deep work
The “gift of listening” is based on the ability to grant deep, contemplative attention—which remains inaccessible to the hyperactive ego.
from The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han
deep work
One of my (many) contrarian beliefs is that we do not have strong enough preferences. We often blame social media or the speed of information as the reason why we’re easily distracted, but the real reason behind our inability to focus has less to do with the sheer quantity of media and more to do with our laziness when it comes to distinguishing... See more
the need for a meaningful anchor
The “gift of listening” is based on the ability to grant deep, contemplative attention—which remains inaccessible to the hyperactive ego.
Byung-Chul Han • The Burnout Society
In Twilight of the Idols, Nietzsche formulates three tasks for which pedagogues are necessary. One needs to learn to see, to think, and to speak and write. The goal of education, according to Nietzsche, is “noble culture.” Learning to see means “getting your eyes used to calm, to patience, to letting things come to you”—that is, making yourself
... See moreByung-Chul Han • The Burnout Society
A more substantive potential use of words to enhance our lives is the lost art of conversation. Utilitarian ideologies in the past two centuries or so have convinced us that the main purpose of talking is to convey useful information. Thus we now value terse communication that conveys practical knowledge, and consider anything else a frivolous
... See moreMihaly Csikszentmihalyi • Flow: The Psychology of Happiness
The way I beat intellectual obesity was by trying to become the best writer I can be. Writing requires you to filter out bad information because you have a duty to your readers to not be full of shit. Writing also forces you to periodically shut out information altogether so you can be alone with your thoughts. This regular confrontation with... See more
The Intellectual Obesity Crisis
Here’s Kreider’s explanation: Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body, and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as disfiguring as rickets … it is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done.
Cal Newport • Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
Great thinkers have always been motivated by the enjoyment of thinking rather than by the material rewards that could be gained by it.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi • Flow: The Psychology of Happiness
In our busy and distracted society, deep reading is increasingly rare. Deep reading changes people.
Writing an essay or short story or book is a personal project that directs our energy in one direction for a period of time. It gives me something to stay focused on, a north star, a vector for movement.