ANALYSIS
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Nov 24, 2024
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As the rhetor develops the argument throughout Stolen Focus, Johann Hari makes several
significant supporting claims to strengthen their central idea that a confluence of social, cultural,
and technological influences have made it more challenging to maintain focus (Broy and Stølen).
At this stage, it may be useful to view each chapter as introducing and developing one key
supporting claim; for instance, Chapter 1 introduces one cause for people today being less
capable of establishing focus on tasks, Chapter 2 a second, Chapter 3 a third, and so on. To build
these supporting claims, the rhetor likely refers to and uses numerous primary and secondary
sources to provide backing and support.Of course, the rhetor has to be selective when they use
information from primary and secondary sources; it's not like the rhetor can directly quote 47
pages from another author's book or copy and paste 13 charts and tables from a government
report into their argument. Most readers would likely stop reading the rhetor's argument and go
buy the other author's book or read the government report. What this highlights is that rhetors
choose what information from sources they use is foregrounded, summarized, referenced, or
completely omitted (Cohort21). Also, it's likely that the rhetor will present their own
interpretation of the source material in a variety of ways.
As academics, we are regularly
expected to provide interpretations and analyses of arguments in primary and secondary sources.
For the Module 3 Essay Assignment, we will explore how one rhetor does this and consider the
implications of this rhetor's use of sources for our own work and writing.
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Johann Hari addresses the key premise in the third chapter of "Stolen Focus," which is
that the widespread use of digital technology has had a significant impact on our capability to
focus (Göke). According to Hari, the constant barrage of messages, emails, and activity across
social media platforms has done a significant amount of damage to our capacities to conduct
genuine work and maintain concentrate (Broy and Stølen). He asserts that the convergence of
social and technical variables is to blame for people's attention wandering in the modern day, and
that the key to resolving the issue is to understand the consequences of these factors
(Karamazov). In this section, Hari draws on a wide variety of references to substantiate his
claims and establish his credibility with the audience (Cohort21).
Working on mentally taxing tasks with as little interruptions as possible is referred to as
"deep work," which is also the name of a book written by Cal Newport (O’Neil). According to
Newport, both productivity and invention need a significant amount of effort (Cohort21). Hari
supports his contention that attention is more important than it has ever been before in this age of
continual digital distraction by referring to the studies conducted by Newport. Hari uses the
research conducted by Cal Newport to back up his assertion that "deep work" is in high demand
in the modern knowledge-based economy (Karamazov). According to what Hari has proposed,
sustained attention is becoming an increasingly scarce commodity in the current environment. In
order to provide support for his arguments, Hari primarily depends on Newport's perspective on
the issue of stolen focus (Göke). On the other hand, Hari does not depend extensively on the
numerous quotations taken from Newport's books (Broy and Stølen). Instead, he condenses the
ideas presented in "Deep Work" by simplifying Newport's words through paraphrase. Hari has
done this on purpose in order to integrate Newport's ideas and beliefs into his own in a seamless
manner (Haupt).
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Nicholas Carr investigates, in his seminal essay titled "The Shallows," how people's
capacity to concentrate and remember information has been affected as a direct result of
extensive usage of the internet (Kleist). Carr contends that the design of the internet, which is
characterised by a high number of diversions and chances for quick clicks, has rewired our brains
to place a higher value on surface reading than on in-depth consideration (Cohort21). Hari cites
research carried out by Carr as evidence to back his assertion that the internet and other advances
in technology have permanently affected the processes that occur in our brains, making it more
difficult to stay focused (Broy and Stølen). Hari places a particular emphasis on Carr's theory
while discussing the ways in which the usage of the internet has impaired our capacity for
abstract thought. This is consistent with the main premise that Hari is arguing for, which is that
the new digital environment is to blame for distraction (Göke). As evidence for his contention
that the architecture of the internet is to blame for our inability to concentrate, Hari refers to
study carried out by Carr. Like Newport, Hari does not summarise the contents of Carr's book in
his own words but rather provides a summary of the book's primary ideas without paraphrasing
large portions of the author's work.
Hari provides support for his claim by referring to the published works of well-known
authors in the disciplines of technology and cognition, such as Cal Newport and Nicholas Carr
(Media). Hari makes the case that the rise of modern technology is a key contributor to the
deterioration of our capacity to concentrate by using both Cal Newport's idea of "deep work" and
Nicholas Carr's research on the impact the internet has had on cognitive processes (Cohort21).
Hari has made the conscious decision to cut down on the amount of times he makes reference to
these works (Kleist). He diverts attention away from the concepts that Newport and Carr have
developed by simplifying and summarising the work that they have done (Göke).
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Any attempt at rhetoric that relies on source material will inevitably exclude some
information because of the limitations of both time and practice (Landon-Murray and Dlugos). In
the third chapter of "Stolen Focus," Jonah Hari claims that the proliferation of digital technology
has made it more difficult to focus, and he cites research conducted by Cal Newport and
Nicholas Carr as evidence. (McKenzie-Edwards) However, Hari fails to take into account the
nuances and competing arguments that are presented in the works of Newport and Carr (Hari).
Even proponents of deep work, such as Cal Newport, acknowledge that it is not an approach that
is good to everyone in every situation. Hari does not delve into either the nuances of Newport's
viewpoints or the potential limitations of those viewpoints (Göke). In the same vein as Nicholas
Carr, he investigates the potential negative consequences on one's mental health associated with
excessive usage of the internet, even as he extols the virtues of increased global contact. In "The
Shallows," Hari does not elaborate on Carr's positives on the internet at any point (Broy and
Stølen). The nuances and opposing viewpoints that were included in the original sources have
been deleted on purpose by Hari (Hari).
Johann Hari, the author of "Stolen Focus," does an excellent job of combining supporting
facts from a variety of publications to effectively back up his thesis, which is that the use of
digital distractions decreases our ability to concentrate (Hari). Hari supports his assertion that the
contemporary technological landscape has drastically affected our cognitive processes and made
it more difficult to sustain focus by citing the theories of Cal Newport and Nicholas Carr. Hari
regularly uses paraphrases and condensed versions of the original text in order to explain his
point in a way that is both succinct and clear without sacrificing consistency. The underlying
information is frequently lost in the process, despite the fact that the purpose of this strategy is to
make things obvious. This chapter demonstrates how writers select, evaluate, and integrate
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information from outside sources into an argument in order to build rapport with their audience
through the rhetor's link to source material. This procedure highlights the significance of source
selection and manipulation in rhetorical writing, as authors navigate the difficult terrain of
crafting persuasive arguments while taking into consideration the requirements and expectations
of their audience. It is crucial for authors and readers alike to have an understanding of how
various types of rhetorical approaches affect the persuadability of an argument.
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Works Cited
Broy, Manfred, and Ketil Stølen. “Specification and Development of Interactive Systems: Focus
on Streams, Interfaces, and Refinement.”
Google Books
, Springer Science & Business
Media, 2012, books.google.com/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=IpnxBwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=stolen+focus&ots=A6VBML1f
Qh&sig=VeuuztMFuqSb9OrUCbvzqIzYiMU. Accessed 8 Nov. 2023.
Cohort21. “Book Review: ‘Stolen Focus’ (Johann Hari) – Garth Nichols.”
Cohort21.com
, 2022,
cohort21.com/garthnichols/leadership/book-review-stolen-focus-johann-hari/. Accessed 8
Nov. 2023.
Göke, Niklas. “Stolen Focus Summary.”
Four Minute Books
, 15 June 2023,
fourminutebooks.com/stolen-focus-summary/. Accessed 8 Nov. 2023.
Hari, Johann. “Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again.”
Next Big Idea Club
, nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/stolen-focus-cant-pay-attention-
think-deeply-bookbite/32067/.
Haupt, Angela. “Review | Our Attention Spans Are Suffering. Maybe There’s a Way to Get Them
Back.”
Washington Post
, 22 Jan. 2022,
www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/01/22/stolen-focus-johann-hari-book/.
Karamazov, Matt. “Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention - and How to Think Deeply
Again, by Johann Hari.”
Stairway to Wisdom
, 3 Oct. 2022,
stairway.highexistence.com/stolen-focus-by-johann-hari/. Accessed 8 Nov. 2023.
Kleist, Virginia Franke. “Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention.”
Journal of Global
Information Technology Management
, vol. 25, no. 3, July 2022, pp. 254–56,
https://doi.org/10.1080/1097198x.2022.2098571. Accessed 7 Dec. 2022.
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Landon-Murray, Michael, and Kevin Dlugos. “Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention - and
How to Think Deeply Again.”
Intelligence and National Security
, Apr. 2022, pp. 1–4,
https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2022.2066164.
McKenzie-Edwards, Emma. “Books: Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention: Doomed to
Scroll.”
British Journal of General Practice
, vol. 73, no. 734, Sept. 2023, pp. 417–18,
https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp23X734877. Accessed 8 Nov. 2023.
Media, Milkyway. “Summary of Johann Hari’s Stolen Focus.”
Google Books
, Milkyway Media,
2022, books.google.com.pk/books?
id=0D5zEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT20&lpg=PT20&dq=stolen+focus&source=bl&ots=55-
6YbFpC9&sig=ACfU3U2lOWJ5Vlqc-
mMyKmfmm35w7TlF9A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiHxIOpuLWCAxUlVvEDHY
WvCrw4HhDoAXoECAIQAw. Accessed 8 Nov. 2023.
O’Neil, Cathy. “Why Can’t We Pay Attention Anymore?”
The New York Times
, 3 Feb. 2022,
www.nytimes.com/2022/02/03/books/review/stolen-focus-johann-hari-the-loop-jacob-
ward.html.
Sinclair, Toby. “Book Summary: Stolen Focus by Johann Hari.”
Toby Sinclair
, 30 Jan. 2022,
www.tobysinclair.com/post/book-summary-stolen-focus-by-johann-hari.