the average person switches attention every 47 seconds when working on a screen. the environment got designed that way, and the brain adapted.
the mere presence of a phone in the room (unused, face down) measurably reduces basal attentional performance. humans are already spending something by having it near.
a 2025 randomized controlled trial blocked mobile internet for 2 weeks. sustained attention, mental health & subjective wellbeing improved.
THIS FORTNIGHT IS AN ATTENTIONAL EXPERIMENT RESIDENCY WITHOUT INTERNET
(basically what the world was like as of 2011-2012)
the same nine hectares, the same people, but a different quality of contact with both. at some point you will want to check something and realize you can't, and then realize you didn't need to. you'll notice your vigilance shifting. you’ll be unreachable, possibly for the first time in a while, and feel the specific weight of what that used to mean.
what surfaces in the hours usually filled with digital interruptions?
what does your thought texture feel like with unmediated attention?
we're going to find out.
a note under a door, a time agreed in advance, finding someone by knowing their habits
no internet for the full thirteen days. these are the terms of this experiment :)
screens won't be allowed in common spaces. the reflexive check and background hum shall be gone.
the team plays by the same rules and will be coordinating on walkie talkies.
there will be an optional buddy accountability system for those who want to be kept in check, and voluntary safe will be available to hand over phone, laptop or any digital device for part or all of the fortnight.
we expect days three and four will be difficult to some. for others not. we're curious about both.
there is no required output. you don't need to journal, report back, or perform having had an insight. the research is in the living of this fortnight and what you take from this is yours, and it doesn't need to be legible to anyone else.
internet (and screens) for work calls and necessary communication are permitted, but strictly limited to dedicated wifi spaces (call rooms). if you have work commitments that require internet, we ask that you contain them to a defined window and purpose, then off. we strongly recommend you plan your commitments ahead to get the most out of this.
how to kill the moloch machine?
the perseids, one of the oldest spectacles. you can only see them if you're outside, in the dark, looking up ↑
collective intelligence / how embodied coordination differs from digital coordination?
attention / what thirteen consecutive days without incoming digital interruption does to the resting state of attention?
cognitive texture / what kind of thinking becomes possible in the gaps?
nervous system & stress response / how the body, given removal of ambient alertness, changes its baseline?
memory / what memory looks like when the digital tools aren't an external hard drive?
social texture & relational depth / how the quality of conversation changes when nobody can vanish into a screen?
temporal perception / how the experience of time changes without the constant punctuation of notifications and checks?
no pull of elsewhere
counter-technique and manual override
—expect 2 x €220/week for food & facilities + an additional contribution for accommodation. for low-income subsidy form, click here
* * if thirteen days offline feels less impossible than necessary, REGISTER [HERE](<http://in.thegarden.pt>) * *