The Plenitude of Distraction

by Marina van Zuylen

A second look at distraction, extracting untold pleasures from its alleged dangers, defending and celebrating the unfocused life for the small and great wonders it can deliver. This short book takes a second look at distraction, extracting untold pleasures from its alleged dangers, defending and celebrating the unfocused life for the small and great wonders it can deliver. It tracks the paths of writers that built their works around non-linear thinking. Bergson called on distraction to sharpen our perceptions; Proust's greatest epiphany came from stumbling, not walking in a straight line; Nietzsche never trusted a thought that didn't come from perambulation. The wanderings documented in these pages carry none of the stigma of attention deficit. Quite the opposite. In Montaigne's words, there is a marvelous grace in letting thoughts be carried away at the pleasure of the wind. It is time to side with some of the great propagandists of so-called wasted time and cultivate controlled mental mayhem. Come join the ranks of the great hedonists of meandering thought.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

80 pages, Paperback

Published October 23, 2018

About the author

Marina van Zuylen was initially educated in Paris, France.
She received her B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University.
She has taught at Harvard in the Literature Concentration and was Assistant Professor of French in the Department of French at Columbia University. She is now Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Bard College, where she chairs the Literature Program.

Reviews

[La Central · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Tenir el cap ple de pardals no té per què ser negatiu, en contra del que ens han fet creure pares, professors i d'altres poders fàctics. Però una mica de pardals al cap, i relax per l'esperit i l'ànima no van malament, sobretot si volem afrontar tot amb calma. Marina Van Zuylen, filòsofa francesa, ens ensenya, a partir d'exemples reals de filòsofs i escriptors, com és de beneficiós per l'ànima i el cos deixar volar la imaginació i tenir temps per un mateix (fins i tot per avorrir-se) per veure la vida amb altres ulls i afrontar-la bé; sobretot en aquests temps on la quantitat i la velocitat d'informació no ens dóna un respir. Millor prendre-se'l si volem viure bé". Xavi Ceresuela

[Wyatt Reu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful meandering book. Don’t know if I can articulate a clean takeaway but that seems to be part of the point - ha. The book would be notable just for the quality of quotes and the care/art with which Marina engages with them.

[Anne-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot of talk today about the value of attention / focus, but this book argues for distraction as attention's necessary counterpart. "Distraction" here does not mean the kind of distraction you get from the endless apps on your phone; instead, it refers to the sort of unfocused state we can get into when we look out the window, say, and let our minds wander.

Succinct and well-written -- you can read it in an afternoon! And its many quotations will point you to lots of other good books and authors (some ancient, some contemporary).

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do wish more time was spent connecting neuroscience/psychology to the idea of distraction otherwise it's one big ball of BEGGING THE QUESTION (as i feel most discourses relying solely on previous philosophical work becomes)

but

it resonated with me, so.

[Tracy]

A rich reading experience; a rich text loaded with quotes. Van Zuylen argues that distraction is a needed counterpoint to focus, that there is value to be found in "good" distraction -- that the ability to be distracted is inherent to the human experience. 

[erkamdiyorum · Rating 3 out of 5]

---6/10---

güzel keyifli bir kitap. bir günde bitirilecek uzunlukta ama ben uzun uzun okuyamadığım için 3 günde anca bitirebildim. gündelik hayatta gördüğümüz ama anlayamadığımız dikkatimizi dağıtan ne varsa hap bilgi şeklinde vermiş. okurken sıkmıyor ve boşa okumuş hissi yaratmıyor.

---6/10---

[Vicky Garcia Crescia · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautifully written reflections on the wandering of the mind