Why is it harder than ever now for humans to make decisions and what does the brain do when we make decisions?

Even the insistent cough of the woman next to him wasn't enough to draw his eyes away from the tiny type of the ancient book its pages were brittle and felt like they could crumble at the slightest disturbance he noticed the musty odor if each page as he carefully it over.

What is the narrators main conflict in this passage

Which quotation best supports the authors’ claim and purpose?