Rapt

Attention and the Focused Life

By: Winifred Gallagher

Narrated by: Laural Merlington

Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

In Rapt, acclaimed behavioral science writer Winifred Gallagher makes the argument that the quality of your life largely depends on what you choose to pay attention to and how you choose to do it.

Gallagher grapples with provocative questions -- Can we train our focus? What's different about the way creative people pay attention? Why do we often zero in on the wrong factors when making big decisions? -- driving us to reconsider what we think we know about attention.

As suggested by the expression "pay attention," this cognitive currency is a finite resource that we must learn to spend wisely. In Rapt, Gallagher introduces us to a diverse cast of characters -- artists and ranchers, birders and scientists -- who have learned to do just that and whose stories are profound lessons in the art of living the interested life.

No matter what your quotient of wealth, looks, brains, or fame, increasing your satisfaction means focusing more on what really interests you and less on what doesn't. In asserting its groundbreaking thesis -- the wise investment of your attention is the single most important thing you can do to improve your well-being -- Rapt yields fresh insights into the nature of reality and what it means to be fully alive.

©2009 Winifred Gallagher (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

What the heck was that?

I thought this was a book about how to improve your attention. Instead, it was a meandering summary of how to be a better person. When the topic WAS attention, it wasn't concrete. The author made feeble arguments that one SHOULD have focused attention. Anyone listening to this book, however, probably is already convinced of the value of focused attention. There were strange sections on parenting, ADHD drugs, charitable giving, and philosophies of meditation.