Attention

Throughout human history, there has never been a time with less conflicts than present day now. 

Traditional commodities (sugar, flour, water) which we used to wage wars upon are almost given in most countries. Crude oil is debatable but I think you get the line of reasoning.

A new type of commodity is in demand now - Attention. 

With our fundamental Maslow’s hierarchy of need fulfilled and satisfied, the status quo is that whichever party gets a foothold on this commodity first gets an overwhelmingly preferential market share - ultimately a monopoly. 

This rings true when we look at our behaviours, which search engine, social media, brand of tomatoes, or line of cologne we use. Once we are accustomed to a certain way of life, we are almost assured to not deviate from them unless absolute necessary. Think of the last time you switched your toothpaste brand. 

Have you ever came back from a long, exhausting day of work, decided to take a five minute break on Instagram. Only to find yourself still on the bed an hour later? 

I have been there one too many times. 

Companies have been able to manipulate our behaviour by targeting our dopamine feedback loop. The eye catching, vibrant interface with adorable emoticons has managed to strap us to a self perpetuating circuit where our brain signalled this as an enjoyable activity, hence our difficulty in disengaging it. In turn, we spend more time on these virtual platform with no destination in mind as reality appears lacklustre and dull. 

Fortunately, we are sentient beings of the highest level in the animal kingdom. Our ability to pullback and make decisions is what differentiate us from the rest. At least for now!

How do we have more control over our attention in modern times?  Meditation.  “Reading makes a full man, meditation a profound man, discourse a clear man.” – Benjamin Franklin

Meditation, is one form of exercise that could have us take back a piece of our attention. 

Attention is like a muscle. 

Repetitions allow muscle growth and strengthening. 

Think about it as if your 'brain muscle' is working out. 

Close your eyes, focus on your breath. Whenever it wanders, bring it back and focus on your breath.  Muscle memory at work.  Eventually, you strengthen your control over where you cede your attention to.   Childhood has changed completely from just a generation ago. Teachers have observed a gradual loss of ability over students from successive years in comprehending identical content.  Students found it more difficult to analyse Shakespeares play. It is possible to that of shorter attention span. There is this infamous Marshmallow test by Stanford University. 

Essence is.  Children that were able to delay gratification scored higher in SAT later in life, got along better with peers, etc.  The unifying theory is that with meditation, we take back control of our life.  With more control, we are able to delay instant gratification and thus do what matters the most.  Having blabbed for much longer than I intended, I don't pretend to be an expert on meditation. 

Most of the time, I am basically Fry!