I had the good fortune to go to TED a couple of years ago. I recall meeting Bill Gates out in the hallway and had a chance to ask a question or two. Unfortunately I didn’t get to ask him what I’ve always wondered most:

How do you decide what to think about?

As I wandered around TED, I would periodically see one of these alien mind vessels standing alone somewhere. Presumably, during this time, they would be thinking about something. Pondering some idea or question in their brief moment of solitude. What I wonder is: for people of this level of intellectual caliber, what system do they employ to determine how to best spend their mental energy?

They have to have thought about it right? The output of their mind is too important to trust to the aimless whims of terrestrial consciousness.

A few years ago I wrote an article on Culture Fasting. I was inspired by this wonderful piece by Alain De Botton on distraction. I find this passage of his of particular note:

One of the more embarrassing and self-indulgent challenges of our time is the task of relearning how to concentrate. The past decade has seen an unparalleled assault on our capacity to fix our minds steadily on anything. To sit still and think, without succumbing to an anxious reach for a machine, has become almost impossible.

I find that now, more than ever, I am a victim of the ailment he describes. While I am no longer relentlessly blogging about design, as I was back then, I am instead suffering from a far worse fate: trying to keep up with the tech press (and my Twitter feed). This is a most daunting task. Anyone that has ever subscribed to The Verge, TechCrunch, or any of the big tech blogs knows that you...