Finally, the environment must support the will. Herbert Simon warned in 1971 that “a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” Today’s feeds are engineered to monetize your gaze. Counter by redesigning defaults: log out after each use, move social apps off the home screen, and browse via a grayscale, low‑dopamine phone mode. Schedule email windows and protect a daily focus block as you would a medical appointment.
Cal Newport’s Deep Work (2016) frames this as cultivating rarity: concentration becomes a competitive advantage and a human one. By budgeting attention like a scarce resource, you enact Marcus’s wisdom in modern terms—own the spotlight, and you own the stage. [...]
