Search a title or topic

Over 20 million podcasts, powered by 

Player FM logo
Artwork

Content provided by The Deeper Thinking Podcast. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by The Deeper Thinking Podcast or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.
Player FM - Podcast App
Go offline with the Player FM app!

(Re upload) ADHD, Distraction, and the Cost of Losing Connection - The Deeper Thinking Podcast

14:19
 
Share
 

Manage episode 480493908 series 3604075
Content provided by The Deeper Thinking Podcast. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by The Deeper Thinking Podcast or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

ADHD, Distraction, and the Cost of Losing Connection

The Deeper Thinking Podcast

In a world that confuses attention with productivity and presence with performance, what happens to the divergent mind? This episode explores how ADHD—and the forms of thinking it fosters—are often not failed versions of focus, but alternate architectures of care, relation, and creative clarity. We consider what it means to live in an environment that misreads difference, and what is lost when attention is interrupted before it lands.

Divergence is not a disorder to be corrected, but a rhythm to be received. Drawing from Simone Weil’s idea of attention as prayer, bell hooks’s ethic of love as presence, and Søren Kierkegaard’s reflections on inwardness and despair, we reframe ADHD not as a deficit, but a form of perception asking to be understood on its own terms.

Attention, in this episode, is reimagined not as discipline, but as design. And presence—as both architectural and ethical—is the question we return to again and again. Especially when so many minds are asked to become legible before they are allowed to arrive.

Why Listen?

  • What happens when divergence is misread as detachment
  • The philosophy of attention as hospitality, not control
  • How ADHD minds clarify cultural noise and deepen relational care
  • Why presence is a design issue as much as a neurological one

Listen On:

Bibliography

hooks, bell. All About Love: New Visions. New York: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2001.
Kierkegaard, Søren. The Concept of Anxiety. Translated by Reidar Thomte. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981.
Weil, Simone. Gravity and Grace. Translated by Emma Craufurd. London: Routledge, 2002.

ADHD, Attention, and Digital Disruption: Key Statistics Digital Media Use and ADHD Symptoms

  • A 2018 longitudinal study published in JAMA followed 2,587 adolescents aged 15–16 without ADHD symptoms at baseline. It found that higher frequency of digital media use was associated with the emergence of ADHD symptoms over a 24-month period. Specifically, each additional high-frequency digital media activity was linked to a 10% increase in the odds of developing ADHD symptoms. ​

ADHD and Divergent Thinking
  • Research by White and Shah (2006) demonstrated that adults with ADHD scored significantly higher on measures of divergent thinking, particularly in fluency and originality, compared to non-ADHD adults. This suggests that individuals with ADHD may possess enhanced creative abilities in certain contexts. ​

Smartphone Presence and Social Interaction
  • A study conducted by the University of Essex found that the mere presence of a mobile phone during face-to-face conversations can reduce the quality of social interaction. Participants reported lower levels of trust and empathy when a phone was present, even if it was not being used. ​

Adult ADHD Diagnosis Rates
  • According to CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), an estimated 6.0% of adults in the United States have a current diagnosis of ADHD. However, many adults remain undiagnosed, particularly women, due to differences in symptom presentation and social factors. ​

Attention Recovery Post-Interruption
  • In her book Attention Span, psychologist Gloria Mark reports that it takes an average of 25 minutes to return to a task after an interruption. Additionally, people tend to spend an average of just 47 seconds on any screen before shifting their attention. ​

  continue reading

209 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 480493908 series 3604075
Content provided by The Deeper Thinking Podcast. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by The Deeper Thinking Podcast or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

ADHD, Distraction, and the Cost of Losing Connection

The Deeper Thinking Podcast

In a world that confuses attention with productivity and presence with performance, what happens to the divergent mind? This episode explores how ADHD—and the forms of thinking it fosters—are often not failed versions of focus, but alternate architectures of care, relation, and creative clarity. We consider what it means to live in an environment that misreads difference, and what is lost when attention is interrupted before it lands.

Divergence is not a disorder to be corrected, but a rhythm to be received. Drawing from Simone Weil’s idea of attention as prayer, bell hooks’s ethic of love as presence, and Søren Kierkegaard’s reflections on inwardness and despair, we reframe ADHD not as a deficit, but a form of perception asking to be understood on its own terms.

Attention, in this episode, is reimagined not as discipline, but as design. And presence—as both architectural and ethical—is the question we return to again and again. Especially when so many minds are asked to become legible before they are allowed to arrive.

Why Listen?

  • What happens when divergence is misread as detachment
  • The philosophy of attention as hospitality, not control
  • How ADHD minds clarify cultural noise and deepen relational care
  • Why presence is a design issue as much as a neurological one

Listen On:

Bibliography

hooks, bell. All About Love: New Visions. New York: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2001.
Kierkegaard, Søren. The Concept of Anxiety. Translated by Reidar Thomte. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981.
Weil, Simone. Gravity and Grace. Translated by Emma Craufurd. London: Routledge, 2002.

ADHD, Attention, and Digital Disruption: Key Statistics Digital Media Use and ADHD Symptoms

  • A 2018 longitudinal study published in JAMA followed 2,587 adolescents aged 15–16 without ADHD symptoms at baseline. It found that higher frequency of digital media use was associated with the emergence of ADHD symptoms over a 24-month period. Specifically, each additional high-frequency digital media activity was linked to a 10% increase in the odds of developing ADHD symptoms. ​

ADHD and Divergent Thinking
  • Research by White and Shah (2006) demonstrated that adults with ADHD scored significantly higher on measures of divergent thinking, particularly in fluency and originality, compared to non-ADHD adults. This suggests that individuals with ADHD may possess enhanced creative abilities in certain contexts. ​

Smartphone Presence and Social Interaction
  • A study conducted by the University of Essex found that the mere presence of a mobile phone during face-to-face conversations can reduce the quality of social interaction. Participants reported lower levels of trust and empathy when a phone was present, even if it was not being used. ​

Adult ADHD Diagnosis Rates
  • According to CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), an estimated 6.0% of adults in the United States have a current diagnosis of ADHD. However, many adults remain undiagnosed, particularly women, due to differences in symptom presentation and social factors. ​

Attention Recovery Post-Interruption
  • In her book Attention Span, psychologist Gloria Mark reports that it takes an average of 25 minutes to return to a task after an interruption. Additionally, people tend to spend an average of just 47 seconds on any screen before shifting their attention. ​

  continue reading

209 episodes

All episodes

×
 
Loading …

Welcome to Player FM!

Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices.

 

Listen to this show while you explore
Play