Moments where we feel distracted now have another purpose, that of implying that there is, outside our distraction, a coherent reality which we can and should tap back into as and when we please or feel obliged … In other words, it is self-evident that we don’t truly desire to play Candy Crush but unfortunately have to work, but rather that we feel the need for distraction only when we are working, to re-enforce the sense (increasingly lost) that our work has coherent order and value compared to these activities.
Fragmented and distracting enjoyment can often serve to affirm the idea that ouside of these moments of nonsensical and mindless distraction is a stable working life and identity to which we can and should return.
— Alfie Brown. “2. Unproductive Enjoyment: ‘A Culture of Distraction’” from Enjoying It: Candy Crush and Capitalism. Zero Books, 2015. p. 30-31.
evan johnston 