Our brains
can’t process all the stimuli to which we are exposed. It selects to be more strongly aware of some
stimuli that seem important and to suppresses awareness of others. It is like a
spotlight that illuminates every detail of an actor and the scenery immediately
next to him, but leaves the rest of the stage in twilight or even completed
darkness. This process is attention.
Our experience of life is what we pay attention to. This is the thesis
of Winifred
Gallagher’s book Rapt. We may not
always be happy,
be can nearly always be focused and choose to pay attention to what brings us peace, joy, and a sense of meaning in the
moment.
We have two types of attention. Gallagher calls the first “bottom up”
attention. This is the our instinctive attention to things in our environment
that are novel, potentially dangerous, or a potential opportunity.
Top down attention is intentional focus on what we
choose. Our intentional focus can be very powerful, drilling into our target
while leaving us unaware of things that might otherwise seem obvious. Gallagher
recounts a humorous
experiment in which subjects were asked to watch for a certain activity on a video.
The subjects completely missed a man in a gorilla suit dancing around in the
video because their top down attention was so intensely trained on the task
they were instructed to pursue.
In the same manner that attention raises or lowers awareness of
physical stimuli, it adjusts awareness of our own thoughts and feelings. Bottom
up attention tends to focus on the most and least pleasant feelings, our highs
and lows. Our top down attention can focus on any thought of feeling we want.
In turn, our thoughts and feelings affect our attention. When we are
negative, our focus narrows to take in just a little. Feeling bad make our
problem seem like the only thing in the world. Positive thoughts and feeling
expands our attention, allowing us to take in more information. It switches us
to mental broadband that allows us to be aware of more of our world both inside
and out.
Attention is important to every aspect of life. Relationships
are inherently paying attention to others. Intimacy in relationships is built
on building common, positive experiences from paying attention to the same
thing and to each other. Success requires intense, long-term attention to our goals. Fulfillment
arises from taking on just-manageable challenges that hold our attention. Creativity
involves a calm mindfulness that does not so much capture an idea as allow it
to unfold in our awareness. Motivation
comes from sorting out the competing voices in our mind and listening to the
ones that advocate for our goals.
Our attentional style is shaped both by our genes and our culture. A
significant part of what and how we pay attention is learned. Because of this,
we can learn new ways of attending and direct our focus in new directions. If
we learn to pay attention to positive emotions and opportunities for positive
action, we can change our experience of life to have more peace, joy, and
fulfillment.
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