Name: 集中できない理由 (Why it's so Hard to Focus)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T11:04:28.000Z
Duration: 11 min 14 s
Description: VoiceTubeの動画で発音を聞きながら英語表現を覚えよう！学べる英語：

程度の副詞

If you've ever watched a great play, you know the feeling of being totally immersed in an experience.

The lights, costumes, music, and set are all designed to capture and hold your attention.

様態の副詞

Every actor knows their role inside-out and is appropriately familiar with the roles of everyone else in the cast.

A cast is a collection of individual actors and the stage is the physical medium that unites them.

This makes a show the emergent result of combining actors with a stage.

In a well-executed play, there is a beautiful harmony within the actors, between the actors, and between the actors and the stage.

This harmonious set of interactions is what captures our attention.

William Shakespeare wrote these famous words in his play "As You Like It",

"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts."

I hope to show that this metaphor is not only powerful but, perhaps, even true —

by using it as a framework to understand our capacity to focus.

You are an actor, the world is a stage, and a perfect show is the result of highly focused attention.

Therefore, we should not strive to be attentive but, rather, we should strive to put on a perfect show.

It is paramount, then, that we know our roles, seek the right show, and set the stage appropriately.

An actor without a role will not star in a show

an actor who doesn't know their role  well is doomed to put on a terrible show.

Therefore, it's important that actors know their roles.

Before an actor can find the right show to be a part of, they need to understand themselves.

Everyone is born with a set of intrinsic desires and talents which are unique to them.

When they act on these desires, they build up a fountain of knowledge which helps them obtain what's pleasurable and avoid what causes suffering.

As a result, everything in the world becomes imbued with meaning.

This meaning need not have a cosmic significance.

When you look at a cup, you don't see it in terms of its material structure.

In other words, you don't say that it's a cylindrical glass object.

Rather, you see it in terms of its function: a carrier of liquid pleasure.

But, if you're enjoying a cocktail in a bar and someone threatens to fight you, your

role changes from that of a customer to that of a fighter.

As your role changes, the meaning you assign to the world changes, and the glass goes from

a carrier of liquid pleasure to a weapon to avoid suffering.

In a very real sense, the roles we select structure how we perceive the world.

Imagine that I put a box of pencil crayons in front of you and told you to find the one

If you choose to accept this task, the way you perceive your environment literally changes.

You start to ignore most sensory data and selectively discard information that does

not align with your goal: finding the red pencil crayon.

I asked you to take part in the show of finding the color red, and for you to play the protagonist

This newfound role imbued your world with instantaneous meaning which helped you mentally

structure your environment, so you knew what could be ignored and what could not.

Having a purpose, or knowing your role as an actor, helps you mentally structure your

This purpose-driven focus is referred to as a top-down function.

Top-down attention is knowledge-driven [1].

When you use your mind to find something in the environment, you're using top-down attention

This self-constructed role I am telling you about is an existentialist idea [3].

The Existentialists believed in the idea that our existence preceded our essence.

In other words, we aren't born with any meaning but, rather, we construct it.

Your purpose is constructed based on the relationship between your natural desires and the environment

But, if you don't want to create your own role as an actor, the world is happy to assign

We live in a world that is constantly asking you to take part in their own shows and setting

While driving, you'll notice billboards lined along the road.

Every business owner wants you to take on the role of their customer.

When you go to YouTube, every YouTube channel wants you to take on the role of their viewer.

The billboard owner sets the stage by making the billboard as attractive as possible — just

Everyone is giving you a possible meaning to try out and it's up to you to decide

Facebook and Instagram scream that meaning is found in the pleasure you get from interacting

YouTube screams that meaning is found in education, inspiration, or entertainment.

The car dealership screams that meaning is found in status or material goods.

Whether it's video games, social media, or an interesting conversation, good distractions

They easily offer you a role that imbues your world with meaning and lets you feel a sense

An actor who knows their role may see these activities as simple distractions.

They'll discard pieces of information if it doesn't align with the show they are

An actor who does not know their role, and play it well, will always be stuck playing

Facebook is designed to be distracting and it is, but only insofar as you lack a greater

Once you know your role as an actor, it's easier to choose which shows you want to play

If it's a one-man show, such as studying by yourself for a test, things are really

But if the show requires multiple people, it's important to choose a cast that you

For example, if you're an engineer who wants to positively impact the world, you may join

a start-up of other engineers who are all working together to build environmentally-friendly

Each individual engineer may have joined the company for slightly different reasons, but

their reasons harmonize well with each other and with the grand reason of producing environmentally-friendly

Once you know your role and choose a show, it's time to set the stage.

When a stage is being designed, every detail must be thought of and revised to ensure that

it captures the attention of all audience members.

When actors are performing live, they want to make sure that the entire audience forgets

about whatever is going on in their lives and just enjoying the moment.

They want to make it hard for you to think about anything other than the show.

The lights, the music, the choreography, and the outfits are all designed in support of

In other words, the actors want to drive attention from the bottom-up.

Bottom-up attention is stimulus-driven [1].