--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: we are “training our brains to pay…" description: "\"“we are “training our brains to pay attention to the crap.”\" — Nicholas Carr" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/nicholas-carr-4579_focus_we-are-training-our-brains-to-pay-attent_1367345.jpg" --- # we are “training our brains to pay attention to the crap. ![“we are “training our brains to pay attention to the crap.” quote by Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/nicholas-carr-4579_focus_we-are-training-our-brains-to-pay-attent_1367345.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/nicholas-carr-4579_focus_we-are-training-our-brains-to-pay-attent_1367345.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/nicholas-carr-4579_focus_we-are-training-our-brains-to-pay-attent_1367345.jpg) > ““we are “training our brains to pay attention to the crap.”” [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our brains become conditioned to focus on trivial, low‑value information, reducing attention quality. **In simple terms:** We train ourselves to notice junk. Key Takeaway Cultivate selective attention. Themes attention media consumption cognitive habits Mood critical analytical Type advice observational When to use this quote - social media scrolling - news overload - advertising - education Key Concepts neuroscience digital culture Questions to Reflect On - What habits help you filter noise? - How can you improve focus on meaningful content? A Different Perspective Balancing information intake can be challenging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Attention Crap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention-crap-4698219/) [Focus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/focus/) [Pay attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay-attention/) [Training](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/training/) [Training Brains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/training-brains-942653/) ## Related quotes > [“As we multitask online, he says, we are “training our brains to pay attention to the crap.” The consequences for our intellectual lives may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/as-we-multitask-online-he-says-we-are-training-our-brains-to-pay/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [If you pay attention, stand-up can be great improv training ground. But one of the things that helped me the most was doing warm-up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-tompkins/if-you-pay-attention-stand-up-can-be-great-improv-training-ground-but/) [Paul F. Tompkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-tompkins/) > [Attention is a limited resource, so pay attention to where you pay attention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-rheingold/attention-is-a-limited-resource-so-pay-attention-to-where-you-pay/) [Howard Rheingold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-rheingold/) > [It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/it-means-being-conscious-and-aware-enough-to-choose-what-you-pay/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“Show up. Pay attention. Tell the truth. Let go.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-sue-morter/show-up-pay-attention-tell-the-truth-let-go/) [Dr. Sue Morter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-sue-morter/) > [There is meaning in all things. But are you paying attention?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmin-mogahed/there-is-meaning-in-all-things-but-are-you-paying-attention/) [Yasmin Mogahed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmin-mogahed/) > [Paying attention and awareness are universal capacities of human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/paying-attention-and-awareness-are-universal-capacities-of-human/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [Mindfulness means moment-to-moment, non-judgmental awareness. It is cultivated by refining our capacity to pay attention, intentionally, in the present moment, and then sustaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/mindfulness-means-moment-to-moment-non-judgmental-awareness-it-is/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) > [Pay attention to the beauty surrounding you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/pay-attention-to-the-beauty-surrounding-you/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [I think in any writing you're paying attention to detail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/i-think-in-any-writing-you-re-paying-attention-to-detail/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [Pay attention to the sound of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-farland/pay-attention-to-the-sound-of-words/) [David Farland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-farland/) > [The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improve on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-secret-is-here-in-the-present-if-you-pay-attention-to-the-present/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Pay no attention to the less courageous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-genn/pay-no-attention-to-the-less-courageous/) [Sara Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-genn/) > [Why couldn't Jesus command us to obsess over everything, to try to control and manipulate people, to try not to breathe at all, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/why-couldn-t-jesus-command-us-to-obsess-over-everything-to-try-to/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [ I went to a mosque in Philadelphia with \[my wife\] in December 24, 1999. And we we went to this mosque in Philly, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/i-went-to-a-mosque-in-philadelphia-with-my-wife-in-december-24-1999/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) ## More by Nicholas Carr > [“For the last five centuries, ever since Gutenberg's printing press made book reading a popular pursuit, the linear, literary mind has been at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/for-the-last-five-centuries-ever-since-gutenberg-s-printing-press/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [“In programming the World Wide Computer, we will be programming our lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/in-programming-the-world-wide-computer-we-will-be-programming-our/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [“What we’re experiencing is, in a metaphorical sense, a reversal of the early trajectory of civilization: we are evolving from being cultivators of personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/what-we-re-experiencing-is-in-a-metaphorical-sense-a-reversal-of-the/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [“As long as algorithms determine the distribution of profits, they will also determine what gets published. The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/as-long-as-algorithms-determine-the-distribution-of-profits-they-will/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [“those with the helpful software were found “to aimlessly click around” as they tried to crack the puzzle.27”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/those-with-the-helpful-software-were-found-to-aimlessly-click-around/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [“Our brains turn into simple signal-processing units, quickly shepherding information into consciousness and then back out again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/our-brains-turn-into-simple-signal-processing-units-quickly/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [“What is different, and troubling, is that skimming is becoming our dominant mode of reading. Once a means to an end, a way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/what-is-different-and-troubling-is-that-skimming-is-becoming-our/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [“They failed to appreciate how the network would funnel the energies of the people into a centrally administered, tightly monitored information system organized to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/they-failed-to-appreciate-how-the-network-would-funnel-the-energies/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [“In the long run, the IT department is unlikely to survive, at least not in its familiar form.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/in-the-long-run-the-it-department-is-unlikely-to-survive-at-least-not/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [“Personal memory shapes and sustains the “collective memory” that underpins culture.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/personal-memory-shapes-and-sustains-the-collective-memory-that/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [“The near-continuous stream of new information pumped out by the Web also plays to our natural tendency to “vastly overvalue what happens to us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/the-near-continuous-stream-of-new-information-pumped-out-by-the-web/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [“The strip-mining of “relevant content” replaces the slow excavation of meaning.   IT”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/the-strip-mining-of-relevant-content-replaces-the-slow-excavation-of/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [“The Net grants us instant access to a library of information unprecedented in its size and scope, and it makes it easy for us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/the-net-grants-us-instant-access-to-a-library-of-information/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [“A 1989 study showed that readers of hypertext often ended up clicking distractedly “through pages instead of reading them carefully.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/a-1989-study-showed-that-readers-of-hypertext-often-ended-up-clicking/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [“Activities of self-realization are subject to increasing marginal utility:”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/activities-of-self-realization-are-subject-to-increasing-marginal/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) [Explore all 108 Nicholas Carr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) ## More Attention quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [People pay far too much attention to the television and they're quite literal in some ways. At the beginning, when I was playing very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ardal-o-hanlon/people-pay-far-too-much-attention-to-the-television-and-they-re-quite/) [Ardal O'Hanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ardal-o-hanlon/) > [Television, radio, social media. The 24/7 news cycle plows forward mercilessly on our desks, in our cars and in our pockets. Thousands and thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-prince/television-radio-social-media-the-24-7-news-cycle-plows-forward/) [Joseph Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-prince/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-inventions-are-wont-to-be-pretty-toys-which-distract-our/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [What people don't normally know about us is the hustle is very real, and it's sorely driven a lot by how we consider ourselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lzzy-hale/what-people-don-t-normally-know-about-us-is-the-hustle-is-very-real/) [Lzzy Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lzzy-hale/) > [For me, the term "psychotherapy" is limiting. It implies that we work with mind and emotions, but excludes the body and pays scant attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-diamond/for-me-the-term-psychotherapy-is-limiting-it-implies-that-we-work/) [Jed Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-diamond/) > [When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minor-white/when-you-approach-something-to-photograph-it-first-be-still-with/) [Minor White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minor-white/) > [I'm writing about real things. Real people. Real characters. You have to believe what I write about is true or you wouldn't pay any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/i-m-writing-about-real-things-real-people-real-characters-you-have-to/) [Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/) > [ I went to a mosque in Philadelphia with \[my wife\] in December 24, 1999. And we we went to this mosque in Philly, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/i-went-to-a-mosque-in-philadelphia-with-my-wife-in-december-24-1999/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) > [The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called 'The Human Moment,' about how to make real contact with a person at work: ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/the-harvard-business-review-recently-had-an-article-called-the-human/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [Let us thank God heartily as often as we pray that we have His Spirit in us to teach us to pray. Thanksgiving will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-murray/let-us-thank-god-heartily-as-often-as-we-pray-that-we-have-his-spirit/) [Andy Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-murray/) > [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [We must have a welfare system that we can afford, which will mean giving greater attention to directing the welfare program toward its primary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-portillo/we-must-have-a-welfare-system-that-we-can-afford-which-will-mean/) [Michael Portillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-portillo/) > [The director's job should give you a sense of music without drawing attention to itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-hackford/the-director-s-job-should-give-you-a-sense-of-music-without-drawing/) [Taylor Hackford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-hackford/) [Browse all 10,153 Attention quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“we are “training our brains to pay attention to the crap.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nicholas Carr" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/we-are-training-our-brains-to-pay-attention-to-the-crap/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Attention" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/we-are-training-our-brains-to-pay-attention-to-the-crap/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/nicholas-carr-4579_focus_we-are-training-our-brains-to-pay-attent_1367345.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/nicholas-carr-4579_focus_we-are-training-our-brains-to-pay-attent_1367345.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a03/nicholas-carr-4579_focus_we-are-training-our-brains-to-pay-attent_1367345.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“we are “training our brains to pay attention to the crap.” — Nicholas Carr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Nicholas Carr", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“we are “training our brains to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/we-are-training-our-brains-to-pay-attention-to-the-crap/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/we-are-training-our-brains-to-pay-attention-to-the-crap/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```