Author Casey Schwartz on distraction, stimulants, and her love of paying attention

Are you multi-tasking? Please stop for a moment. We live in distracted times, in the midst of a pandemic. Attention must be paid, to how we interact with people, the natural world, and our ubiquitous devices.

"Why are we so susceptible to all the escape routes our technologies offer us in the first place? What are we fleeing?"

Journalist Casey Schwartz has been aware of issues surrounding attention -- personally and professionally, for many years. Her 2016 New York Times Magazine article "Generation Adderall" told the story of how and why she used prescription stimulants to get through school and start her career. She was far from alone. Many others were suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

In her article, she writes: "In the 1990s, an estimated 3 to 5 percent of school-age American children were believed to have A.D.H.D., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; by 2013, that figure was 11 percent. It continues to rise. And the increase in diagnoses has been followed by an increase in prescriptions. In 1990, 600,000 children were on stimulants, usually Ritalin, an older medication that often had to be taken multiple times a day. By 2013, 3.5 million children were on stimulants, and in many cases, the Ritalin had been replaced by Adderall."

Schwartz expands upon the journey and the findings she considered in her article, in her new book Attention: A Love Story. Her work explores the effect of technology on our attention, what it means for our culture to be so perpetually interrupted, and how other writers approach the subject.

She highlights the benefits of undistracted attention, curiosity, joy, being present in the moment, and the simple act of unmediated observation. She also points toward methods that help minimize our digital dependence. As it happens, being attentive is a skill, not a happy accident.

Casey Schwartz spoke with author and journalist Jessica Bennett via this Town Hall Seattle livestream on April 28. Town Hall’s Event Manager Candace Wilkinson-Davis introduced the conversation.

Please note: This recording contains one unedited word of an adult nature.