The second way that our attention is limited is that after focusing on something, we can hold only a small amount of information in our short-term memory. The ability to temporarily store information in our minds is practically a superpower, as it’s what enables us to think about what we’re doing as we’re doing it, whether that involves problem-solving tasks (e.g., carrying over digits when doing arithmetic) or planning for the future (e.g., plotting the best sequence of exercises at the gym). Without this temporary mental scratch pad, we’d be mindlessly reacting to whatever was happening in
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