The truth about the attention crisis with historian Daniel Immerwahr

In the age of social media and short-form content, many people insist that our attention spans are getting shorter. But historian Daniel Immerwahr reminds us that people have cried wolf for centuries about technology hijacking our attention. In this episode, Adam and Daniel dive into evidence that what’s changing is not our attention spans, but the objects of our focus. They also discuss moral panics of the past, compare the cognitive benefits of video games and the opera, and debate whether or not Marvel movies are a waste of time. Follow Host: Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: adamgrant.net/) Guest: Daniel Immerwahr (Website: history.northwestern.edu/people/faculty/core-faculty/daniel-immerwahr.html)  Links How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Subscribe to TED  Instagram: @ted YouTube: @TED TikTok: @tedtoks LinkedIn: @ted-conferences Website: ted.com Podcasts: ted.com/podcasts For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.com/ideasearch Interested in learning more about upcoming TED events? Follow these links: TEDSports: ted.com/sports TEDAI Vienna: ted.com/ai-vienna TEDAI San Francisco: ted.com/ai-sf Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.