Johann Hari on the Global Attention Crisis (Thought Economics)
In this long-form written interview conducted by Dr. Vikas Shah for the ideas outlet Thought Economics, Hari walks through the twelve factors Stolen Focus links to declining attention — among them what he describes as the increasing physical and psychological confinement of children's daily lives, alongside platform design, exhaustion, and diet. He discusses how algorithmic feeds are built, in his view, to exploit attention rather than serve it, and argues the fix has to include changed incentives for technology companies and workplaces, not just individual coping strategies. TechKids Foundation includes this interview because it is one of the more detailed public explanations Hari has given of how he connects children's shrinking freedom of movement and unsupervised time to the same forces driving compulsive screen use.
Hari, Johann, interviewed by Vikas Shah. "Johann Hari on the Global Attention Crisis." Thought Economics, April 23, 2022.