Numb: How the Information Age Dulls Our Senses and How We Can Get them Back

by Charles R. Chaffin

Discover how to manage this noisy world without it managing you. In Numb , distinguished author Dr. Charles R. Chaffin delivers a fun and evidence-based exploration of how you can devote more attention on what you believe is important while ignoring the distractions that increasingly permeate your life. Using research from cognitive, education, positive, and clinical psychology, the book identifies the sources of noise and distraction in this information age and how we can manage it in all aspects of our lives. You'll learn Perfect for anyone interested in the expanding impact of the information age on our collective psyche, ; Numb helps empower you to use technology and information not as a destination, but as a tool towards authenticity and empowerment.

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

Published June 16, 2021

Reviews

[Stephen Mullins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some good explanations for how modern technology use has become too much of a good thing for us, as well as where the incentives aren't aligned between what's best for a user/consumer versus the technology company that ultimately needs to earn revenue.

All that said though, there's 20 chapters about difference facets of "going numb" and only one chapter about "regaining feeling." This imbalance was really disappointing to me, as one could sum up the totality of the solutions and strategies in this book to simply be:
- moderation is key
- be more thoughtful of your technology usage

I've found other authors such as Cal Newport or even James Clear to have been more effective in presenting real sets of actions to take to improve your life. Maybe it's because I read this book after having read others...there just wasn't anything particularly novel in it, though I appreciate the author's efforts in writing this book. Maybe some nuggets will stick with me, we'll see.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was well organized and had great information, however I thought the writing could have been a bit better. I didn't find myself wanting to jump back in as the book read like a text book to a degree and the page breaks weren't there so I never knew when to pause if needed. Anyway great information and got me thinking