Our brains are overstimulated, and cities aren’t helping

You are standing at a crosswalk. The light is red. A bus roars past you a little too closely. Your phone buzzes with a BOGO offer from Starbucks. A billboard changes from a perfume ad to a phone number of a personal injury law firm. Someone is talking about their cheating ex-boyfriend beside you. The walk signal starts flashing. You step forward, but a pickup truck next to you is already inching into a right turn. Before you cross a single street, your brain has already sorted through a dozen...