One way to understand modernity:
The removal of walls.
At first, the removal of walls is exciting and liberating. Many of the Enlightenment authors were clearly stoked on all of their new possibilities.
On the other hand, whenever you find walls disappearing, in another sense your power is dissolving:
The removal of walls decreases the fraction of relevant space under your control.
If you're feeling unfocused or distracted or weak in general, you probably need more walls—to enclose a too-large and too-open space into a smaller and more concentrated space.
It occurred to me that this is one reason why reading serious books is so important. It’s not primarily what you learn inside the book (although that can be great, too).
Good readers use books as walls for the mind, to increase concentration and leverage overall—across one’s life as a whole.
Good writers fabricate entirely new walls for themselves, but they also produce Walls-as-a-Service for others seeking to increase their concentration and leverage.
This is why a daily habit of reading and writing is no longer some kind of fancy or impressive lifestyle element, but really the new bare minimum for any live player.