William James, the founder of psychiatry, wrote, “My experience is what I agree to attend to. Only those items which I notice shape my mind.” Our thoughts really do determine our lives. Tech writer Tim Wu, reflecting on James’s insight, observes that religion has always understood that directing human attention toward what is holy is supremely important. This is why medieval Christendom was filled with prayers, rituals, fasts, and feasts: to keep life, both public and private, ordered around things divine.
