A new book extolling the importance of cultivating deep concentration skills

Thanks to Keith Lee over at the Associate's Mind blog for reviewing a new book by Cal Newport called Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World on the importance of developing the powers of deep concentration to do the intellectually demanding tasks required by a knowledge-based economy. As I've discussed in my own recent article (updated, final draft to be posted shortly), homo erectus was never built to be especially good at deep thinking because back in caveman days, over-intellectualizing the problems you faced each day would likely get you killed. Instead, the brain was designed for quick, facile decision-making by relying on cognitive shortcuts like heuristic thinking. But today we're no longer living by our wits hunting prey and avoiding predators.  Instead, success in school and success as a lawyer both depend on the ability to shut out distractions and go deep into thought. So go read Keith's review and then see if you don't agree that Deep Work raises issues and suggests strategies we should be incorporating into the law school classroom. 

(jbl).