“I have this idea I’d like to run by you…”.  These are the opening words the narrator uses in a YouTube video I recently posted titled Attention Defense.  It makes the case that over-involvement with our electronic media encourages us to fall prey to those who would take advantage of our attention for their personal profit.  And to our detriment.  For the facts seem to show that the business of poaching on our attention is driving large segments of the global population more than a little batty.

My intention for making the video was to help raise awareness of attention harvesting, a practice that has been super-charged in recent years due to technological advances and marketing practices that encourage an unhealthy relationship with our electronic media.  I was influenced, in part, by the ideas of several noteworthy writers and others active in this discussion.

“Ultimately, it is not our nation or culture but the very nature of our lives that is at stake.”¹

“… we must staunchly defend, and indeed enhance, people’s ability to decline the harvesting of their attention.” ²

“Media companies trying to keep up with each other create a kind of “arms race” of urgency that abuses our attention and leaves us no time to think.” ³

“We are being guilted, threatened, and gaslighted into reactions that come not from will and reflection but from fear and anxiety.” ³

“Our attention is being targeted in a brutally competitive market for our mind’s real estate.” ⁴

From these words one senses a kind of moral urgency; a need to jump into the fray and somehow help stem the tide for the sake of our global mental health.  There are now many writers and thinkers who have contributed valuable insights into this issue and have offered ways to combat the problem.  I am no expert, but it came to me that the simplest and most direct way of making headway on this front is to fight digital illiteracy by helping people learn to recognize the techniques used to hijack their attention; very much analogous to learning to avoid a carnival barker’s tricks.

Towards the end of the video, speaking about a hypothetical class in attention defense, the narrator cautions “the first thing to be taught just might be something like this.  Your attention is extremely valuable to you.  And to others.  Be prepared and learn to defend it or it will be taken from you.”  He then asks the listeners for their suggestions on topics that might be covered in that kind of class.

Want to share your own thoughts?  Please comment on this post or on the video thread.  I will follow-up with a post that summarizes the ideas and include some of my own.  Your participation is greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

Endnotes:

1. Wu, T. The Attention Merchants: Vintage Books, 2016
2. Williams, J. Stand Out of Our Light: Cambridge University Press, 2018
3. Odell, J. How to Do Nothing: Melville House Publishing, 2019
4. Mark, G. Attention Span: Hanover Square Press, 2023

Further reading/viewing:

Books:

• Twenge, J. M. Generations: Atria Books, 2023
• Haidt, J. The Anxious Generation: Penguin Press, 2024

Articles:

• Chuck, E. Major psychology group says infinite scrolling, other social media features are ‘particularly risky’ to youth mental health: NBC News, 2024
• Burnett, D. G.; Loh, A.; Schmidt, P. Powerful Forces Are Fracking Our Attention. We Can Fight Back: The New York Times, 2023.

Viewing:

• Harris, T. How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day: TED Talk, 2017
• Orlowski, J., Curtis, V., and Coombe, D. The Social Dilemma: Netflix, 2020

Organization:

• The Center for Humane Technology