Spiritual attention in an age of distraction

[au5t1n]

"We live in an age of distraction. Apparently, the average long-term attention span is only 5 minutes. The average short-term attention span is only 8 seconds due to the influence of social media. Constant skimming content online means that we can struggle to read books closely. Yet the most important subjects require extended attention span. With this we must disengage from distractions to give exclusive attention to something. Nothing is more significant for the good of our soul than sustained attention. Scripture emphasises this constantly."

http://www.reformationscotland.org/spiritual-attention-in-an-age-of-distraction/

 

[Joshua]

I have seen this age of distraction especially dangerous to the requisite watchcare one has over his own soul. It is very easy to be drawn off from our duties by being sucked into all the "out theres," and -especially grievous- the public chatter about the falls (and sometimes, even, private falls) of others, such that we do not spend the time taking investment of our own hearts. It is so easy, because it takes away the hard work of self-examination, which -if carried out rightly- is often an excruciating work. The direction toward sustained reading of profitable works, especially those from our Puritan fathers, will give much help in directions for duties such as meditation and self-examination.

 

[Pilgrim]

I have called this "The Tyranny of the Now." It is the temptation to be constantly checking social media feeds and similar things to be on top of the latest breaking news or the latest pearl of wisdom from esteemed commentators on the passing scene, whether secular or religious.

 

[Pilgrim]

I see that someone else may have used this term before I managed to post it, unless I posted it somewhere and don't remember. Ah, now I must spew out every clever thing that pops into my head lest someone else come up with it first! (Now that I've looked some more, I'm not sure if I would have come up with "The Tyranny of Now" before 2010, but I don't think I read it anywhere else first, For what it's worth. I guess it's not really that clever or original.)

But this is where the frequent Puritan teaching of "lawful callings" (or some other modifier of calling) comes into play. Until writing starts paying the bills, I've got a lot more important things at hand. I've recently bought several Puritan books, including John Fox on Redeeming the Time, which appears to be just what the doctor ordered. Maybe I'll get around to reading them without having to deactivate Facebook first or even having to leave the Puritanboard. Hitting "Today's Posts" back in the day, especially when we had a lot more posts, was not much better for redeeming the time than doing basically the same thing on FB or Twitter.

 

[Pilgrim]

Here is yet another use of "Tyranny of Now." Its relation to the phenomenon of "Fake News" is rather obvious.

"People regularly get freaked out by stories than turn out to be false, and by the time the facts are known a good deal of damage (not least to personal relationships) has often already been done — plus, the disappearance of the cause of an emotion doesn’t automatically eliminate the emotion itself. In fact, it often leaves that emotion in search of new justifications for its existence."

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/the-fierce-tyranny-of-now/

Of course, too many of us don't bother to learn whether or not a story is actually true or false. The tendency is to believe what we want to believe if it seems to confirm what we already believe about a person or organization.

 

[johnny]

I was reading this thread but then something else came up in one of the news threads so I'll catch you guys later

 

[Jack K]

I have called this "The Tyranny of the Now."

"Tyranny of the Urgent" was a very popular evangelistic pamphlet back in the 70s and 80s, published by Intervarsity. The pamphlet itself would be rather dated now. But the phrase you use will surely cause some old timers like myself to think of that publication. When I was in college, all my Christian friends had read the pamphlet and many would hand out copies on campus.

The point it made was that we should give due attention to the things of God rather then live distracted by what appears urgent in the world. That point surely holds up today as much as it ever did.

 

[Stephen L Smith]

We live in an age of distraction

http://www.heritagebooks.org/products/-Attending-Upon-God--without-Distraction.html