Intention

CHAPTER 20Directing the Spotlight

“The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention, over and over again, is the very root of judgment, character, and will.”

—William James

As you read this book, you're doing far more work than you realize. Whether it's fighting your buzzing phone, a chatty child, an overheard conversation, or the persistent gnaw of a recurring thought, you're working to maintain focus. While modern life may leave most of us feeling distracted and scattered, we're doing a much better job of resisting distractions than we give ourselves credit for.

Our ability to filter information is another human superpower. We're constantly exposed to overwhelming amounts of data, both internal and external. Yet our brains are, for the most part, able to execute near-perfect traffic control. Not only do our minds allow us to navigate our environments effectively, but they do so while carrying out endless unconscious functions: maintaining homeostasis, pumping our heart, and digesting our breakfast.

Building a World, One Piece at a Time

When most of us gaze at the words on this page, we're only using about 1–2 degrees of our visual field to gather information.¹ And yet, we have a sense of full visual awareness in most environments.

Our experience of the world comes down to how we direct these slivers of attention. Consider the Buddhist parable of the blind ...