Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity. –Simone Weil

The casualty reckoned to be the most destructive to human-to-human interactions – particularly social and familial – is the vacant attention one offers to the other person, though physically present face-to-face; and it is caused in present times by our addiction to the digital rectangle. It is to snub a person involved in a dialogue with you when you glue your eyes to your mobile phone screen and constantly nod your head to give an appearance of being all ears to him. This is, in clear terms, an insult to human presence around you; and the worst scenario is if you continue with this habit, a time will come when you will crave human physical presence, but you will find none. Paying attention is a conscious effort, as attention is a gateway to consciousness. It is attention that determines what is real for us. Without laser-focused attention, everything is a chimaera.

The human mind can attend devotedly to only a single........

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