An enjoyable, insightful book that I never finished. Sometimes that happens with me and non-fic; I stop and set aside the book when something really clobbers me so I can ruminate and classy stuff like that. I'll either have to recheck it out from the library or buy it, I s'pose.

I like that the author is not a dooms-dayer; I'm sick of all these negative books--it's like everything's going to kill you, or kill your kids, or kill your country. Richard Watson approaches this material in an intelligent yet lighthearted way. He has a reasonable style that is fun and easy to engage with. He's sure not saying everyone should go home and burn their computers and cell phones to evict the techno demons, but calmly tells us why it's important to clear out some space for our minds so they can work better for us, and then has suggestions on how to actually declutter a bit. Refreshing!

My favorite part was when he goes into how, why, and when our brains do their best creative work and problem solving. He includes convincing studies to back this up (real science, yay!), and also conducted a survey asking smart and creative people what activities they are typically engaged in when they get their best insights. Some of the most common answers included showering, taking a walk, reading a book, just before falling asleep or just before waking up, among others. Hey, I do all those things. It's probably not coincidental that these are the times when we're not actively engaged in anything heavy, but kind of daydreaming. Turns out our teachers were WRONG (so kiss it, every elementary teacher I ever had), and you should let kids (and adults) daydream; it's good for us, and good for our brains.

It's a no-brainer that we need to disengage some from our devices in small ways, like driving in silence at times or taking a walk sans phone. Just making time to do something dreamy, like doodling or doing a puzzle is good for you. Turns out that sometimes the best way to figure out a troublesome problem is to stop thinking so hard about it and let that beautiful subconscious do what it does best.

The thing that got me putting the book down to think was the research that seems to say the way we learn and the patterns of our thought processes are actually changing due to our
rapidfire technology and connectedness. The place in the brain where deep memories are made and kept, and where deep creativity and problem-solving occur aren't as active when we over-connect, although our ability to think rapidly on our feet improves. Interesting food for thought.