How We Focus

In this article at Quanta, Jordana Cepelewicz describes research done into the brain that suggests a different idea about how we concentrate on something when we are trying to pay attention to it.

One model for the processes by which the brain pays attention to something has been the idea that it sort of shines a spotlight on whatever matter is under consideration. But, Cepelewicz says, researchers have discovered that a more accurate description of brain activity during this time might be more along the lines of screening out distractions rather than illuminating the target subject or idea. That sounds pretty plausible, since almost all of us have had the experience in which we turn the car radio down when we search for a new street or particular house number. We don't really see any better when the audio input is reduced, but we do have fewer distractions and we are more likely to see the sought-after locator.

This could also explain more than 95 percent of the air that comes out of the mouths of politicians, government workers and bureaucrats. Since they often very much wish that we would not know what they're doing -- or that they're not really doing anything -- they will say many things, often forcefully, which our brain has to sort through in order to find the one that matters. When they throw enough verbiage into the air, we don't figure out how badly they screwed up or failed until long after it's too late to take any reasonable action about it.