought my headphones were broken…

@ciarancallan3244

2 жыл бұрын

Tankyoooo!

“The brain is astounding!” -a summary from one of the more inspirational, erudite, broadly brilliant and beloved minds of our time. Thank you both for your riveting discussion!

For me it was better to read the book first and then watch these videos. Enjoyed the conversation regarding the importance and understanding of attention.

I wish this conversation had continued for hours. Great minds musing. Thank you for this.

Several years ago, I read, "Wheatbelly," and saw "Overfed and Undernourished," after which I changed my life for good. Thanks for this conversation. John Fry is truly a modern Renaissance Man.

As a former professional athlete, we find a place called "The Zone" that is the most focused feeling of euphoria that is like heaven, but so rare, one feels limitless and realizes all of the work that one has to put in to reach that level of focus, confidence and "presence" that is so amazing, you never want it to end. Imagine how Ted Williams must have felt hitting a baseball, or Steph Curry and Klay Thompson must feel while shooting three-pointers...or even Dimash K(Q)udiabergen singing "S.O.S at the Slavic Bazaar...Genius is not born without dedication and focusing on the task at hand, consistanly. It's deafening!

That reminds of something I heard years ago - we create 'memories' by engaging all of our senses. What memories are our generation going to have in the years ahead, if we are not engaged??!!

Thank you for posting the replay. I adore both Johann and Stephen, and it was delightful hearing them in conversation.

I want to comment on the segment about childhood. I grew up in the 70's in South Florida and our parents were rarely concerned about where we were. We rode bikes for miles, walked to the beach, took buses to the malls, etc. I think for us, that started to decline when Adam Walsh was kidnapped and murdered from a mall in Ft Lauderdale, and suddenly parents became more accountable and fearful about the safety of their children. Now, as long as our child is inside the home, or in a supervised activity with church or sports, we believe they are safe. I agree that free play is critical in a child's development. I want to mention Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts, an unstructured learning environment for kids, has been having huge success with virtually no curriculum. I want to also mention I had seen an outdoor kindergarten video on KZread where the kids were handed widdling knives and allowed to climb 30 feet up into trees. It appears there are now schools here in America that have embraced a similar model. Perhaps if parents can move toward believing in their kids' ability to thrive and to think, and get over their hyper concern for safety, we can get back to supporting our children to be amazing adults and leaders. Thanks for all you are doing to try and move us forward.

This was so effing amazing. Johann has a serious gift in explaining this topic. Although, it was the first video on KZread I sat still and watched rather than listening to in the background. Idk if it's out of guilt though.

An essential conversation for these times. It has long been a question pondered, whether our attention spans are getting shorter and what causes it (tech/modern innovations usually getting the blame), but it is more complicated than any one single cause; it sounds like Hari’s book covers a lot of the potential factors, so I’m very interested. There’s an aspect of all this that I’ve tried to put my finger on and this is the best I’ve come up with so far: Humanity is coming into a greater sense of self-awareness than at any time in its history. Certain ideas that we’ve lived with as essential to our sense of self (nation, religion, ethnicity, etc.) are becoming harder and harder to reconcile with what we are learning about ourselves. We are thus driven to distraction not only by powers that wish to exploit us/ourselves, but by our own unwillingness to see these increasingly apparent truths: The things/beliefs that have given us a sense of purpose and identity in the past are no longer sufficient; our growing cognitive dissonance and sense of isolation are to some degree self-imposed and to some degree imposed upon us by those who think they have the most to lose. That’s a “seeing the forest” view of the modern human psyche, if you will. In any case, I do believe that our common senses of purpose are increasingly challenged, but there is no simple explanation. One Tesco shelf stocker may be perfectly content indeed, but another may validly question the purpose of their life. 🙏

Try the rosary, it has mindfulness, calm, knowing you are not alone and have a purpose and you are cared for...when all this is over you are going to a beautiful place of peace.

Fun to watch Stephen and Johann lifelong friendship in the making.

Fascinating to hear such capacities adressing such a serious problem. I think the laptop behind Stephen lit up everytime he said Google 🙂

@johnybrokeit

2 жыл бұрын

Lol

Fascinating. The bit at the end about kids never being allowed to play out kills me. I was so lucky to have a free childhood.

Absolutely fantastic video. I'll definitely be picking up the book. This conversation put a name on so many of the issues I've been feeling intuitively about concentration or lack thereof

Absolutely brilliant talk. Listening to Stephen talk was like listening to Sir David Attenborough, such insight for the topic being discussed

Wonderful conversation. I've read the book and it's certainly worth the read. Also been reading lots about diet and processed food. It's all coming together we just have to turn the mainstream tide from established and vested interests.

Feel bad putting this in Watch Later.

this could have gone on for hours between Stephen and Johann. wow.

When Stephen was talking about we have valid self-criticisms from gaining weight and eating too much but there's more to it than that, I agree 100% There's so many factors that can restrict your focus, technology can be one but also stress, particularly stress from debt and how easy it is to get into debt, to live way beyond our means because it's more easier too, then you look at addictions to drugs(prescribed ones especially) alcohol, gambling e.t.c Where I live in Scotland, and like most Scottish towns, we have an abundance of gambling stores and pubs, and a lot of them within areas where poverty is high, because in those areas, what do you do if you've not got a big income and not having meaning, you look for happiness in pleasure, you convince yourself you'll win big at the bookmakers, and if you don't, well, you can just drown your sorrows at the pub. Creates a vicious cycle.

Im 45 but when I was 7 I'd explore the local woods with my 10yo brother. If I let my 9 yo out in the woods I'd be arrested for neglect.

Johann ! Brilliant stand and then stand some more👍

Love the email notifications throughout! 😂 That was a great chat though.

For the whole history of humans, we never had digital selves. Today, a digital ''me'' is the instrument we mainly interact with nowadays, also via our extended minds like smartphones and such. No preparation whatsoever is provided and has never been provided, educational speaking at first, to decently handle and critically understand the impact this reality is having on our cognition.

@ooievaar6756

Жыл бұрын

worries me as well. The miscommunications, oneliners and lack of real contact to make founded longer- term decisions instead of constantly producing and reacting to the "issues of the day". Adolescents never seem to be "here, in this moment, now" anymore, but always into their snapchat, tiktok, app, whatever being and making data. in France smartphones are forbidden until 16 at school, good point ! Adolescents (the new generations to come) can hardly DO anything anymore, the majority cant play instruments, paint, repair their bike, fix a problem in the kitchen etc. They just communicate like chickens and mature way too late. Like they are toddlers in a 16 year old body. Society is constructed in such a way that expierience in craftsmenship, technical jobs, isnt worth anything anymore and networking/knowing/reacting has become more important. Things go faster and faster without thinking if is has any sense. Like the "green thinking now which isnt green at all" If you need someone you just "hire them, or import them, or outsource it" while lending money and making debts on each level all of the time. that attitude is destructive to society, culture, pride, self esteem, and knowledge of things

Only the right channel has audio.

@raginald7mars408

Жыл бұрын

FOCUS on the RIGHT Thing not the Left...

Better focus: switch off data on your phone and switch off all notifications. My phone never pings at me. Because I'm not the servant who responds when the master rings a bell.

41:00 I have to admit, I too have selfie with Mona Lisa in background.

So, the best way to focus, is to quit trying to.

Hi, quick question. What is the name of the fiction writer Johann so enthusiastically recommends when speaking about how reading fiction enhances empathy? Fantastic conversation.

@fadenyaba8650

Жыл бұрын

I think he mentioned Anita Brookner.

I always thank doctors' offices that do not have television playing full time. Also libraries that do not have televisions.

Cuba,is the answer.To go online you go to a public wi-fi spot,the connection is strong enough to check emails and read the news etc,but that’s it,and it isn’t cheap,like everything else on the island

@nickphillipsmusic

Жыл бұрын

Hupnaa

Good example actually. Two articulate and voluble people having a conversation about serious subjects over an artificial means. Technology is supposed to be a useful tool for communication, we have enslaved ourselves to the useful tool

Stephen Fry comes out of this very well. He is calm, he is listening, responding appropriately and following through his thoughts in a logical way and he is also gently and subtly contradicting nearly everything that Hari says. Hari is the opposite. Not calm, not listening, throwing out an avalanche of unconnected facts and anecdotes, apparently unable to filter the relevant from the irrelevant, totally unable to sync himself with Fry's attempts to get the conversation on a logical track. The idea that Hari thinks about anything 'very deeply' is a stretch. He's the man who likes to skate very fast across the surface of deep waters. If you want to see a man who isn't present, here he is.

Because times have changed is not an excuse to allow the environment to steal attention. Just as times changing is not an excuse to eat unhealthy food, not exercise and get fat. Let’s control our behavior! All reading this, please read Fogg’s Tiny Habits and Eyal’s Indistractable.

Linear A, that's where the rot set in...

Like the reasons to the Seven Deadly Sins.

giving ratings/reviews on something purchased, a restaurant, a phone call is also becoming intrusive, annoying and something people should refuse to do. Often it does more damage (for employees, a small businessowner) then good. 1 oneliner can cause misery and grief. Why ? Trust people, and if you dont, dont buy or go there. Dont write everyting down. You nail people to the wall. It is no good

And believeing in God is good too.

Ikonofagia?

15.25 onwards, Hari pretends that he's listening to Fry, but really he's checking his phone. Is this the man to tell us how to solve the problem? (No, I'm not going to provide a link. If you're interested, find 15.25 for yourself. Stop expecting the internet to do everything for you.)

Interesting that all of the discourse is by and about men and boys. Other than the woman doing the intro everything talked about is about and by men and boys. I am now reading a recent book called INVISIBLE WOMEN (DATA BIAS IN A WORLD DESIGNED FOR MEN) by Caroline Criado Perez- a must read for EVERYONE, despite your gender. Although I like what was presented, although being obvious to me for decades, Johann and Stephen are men. This presentation is about everyone, but why is there no mention of women or girls anywhere? Apparently we are still considered NON-RELATIVE and not part of anything. I am sick of the world being run, governed and DESTROYED by men, war and corruption, violence and abuse. Most of all the powerful ASSHOLES who have created this mess are MEN who start out wanting to kill and hurt everything. WE are ALL DOOMED until we start recognizing, including and HONORING WOMEN, who give life and nurturing to everything, and more so unless we acknowledge how the planet, and all animals upon it are being destroyed by MEN, not women.

@alicebarneto171

Жыл бұрын

So why are radical feminists so bent on wanting women to be less female/ feminine and more masculine? Why are we shamed for wanting to do the things that come NATURALLY to us as women????? Like claiming child bearing (NO!! Men cannot have babies!!!) and home making and all the organically female activities that go with bringing up a happy healthy family?

Stephen Fry is a personal hero of mine, which is why it's so disapppointing to see him endorsing Johann Hari's latest slop, full of pseudoscience and misinterpreted references (where there even are references). You're better than this, Stephen.

I have deleted many sosiale media apps after reading stolen Focus

Eat salad, as much as you want! No one is forcing you to eat junk food.

So get off Facebook. No one is forced to be on that site. It’s total BS.