Attention Pollution

[haptalaon]

I read an article last week on phone distraction stuff - I didn't save it, I have many of them already and it wasn't the best - but I can't stop thinking about the term attention pollution. The author's angle identifies other people as part of the problem. It only takes one person to whip their phone out, to trigger the space, and to pollute the attention of others there - to draw awareness away from the present moment. & that sputtering "should I be checking my phone now? what about now?" attention drain is part of why they're a problem, and it's worsened whenever someone gets theirs out reminding you of yours. That's going to be an unpopular take, but I vibe with it. I can't tell you how impacted I am by my partner's phone use, because he's just sort of...absent...for most of the day.

I guess it's a bit like - your event only needs one smoker and it's a smoking event; or, you only need one person in your area to be driving and your area sounds like cars now.