Productivity | Psychology

Why Are We Blaming The Internet for Our Lack of Focus?

We can blame the internet for our nonstop distraction, but the truth is not as you might think.

In a world full of distractions, we often find it really hard to stay focused.

That glowing screens make us addicted. That computers and the internet eat away at our brains, worsen our attention span, and destroy our ability to focus.

Got distracted by a YouTube video? Of course, it was designed to be that way; time-consuming and mega distracting so it can pull you in for 4 hours nonstop until you remember that you have to take a shower — or eat.

So, if you want to stay focused and avoid distractions, blame that smartphone and its internet connection for stealing your attention. Get rid of it. Turn it off. Put it 1.2 miles away from you.

Congratulations — we have fully lost control over ourselves.

The true reason for our lack of focus is not the internet

I understand why we behave this way — blaming the internet for our massive loss of productivity due to lack of focus.

Before writing this article, I was watching a video on YouTube while having 16 other tabs open and getting notifications from Slack and Twitter at the same time.

Then, *snap! A voice in my head woke me up. I stopped. Closed all tabs. Opened word. And wrote a draft for this article.

Yes, it was my fault for procrastinating. And I know that multi-tasking online doesn’t positively exercise my brain or mental state. But come on, how can I not blame the internet if all the activities that make me procrastinate are digital activities?

It’s fair to say that the internet did play a role in my lack of focus when there are a lot of studies that show how modern technology has been stealing our time and attention — and even ruining our brain.

But is it true that the internet is the actual cause of all this?

It turns out; the answer is no.

A new study shows that long before the internet, humans were a “cognitively impaired species” who could only focus on one thing in a quarter block of a second.

But this lack of focus ability is not a flaw. Instead, it is an evolutionary adaptation.

This evolution makes us able to flick between highly focused and diffuse attention, giving us the ability to concentrate on a complex task while also being aware of our surroundings. It develops the dynamic, hyper-alert creatures that we are today.

In other words, our “short attention span” is not some kind of weakness in the form of permanent defects caused by digital technology.

Yes, maybe the internet does give us the option to get more distracted. But biologically speaking, we were like this long before Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube even existed.

This way, it doesn’t make sense to blame the internet.

But we humans like to blame things on others, don’t we? So if it is not the internet, then whose fault is this?

Well, it’s nobody’s fault.

The internet is playing a part — but it’s not the actual cause. Yet human evolution — which is the real cause of our reptilian brain — occurs beyond our control. It is a biological nature that, of course, makes it ridiculous to blame on.

It’s time to stop shifting the blame and start looking at the mirror

Daniel T. Willingham said in his essay that digital devices don’t eat away at our brains, however, they lure us toward thoughts that are directed outward almost constantly.

He explained that over the past decade, neuroscientists have distinguished two systems of attention and associated thought.

One is directed outward — like when you scroll through Instagram or play Candy Crush. The other is directed inward — such as when you daydream, plan the future, or reflect on the past.

These two modes of attention work like a toggle switch; when one is on, the other is off. This is also why when we multitask; we are actually switching attention.

Now, it’s pretty clear that most digital activities call for outwardly directed attention. Thus, if we don’t have any sense of self-awareness or find our intrinsic motivation to do things — such as goals, purpose, or desire — it will be very easy to keep getting distracted by the internet.

Practicing mindfulness and developing some level of self-awareness can help us with this, which I’m sure won’t be too difficult if you’ve been reading this article up to this point.

Then, rather than keep blaming the internet and achieve nothing from it, it’s much better to set aside some time in our day for daydreaming, planning future plans, or just do nothing at all.

”It’s not that we can’t focus. Paying attention requires not just ability, but desire.” — Daniel T. Willingham

The Takeaway

The internet is not the actual cause of our lack of focus. We already have the “inability to focus” long before the internet ever existed due to human evolution.

Blaming the internet gives no healthy solutions for us. Solutions only emerge when we stop blaming other things and take control of ourselves. Practice mindfulness, develop self-awareness, do some healthy daydreaming, or just do nothing — science says it makes us more creative, anyway.

In the end, technology is just a conduit for our own humanity. It’s our job to choose the ethical choices we make as human societies along the way — upon the glowing screens of the internet. As Parveen Kumar put it:

“Don’t blame the internet, it keeps hell and heaven at same distance just a click away.” — Parveen Kumar