The Attention Trap

We built a world that breaks attention — and then blamed the students.

There’s mounting evidence: screen time, social media, mobile devices, and dopamine-rich algorithms are eroding attention spans and cognitive function in students. But to what end?

In The Honest Broker, Ted Gioia calls out something disturbing, the rise of a “Zombie Class” — a student cohort that is disengaged, addicted, unable to think deeply or learn meaningfully. This feedback is coming from teachers who speak of a class that can’t focus and can’t wait to return to their devices. Numerous studies reinforce this observation and how it actually leads to cognitive decline.

But the problem isn’t the students. It’s the system they’ve been consigned into.

It’s the tools we give them. It’s that we’ve trained them to scroll. We engineered their environment for distraction, and now act surprised they can’t focus.

They're not lazy or apathetic. They’re exhausted. Locked out by design.

The real issue is a broken interface. Learning isn’t failing because students have stopped caring. It’s failing because the world we built makes deep thought almost impossible.

What this actually boils down to is a battle for attention, and we all know we only have a finite amount of that. The attention economy is what the platforms have created, and time is what they are all vying for, attention equals dollars, at whatever cost.

And that’s why we live in an intermediated world. This is less of a problem if you are older and not desperately in need of learning inputs, amassing the skills of critical thinking - the things schooling teaches. 

A Financial Times report shows how multitasking and divided attention are dismantling cognition. By contrast, a University of Texas study found that going offline for just two weeks can reverse cognitive decline by a full decade. Imagine that?

So what.

Well, it's clear as day. If the system isn’t working, maybe it’s time to rebuild the interface.

We need to keep kids as young as two off devices.  We need to discourage students from using AI like ChatGPT for writing assignments, solving mathematical problems, and cribbing their readings. We need to place greater pressure on the tech companies to do better, design better, and nurture minds and critical thought. 

We need to stop using technology to remove friction from attention - friction in attention is good because it forces critical thought, and encourages engagement, discourse, and real connection.