Few days ago while on a bit of recess from office work, i scrolled through my twitter feed. Read the following tweet from Pico Iyer, a well known writer “I check my messages once an hour and then wonder why I’m feeling so restless and distracted. If ten new messages are lying in wait for me, i feel burdened; if none at all, i am crushed. We run from where our happiness lies and then ask ourselves why we’re feeling confused.” Comments to this had a link to New York Times article titled “A texting driver’s education”. I read that article. What i found inside the article was a gold mine.
A deadly wandering by Matt Richtel is one important read of my life. Reggie Shaw, a teenager on the morning of September 19, 2006 hit the car with two rocket scientist in it while texting and driving on a highway in Utah, United States. This book is his redemptive journey - from denial to acceptance and ultimate realization- post this accident, and author’s brilliance in explaining the science behind this. This book is not just a one off story of redemption, but a social tale of void technology has created.
Richtel not only describes the series of events in the life of Reggie Shaw (Teenager), families of the victims, family of the accused, but looks at the entire history of cognitive neuroscience. From the origins of World War II, helping pilots and radar operators save lives by not being overwhelmed by the technology to later MRI brain studies of multi-tasking and what came to be known as attention science. The writer elaborates how distraction and attention is a null-set. They do not marry. And also that, distraction is borne out of our own desires. We are distracted because we want to be.
The book talks about two types of attention “top down” (what we want to focus) and “bottom up” (what takes us by surprise). We live in a world of smartphones, inherent nature of it is seductive and which uses both of those approaches.
The driver in the story, is from the generation of smart phones. It takes about 2 years for him to accept that fact that he was actually texting while driving and how - after a doctor’s testimony in the court- he was distracted by the same which led to the wreck and killing. He, then accepted blame. His floodgates open. He cries incessantly. He starts his redemptive journey well before court has sentenced him. He goes about describing the harms of text and drive and the importance of having a law. He speaks about it in the state congress to very much awe of the law makers. Looking at this, judge comes to a conclusion of only 30 days of jail for negligence and community service which is subsequently reduced to 18 days seeing his behavior in jail. He lives his life, thereafter in trying to say what is right and explain what he did was wrong to save any lives he can against 2 lives he lost.
Richtel summarizes the harms in the use of technological seduction in a world we live. Our bodies love the little hit of dopamine we get each time we check our phones for something. Too much technology can corrupt our soul he says. Anyone interested in attention science as a branch of cognitive neuroscience should read this book, it is one of its kind.
Technology companies, social media are built on these premises of human psychology. We crave for what we enjoy. The dynamism of these devices/applications makes it unique. This book is a seminal work on the need for society to understand the harms of these more than the good it brings. We are being emotionally hijacked by our drug-type crave for instant gratification.
A deadly wandering by Matt Richtel is one important read of my life. Reggie Shaw, a teenager on the morning of September 19, 2006 hit the car with two rocket scientist in it while texting and driving on a highway in Utah, United States. This book is his redemptive journey - from denial to acceptance and ultimate realization- post this accident, and author’s brilliance in explaining the science behind this. This book is not just a one off story of redemption, but a social tale of void technology has created.
Richtel not only describes the series of events in the life of Reggie Shaw (Teenager), families of the victims, family of the accused, but looks at the entire history of cognitive neuroscience. From the origins of World War II, helping pilots and radar operators save lives by not being overwhelmed by the technology to later MRI brain studies of multi-tasking and what came to be known as attention science. The writer elaborates how distraction and attention is a null-set. They do not marry. And also that, distraction is borne out of our own desires. We are distracted because we want to be.
The book talks about two types of attention “top down” (what we want to focus) and “bottom up” (what takes us by surprise). We live in a world of smartphones, inherent nature of it is seductive and which uses both of those approaches.
The driver in the story, is from the generation of smart phones. It takes about 2 years for him to accept that fact that he was actually texting while driving and how - after a doctor’s testimony in the court- he was distracted by the same which led to the wreck and killing. He, then accepted blame. His floodgates open. He cries incessantly. He starts his redemptive journey well before court has sentenced him. He goes about describing the harms of text and drive and the importance of having a law. He speaks about it in the state congress to very much awe of the law makers. Looking at this, judge comes to a conclusion of only 30 days of jail for negligence and community service which is subsequently reduced to 18 days seeing his behavior in jail. He lives his life, thereafter in trying to say what is right and explain what he did was wrong to save any lives he can against 2 lives he lost.
Richtel summarizes the harms in the use of technological seduction in a world we live. Our bodies love the little hit of dopamine we get each time we check our phones for something. Too much technology can corrupt our soul he says. Anyone interested in attention science as a branch of cognitive neuroscience should read this book, it is one of its kind.
Technology companies, social media are built on these premises of human psychology. We crave for what we enjoy. The dynamism of these devices/applications makes it unique. This book is a seminal work on the need for society to understand the harms of these more than the good it brings. We are being emotionally hijacked by our drug-type crave for instant gratification.
