First published in The Hindu, 30 Nov 2025
Even before digital devices fragmented attention spans, teachers exhorted students to “Pay attention.” When I was in school, in the seventies and eighties, teachers would use this phrase, sometimes banging on a desk with a wooden duster, to get our attention. The use of the verb ‘pay’ suggests that we always perceived attention as a scarce resource, not to be frittered away. However, over the last decade, as gadgets made deeper inroads into our everyday lives, there is a growing recognition that our attentions are being parceled and monetized, often leaving individuals distraught and dismayed. Is it possible to regain control of our attention spans?
Attention, like many other psychological phenomena, is hard to define. Even without the tug of social media, we are bombarded by a plethora of sensations, only a fraction of which may be relevant to us in a given moment. Though the term ‘attention’ is used as if it’s a “single entity,” in Altered Traits, Daniel Goleman & Richard Davidson posit that it actually consists of a set of abilities that include selective attention, vigilance, goal focus and meta- awareness.
Paying attention is hard work in the analog world. However, it becomes exponentially harder when we are fed a continuous diet of digital ‘brainrot.’ Social media platforms are designed to lure our flickering attention only to fill our heads time and again with largely banal stuff. An article in The Economist (dated 13 Sept 25) likens this to a form of ‘theft’ because when we direct our attention to our device, it prevents us from engaging in something else, which, in turn, can dampen our productivity. Because attention is controlled by both voluntary and involuntary mechanisms, tech companies take advantage of the latter
to keep us scrolling endlessly.
Two types of ADHD?
In an article in Psyche, three psychiatrists, Paul Kudlow, Karline Treunicht and Elia Abi Jaoud observe that the incidence of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has mushroomed in both children and adults over the past two decades. Further, they argue that the disorder has morphed and the condition is more akin to a spectrum with two extremities that they refer to as Type I and Type II ADHD. As our ability to pay attention is determined by both biological and environmental factors, most of us “fall somewhere between these two poles.”
According to the psychiatrists, Type I ADHD is the “classical form” which typically manifests in early childhood as a “neurodevelopmental condition.” Given appropriate support either in the form of a structured learning environment or stimulant medication, most children with this form of ADHD get better with age.
However, of late, the psychiatrists have been encountering a subset of patients who show a different profile. They don’t necessarily have problems staying focused as children.
However, in their teens or twenties they start exhibiting a lack of focus, impulsivity and disorganization though they weren’t scattered like this earlier. The authors posit that Type II ADHD possibly results from countless hours spent scrolling and swapping screens. Brains then get rewired, predisposing them to continually crave instant gratification. As a result, people find it difficult to engage in tasks that require a slower but deeper and more deliberate form of engagement like reading a book or listening to a lecture.
The psychiatrists add a caveat that most studies regarding digital usage and symptoms of ADHD are correlational. However, the preliminary longitudinal evidence that exists suggests that heavy digital reliance precedes the onset of symptoms of inattention and impulsivity. According to the authors, the most effective treatment might be to curb digital usage to “deliberate windows” of short durations and engage in offline activities that enhance focus.
As early as 1890, William James notes in Principles of Psychology that the skill of repeatedly redirecting a meandering mind is “the very root of judgment, character and will.” Given how consequential attention is, everyone, regardless of whether they show signs of ADHD, can benefit from reducing mindless scrolling .
The writer is visiting faculty at the School of Education, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, and the co-author of Bee-Witched.