How to Rebuild an Attention Span (2013) | Hacker News Reader

How to Rebuild an Attention Span (2013)

theatlantic.com

117 pointsjuanplusjuan45 comments

There is a millennium-old game "that works", which is called "meditation". There are many versions, some nonsensical (tantric) and some not (so-called Raja Yoga, Zendo, etc).

See also: "playing a musical instrument".

I suspect "reading an actual paper book" would also qualify.

Are there any Youtube videos that will walk me through how to read an actual book? it's been so long... I don't know if I'll remember how to do it without some internet star to show me the way.

There you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ

Maybe, but you can certainly find someone on twitch streaming themselves reading a book. You can follow them and tip them accordingly.

While I think reading is great for attention, you shouldn't write off meditation. The controlled breathing involved has been shown to be particularly good for stress reduction and improved vegal tone!

You are right. After a 10 days course of Vipassana my focus and attention span greatly improved. But you need to keep practicing. I kept practicing for about a month then I stopped. After stopping, slowly I acquired again the old habit of getting easily distracted. I need to take that (free) course again.

What free course was that?

I liked this article: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9677305

OP: And where do you live?

My guess is that it was one of courses taught by S.N. Goenka.

https://www.dhamma.org/en-US/index

Please note that there are strong feelings about the way that his courses are taught (both positive and negative). I encourage you to investigate fully before committing. That said, many people have found his 10-day course to be very useful (I haven't participated in it).

One final side note, there are other groups that offer vipassana retreats, and they're usually in the $1500 range for a 10-day retreat.

This is the course I attended: https://www.dhamma.org/en-US/courses/search . It may be difficult at first but it's definitely worth it

Thanks!

I don't known what else can be said in a Meditation course, all I known about it is you sit comfortably, you set a timer for at least 8 minutes or indefinitely, you concentrate in your breathing without controlling it, and any thought that arise in your mind you despise it just like a bad pop up ad.

Meditation should be our main activity every day, is the basic activity for well being, so its not surprise that it has been labeled by the media as something from a different religion or for weird people, it should be taught just like brushing our teeth.

>what else can be said in a Meditation course

A lot. Dharma talks can really accelerate progress and keep you from going down dead end paths.

Also, as simple as meditation is some basic instruction is helpful. Many times the instructions are needed just to explain how simple it is because it's easy to try and over complicate it.

Maybe they should show that clip from The Matrix where Neo keeps failing in martial arts and Morpheus simply says "Again."

There are a lot of free resources about meditation online. You can search on youtube for dharma talks or guided meditations.

A lot of monks publish free resources online as well:

A pdf on the basic method of meditation from Ajahn Brahm: http://www.dhammaloka.org.au/files/pdf/Ajahn%20Brahm%20-%20T... is a good place to start.

Also one thing that is taught in a meditation class is to not judge or despise the thoughts that arise, just notice them and let them pass.

For me, doing zazen (mindfulness-like meditation in the Zen tradition), simple written instructions and even the very best books were not enough. I needed a teacher to help me through some obstacles to meditation.

Meditation does not exercise the brain by deliberately pushing cognitive tasks on it.

What about mindfulness? it is by far the most well known form of meditation among the general population.

Your comment is like writing, "Why not code everything in C?" on a Haskell post.

That explains why it's the top voted post.

My short attention span prevented me to read this article... It seems I crossed the no-return point, I am hopeless.

Ironically, it isn't helped by the modals popping up asking me to subscribe.

"Can you subscribe?" "Should you subscribe?" "You ought to subscribe."

I've heard of a similar game, names "passionate software engineer [in a small team]".

> “It’s the first real attempt to meaningfully harness the power of games in a dedicated cognitive enhancement tool,” commented C. Shawn Green, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and experts on brain training

This statement is an exaggeration. Games based on N-Back and Dual N-Back were first introduced in 1958 and 2003, depending on how you count.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-back

Would love to try if the game was in any way available. Are there similar options out there?

I found this info: http://gazzaleylab.ucsf.edu/neuroscience-projects/neuroracer...

> A company Adam Gazzaley co-founded, Akili Interactive Labs (http://www.akiliinteractive.com/), is now developing a clinical product in the form of a mobile video game (“Project: EVO”) that is based on the technology behind NeuroRacer. The company is currently running clinical trials which will validate the utility of the new game for use in specific populations. Until those trials are complete, the game will not be available to the general public. We suggest that you go to the Akili website for further news or additional inquiries.

That leads me here: http://www.brain.akiliinteractive.com/. A game has not yet been released but is available in some form for clinical trial.

Thanks :) I also found that, which was a bit disappointing, but maybe they come out with something soon.

I found "dual n-back" while looking around, which (controversially) claims some "fluid" and working intelligence boosting - I'll give that a try. It's over here: http://brainworkshop.sourceforge.net/

IIRC, gwern dabbles in dual n-back, and I think he's got some decent stuff written up about it. Worth taking a look for anyway.

Yeah, I was wondering the same. Since NeuroRacer doesn't seem to be available, are there any other good games «to promote “interference-resisting abilities”»?

I found dual n-back while looking around - http://brainworkshop.sourceforge.net/ - which claims working memory and fluid intelligence improvements.

I will try it, thanks

I use the Lumosity app (http://www.lumosity.com/) daily, which is marketed as a bundle of brain training games.

While I have made marked improvement in the games in the app, after reading the article I'm wondering if this is what the author is referring to as "lightly dressed-up versions of classic psychology paradigms"

In my experience I haven't noticed any of the illusive "transfer" of skills that NeuroRacer is designed to produce. So for now I will continue to use the app daily with a healthy amount of skepticism.

It's also interesting to listen to the episode of The Tim Ferriss Show [1] where T. F. and Adam Gazzaley talk about this topic - how to enhance cognitive functions via games etc.

[1] http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/06/22/adam-gazzaley/

So.. Where can I play that game?

This is stupid, I know, but I recommend playing one of those boring looking simulator games.

Focus for one hour doing nothing but driving a train from point A to point B. Fly a plane around. Plough a field. Very zen.

anyone up for some Desert Bus? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_%26_Teller%27s_Smoke_and_...

One of my favorite books on the subject is Shunryu Suzuki's "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_Mind,_Beginner%27s_Mind).

The game itself sounds almost exactly like the new version of Outrun, or perhaps Afterburner Climax. Good news!

I was thinking RoadBlasters, myself. When "cars" appear on the screen, you "shoot" them while driving.

So I need to break out my old Simon?

tl;dr

I sent this one straight to my Instapaper reading list. I'm sure I'll get to it eventually.

can't upvote enough... short attention span is the productivity killer of our times.

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