Quoting Lord Chesterfield’s writing from the eighteenth century and William James’s from the nineteenth, Rosen suggests that not focusing one’s attention may indicate “a weak and frivolous mind” (par....

Quoting Lord Chesterfield’s writing from the eighteenth century and William James’s from the nineteenth, Rosen suggests that not focusing one’s attention may indicate “a weak and frivolous mind” (par. 1) or the lack of “a mature mind” or of “judgment, character, and will” (par. 15). Such language makes a moral judgment about a person’s lack of seriousness or self-discipline. In contrast, quoting Edward Hallowell, Rosen suggests that not focusing attention may be a sign of illness akin to attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (par. 5). Why might people, particularly young people, who do not focus their attention be labeled as lacking in character or intelligence or as suffering from a medical malady? Are critics less likely today than in the past to make judgments about intelligence or character, and perhaps more likely to make medical diagnoses about the same kinds of behavior? Why or why not?