Cal Newport

The Original Attention Crisis

The essay on 17th‑century scholar Nicolaus Steno reveals that the printing press created an early information overload, prompting the development of note‑taking systems and disciplined attention‑management techniques. Steno’s method—focusing on a single theme, blocking mornings for deep reading, and avoiding “harmful hastening”—prefigures today’s slow productivity, deep work, and time‑blocking practices. The article also contrasts this historic lesson with contemporary AI‑related panic, noting a recent viral essay that briefly pulled down the S&P 500 before economists warned against exaggerated job‑loss forecasts. Together, the pieces argue for measured focus over hype‑driven anxiety.