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How to Survive the Age of Distraction

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How to Survive the Age of Distraction
Nichole Avalos
English 101
Mon & Wed 11:55
Agree or Disagree

When it comes to Johann Hari’s article, “How to Survive the Age of Distraction,” most of us will readily agree that the 20th century is very different to the 21st century. In the 20th century, books were very important and majority of the population would have their faces in books and not in electronic devices, but in today’s society, everywhere one goes one will always see a person on their cell phones, iPads, or kindles. On all the new technology, one will always get distracted with what he/she is supposed to be focused on because of all the apps created in these modern day technologies for example Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, but when having just a book, one will only be focused on that book. Books are very helpful for many people by developing one’s mind. Books are very important because they help pass time, helps write and think better, and help ones imagination. Hari states, “A book gives the capacity for deep, linear concentration. As Ulin puts: ‘Reading is an act of resistance in a landscape of distraction… it requires us to pace ourselves. It returns us to a reckoning with time. In the midst of a book, we have the choice but to be patient, to take each thing in its moment, to let the narrative prevail. We regain the world by withdrawing from it just a little, by stepping back from the noise,’” which is a very good reason why people should put their electronic devices aside and free themselves from the drama in today’s world which is kind of hard to do now. Very disappointing, I must say.
A book is becoming very hard to read because a person can no longer stay focused to a paperback item. Why? The reason is because the book is “being chewed by the e-book” stated by Hari. I agree because on a kindle, I can read a book without having to hold a thick item; but it’s hard due to all the other applications that the kindle maintains which is changing humanity. With some of the apps,



Cited: Hari, Johann. “How to Survive the Age of Distraction.” The Independent. The Independent, 24 June 2011. Web. 16 Jan. 2013

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