{"id":57838,"date":"2016-07-06T17:25:22","date_gmt":"2016-07-06T22:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=57838"},"modified":"2026-10-20T12:41:33","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T17:41:33","slug":"podcast-215-becoming-an-individual-in-an-age-of-distraction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-215-becoming-an-individual-in-an-age-of-distraction\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast #215: Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction"},"content":{"rendered":"

A common complaint of the modern age is the sense of distraction and lack of focus that pervades our lives. We typically blame technology like the internet or smartphones for our inability to concentrate on the task at hand. But my guest today argues that the culture of distraction we face runs much deeper than that and actually began several hundred years ago with the Enlightenment. <\/span><\/p>\n

His name is Matthew Crawford, and he\u2019s the author of Shop Class as Soulcraft<\/em><\/a> as well as his latest book The World Beyond Your Head: On Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction<\/a>. <\/i>Today on the show, Matthew and I discuss the origins of our distracted culture and the deeper implications of lives lived totally inside our own heads. We explore the idea that if we really want to live a life of focus, we need to go beyond just blocking time-wasting sites on our computers and phones. Are you ready to take that journey and discover the world outside your head? You’ll definitely want to tune in to this discussion.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A common complaint of the modern age is the sense of distraction and lack of focus that pervades our lives. We typically blame technology like the internet or smartphones for our inability to concentrate on the task at hand. But my guest today argues that the culture of distraction we face runs much deeper than that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":195785,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[502,156,42388],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-character","category-podcast","category-self-improvement"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/215-538x280.png","medium_large":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/215-768x432.png","aom":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/215-372x230.png","reactor-320":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/215-320x180.png","reactor-640":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/215-640x360.png"},"yoast_head":"\nPodcast: Matthew Crawford & the Age of Distraction | The Art of 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