If I may, I'd like to slightly temper the enthusiasm about Newport. I'm familiar with his work for 4-5 years. He has a few things of value to say, but he slathers them in too much filler and churns out "books" (they make the same point with small variations). To see what I'm talking about, have a gander at these previous threads[1][2]. (One of those threads also happens to be a New Yorker article; but that one was a fluff piece.)
The article in question itself is better than I expected, frankly. I just wish he resisted using the click-bait word "mind" here.
Thanks for the info. He seems rather more lucid than some of the other writers and more in line with my thinking so I'll take him with a grain of salt as I familiarize myself with his writings.
I don't think "mind" is the necessarily wrong word. When I was beat by a chess machine in 1981 I sensed an intelligence that felt like a mind. I didn't know anything about computers then. I imagine a lot of people are having that experience right now.
'Deep Work' and 'So good they can't ignore you' are his best works IMO, and worth reading if you're into applications of deliberate practice toward thinking types of work.
The article in question itself is better than I expected, frankly. I just wish he resisted using the click-bait word "mind" here.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29035674
[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20082125