The Distracted Mind During a Crisis (2020)

One thing they skip over in these discussions about meditation is where meditation practices emerged and why.

If you look at that history across religions, one thing to note is the environment is totally disconnected from rest of society. That wasn't an accident. The brain chemistry, all kinds of structures within, change based on whats happening in the environment. So its not just a story about controlling Attention but also a story of controlling the environment.

Once this disconnected environment is created why did they need meditation?

Cause they were struggling to handle what the Reward Circuits of the brain + PFC are programmed over zillion years to feed off the environment. Which is Purpose, Connection, Validation/Praise etc. Monks struggle with this stuff once they get isolated and meditation was one of the answers.

The joke today is we don't live in a monastery (disconnected space) but an Attention Economy which has emerged because people might have limited Attention to give anything, but they have unlimited capacity to receive Attention.