We’re Distracted By Evil Social Media But Sixteen Hundred Years Ago Evil Distraction Was Already A Thing

Here are 6 playful ways to tame your distraction

Claudia Brose
8 min readFeb 3, 2023
Photo by Alessio Zaccaria on Unsplash

Turns out that not only you or I have some issues with concentrating on one thing, even the monks in medieval times already struggled with focusing and paying attention.

The goal for the monks was “clearsighted calm above the chaos,” as the author and associate professor of history at the University of Georgia Jamie Kreiner writes in her book The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell Us About Distraction. Sounds like the same we are aiming for in our modern world. But as opposed to the monks, don’t we have much more to do and to think about?

Actually, the monkey mind was already inhabiting the monks. (Hmm, perhaps that’s where the name comes from?)

(just kidding)

Do you wonder what kind of distractions those monks might have faced? Were they not only sitting around praying, reading, studying, singing, gardening, and preaching? No possessions, no sex, no parties. It sounds like no distractions, doesn’t it? Whereas in our world today, more things are competing for our attention than ever before in human history.

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Claudia Brose

Writer, Event-Creator, Marketing Professional turned Rebel against a rushed world | Japan mad | Cyclist | Get my Newsletter Un-Rush claudiabrose.substack.com