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The attention economy

aeon.co

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Re: The attention economy

#31

Post by IkmoIkmo »

throwaway13337 wrote: post #30
advertising wrote: post #19

I got into work mode the past couple years of my life and spent most time either working or speaking with people, then browsing my phone in the downtimes / before bed / first thing in the morning. I hadn't read a book in a couple of years and it was scary the first time I tried again. Literally could not read more than 1 - 1.5 pages without my mind wandering or feeling the pang to check the feed on my phone. Kind of…

Even movies are too slow now for me and some others I'm around. Rarely am I engaged the whole time. It doesn't matter the genre. They take too long - just like books - to get a point across. It's definitely a symptom of the proliferation of smartphones. I'm not sure it's an entirely bad thing - just a shift in the way we consume media. Short burst rather than long-form. Long stretches of passive consumption could be…

Not just smartphones, but the internet in general in my experience.

I'm not much of a smartphone user, I have the latest phone but I'm not a power-user at all. But I have the same issues talked about.

For me it's related to how I consume information, it's very non-linear. Wikipedia is probably the best example, you read a page, then come across affiliated topics and click those, you go down the information tree on that topic, then come back up to finish the original one. Such that reading about the history of say a particular city, you'll end up reading about other cities, about pagan religions, about warlords and their particular tactics, about irrigation systems, political theory etc etc. It's extremely non-linear.

And when I research a topic, I find I consume information similarly. When I think about say the environment, I tend to have many tiny questions popping up, and get them answered. This is akin to having a private teacher who has answers to all of a kids' questions, versus a school teacher who has got 60 minutes to cover standardised material in a linear fashion.

Books are extremely linear versus say wikipedia. You flip pages one by one, there's no skipping or switching subjects built in to the design, like say wikipedia or the internet more generally as a source of information. And my brain just can't handle having questions pop up, and wondering about things, and just having to ignore my curiosity to get the book finished. It takes away from the enjoyment for me. Even when I read fiction, and there's a character walking in Paris and looking at the 'famed xyz', with a brief description, I want to look at it! On the internet I'd immediately google it, in a book I just have to accept that I've got no clue what it looks and shut down my curiosity. At least if it exists in the real world, I have no issue with letting my imagination run wild in fiction.

Re: The attention economy

#32

Post by unexistance »

advertising wrote: post #19

I got into work mode the past couple years of my life and spent most time either working or speaking with people, then browsing my phone in the downtimes / before bed / first thing in the morning. I hadn't read a book in a couple of years and it was scary the first time I tried again. Literally could not read more than 1 - 1.5 pages without my mind wandering or feeling the pang to check the feed on my phone. Kind of…

I can attest to this, trying to read a VERY GOOD book after so long, I can only read at most 2 pages & left wondering (or worst, sleepy)

Quickly regained the normal attention span after a few days of force reading (manage to 'lose' myself in the book, finally)

Now I'm looking for the next good books, surprisingly hard to get, at least in this part of the world

Re: The attention economy

#33

Post by vincentkriek »

throwaway13337 wrote: post #30
advertising wrote: post #19

I got into work mode the past couple years of my life and spent most time either working or speaking with people, then browsing my phone in the downtimes / before bed / first thing in the morning. I hadn't read a book in a couple of years and it was scary the first time I tried again. Literally could not read more than 1 - 1.5 pages without my mind wandering or feeling the pang to check the feed on my phone. Kind of…

Even movies are too slow now for me and some others I'm around. Rarely am I engaged the whole time. It doesn't matter the genre. They take too long - just like books - to get a point across. It's definitely a symptom of the proliferation of smartphones. I'm not sure it's an entirely bad thing - just a shift in the way we consume media. Short burst rather than long-form. Long stretches of passive consumption could be…

I agree that there is no wrong or right in this context. I do however fear that if we are unable to concentrate on media for longer periods of time, the "depth" of the media will diminish. The wonderful thing a book has over a youtube clip is the depth of emotion it can describe.

You engage in a real emotional thought process, following along with the main character, hoping with them, fearing with them. Short media doesn't have that kind of engagement.

Re: The attention economy

#34

Post by cel1ne »

advertising wrote: post #19

I got into work mode the past couple years of my life and spent most time either working or speaking with people, then browsing my phone in the downtimes / before bed / first thing in the morning. I hadn't read a book in a couple of years and it was scary the first time I tried again. Literally could not read more than 1 - 1.5 pages without my mind wandering or feeling the pang to check the feed on my phone. Kind of…

For me it helps when I ask myself, two hours after browsing HN for example: What did I read today there that sticked?

Re: The attention economy

#35

Post by cel1ne »

colmvp wrote: post #2

Does anyone have tips for re-gaining focused attention? Willing to try anything at this point.

Riddle your day with tiny pauses.

When you walk somewhere (to the fridge, to work), just stop for a second, then keep walking.

When you want to call somebody, wait for a second, then make the call.

And so on…

Re: The attention economy

#36

Post by scalio »

vincentkriek wrote: post #33
throwaway13337 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even movies are too slow now for me and some others I'm around. Rarely am I engaged the whole time. It doesn't matter the genre. They take too long - just like books - to get a point across. It's definitely a symptom of the proliferation of smartphones. I'm not sure it's an entirely bad thing - just a shift in the way we consume media. Short burst rather than long-form. Long stretches of passive consumption could be…

I agree that there is no wrong or right in this context. I do however fear that if we are unable to concentrate on media for longer periods of time, the "depth" of the media will diminish. The wonderful thing a book has over a youtube clip is the depth of emotion it can describe. You engage in a real emotional thought process, following along with the main character, hoping with them, fearing with them. Short media d…

Also, creative thinking seems to rely on long thought chains in order to build complete things. Amongst others, self-interrupting every couple minutes is what made my creativity tank over the past years (and my ability to get lost in a book).

Re: The attention economy

#37

Post by cousin_it »

I feel that media (from newspapers onwards) are doing a great harm by consuming more and more of the attention that people could have spent on each other. A big part of modern loneliness can be blamed on this. When you empathize with Harry Potter more strongly than with those near you, they feel the loss, even though they can't articulate it. Many escapist fantasies are yearning for a world where people pay more attention to each other, and everyone matters more.

Unfortunately it's not an individual problem ("stop complaining and make yourself worthy of attention"), but a collective one, similar to those game theory examples where selfish decision-making leads to the worst outcome for all. Creating more startups and more media is only going to make it worse.

I've toyed with some ideas of improving things on a small scale, like opening a bar where people can't use their phones. I wish I knew a more general solution, though.

Re: The attention economy

#38

Post by TeMPOraL »

IkmoIkmo wrote: post #31
throwaway13337 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even movies are too slow now for me and some others I'm around. Rarely am I engaged the whole time. It doesn't matter the genre. They take too long - just like books - to get a point across. It's definitely a symptom of the proliferation of smartphones. I'm not sure it's an entirely bad thing - just a shift in the way we consume media. Short burst rather than long-form. Long stretches of passive consumption could be…

Not just smartphones, but the internet in general in my experience. I'm not much of a smartphone user, I have the latest phone but I'm not a power-user at all. But I have the same issues talked about. For me it's related to how I consume information, it's very non-linear. Wikipedia is probably the best example, you read a page, then come across affiliated topics and click those, you go down the information tree on th…

I have the same, though I learned to tone it down a notch when reading books. So I don't go off totally random tangents - but in places where my curiosity starts to burn me (or I get confused about something the book says and need to verify it), I do one of two things: if I have an Internet-connected device near me, I check it on the spot. If not, I bookmark the page (with dead-tree books I just stuff a random piece of paper in between the pages) and/or take a note on a device, to check it later.

One thing I learned is that you really get more from a book if you read it "linearly". Complex abstractions and mental models can't really be communicated in few bullet points; you have to let the author guide you through the process of constructing them.

Re: The attention economy

#39

Post by TeMPOraL »

colmvp wrote: post #17
bmer wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

0) Pick something you want to focus on. It could be your breath, a picture, an article you want to read, the sounds in your environment... 1) Set a timer for the period you want to focus on it for. In the beginning, I'd pick short times, like 2 minutes, or 5 minutes. 2) Try to remain focused on whatever you picked. You will inevitably fail. 3) Do not get angry at yourself! Your mind is like a puppy. It will want to w…

The idea of using a timer and setting small goals is absolutely worth a try. Thank you

Another thing I found it useful for: actually thinking things through. It's common for people to face a problem or a question, spend half a second considering it, and then decide that it's undoable / unsolvable / cannot be improved, etc. You'll ask them about it and they'll tell you, "yeah, I thought about it".

The trick is to ask yourself - have you spent, like five minutes, honest-to-God, to the clock, thinking about it? If the issue really matters to you, it's pretty much the least you can do - pull out the timer, set it to 5 minutes, and start thinking, not stopping until the timer hits zero. I was surprised just how much one could figure out in 5 minutes of focused thinking / self-brainstorming. I try to apply this method more and more often, especially when I get stuck on some choice, or don't know how to proceed from the point I'm in. But also sometimes for totally random ideas - 5 minutes is enough to think about how to start tackling them, and whether it's worth your time.

Re: The attention economy

#40

Post by TeMPOraL »

henrik_w wrote: post #29
colmvp wrote: post #2

Does anyone have tips for re-gaining focused attention? Willing to try anything at this point.

I just finished reading "Deep Work" by Cal Newport, and I thought it was very good. He's main points are that focus is in short supply these days, but if you can focus well it can really set you apart. Then he goes on to discussing strategies, like quitting social media. It's a very quick read, and very applicable to programmers (like me).

Thanks for the recommendation. I guess it's HN shopping season again :).

(I often impulsively buy books recommended by HNers, though I haven't regretted it even once.)

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