Understanding global, national and local issues in relation to attention

  • Understanding global, national and local issues in relation to attention

    Posted by Don Salmon on September 10, 2022 at 2:10 pm

    I just found this discussion. I very much hope that others join in. I would suggest, though, having been involved with this channel for awhile, that perhaps we’re taking for granted that we undrestand the different forms of attention. I’m going to start a separate group that will involve “getting back to basics” with regard to understanding attention.

    I’m particularly interested in practice, so I’m going to focus on HOW we shift from one mode of attention to another.

    Meanwhile, I’d love to join in if others are interested in seeing how this relates to global, national and local issues.

    Don Salmon replied 1 year, 8 months ago 2 Members · 2 Replies
  • 2 Replies
  • John Ehrenfeld

    Member
    December 13, 2022 at 4:42 pm

    It’s not only attention, but the entire divided-brain-model that is very relevant to “politics.” My book,The Right Way to Flourish: Reconnecting with the Real World is devoted to exploring the links between the brain and the state of the world; but through the lens of Iain’s work. I have been blogging for quite a while, but added many posted during the last US election cycle linking politics and the brain. They are too long to copy and paste here, but you can see a couple of examples by pasting these links into your browser (I don’t know how to make them active links.).

    https://www.johnehrenfeld.com/the-election-nobody-won/
    https://www.johnehrenfeld.com/brainwashed-nation/
    https://www.johnehrenfeld.com/lying-the-left-brain-and-the-president/

    I have also been trying to get this stuff into the oped pages of US media, but no luck so far. They are not ready to deal with this topic. I hope that those who have signed on to this group will get active in spreading the word that the divided-brain-model is very, very important in understanding what is happening in our political worlds and offers a way around the stumbling blocks created by the current way we think about thinking.

  • Don Salmon

    Member
    February 19, 2023 at 3:19 pm

    Hi John,

    I read your articles; all very interesting. Could we perhaps take one particular event (smaller scale than an entire issue -just a particular event) and explore it from your perspective? I’d like to understand better how you’re approaching it.

    I’ll suggest one, but feel free to take any. There’s been articles recently (early 2023) on how teens are becoming more and more depressed, lonely and anxious. How does understanding attention shed light on this?

    I’m still using the word attention, following Iain’s own statement that it is the essence of the difference between the way each hemisphere approaches the world. If you’d prefer to speak of the divided brain, that’s fine as well.

    Looking forward to learning more from you.

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