How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#21

Post by trevyn » Thu, May 02, 2019, 11:24 AM UTC

mrhappyunhappy wrote: post #18

FerretFred wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we unlearn how to simply sit and be bored Yup.. personally I somehow feel it's "wrong" that I sit there and do nothing on the rare occasion I get the opportunity.

There are times when I just want to sit or lay down and do nothing but my wife wont let me. When asked about her problem with this, she says it’s lazy not to do anything. Somehow doing nothing is wrong and everyone is conditioned to judge you for it.

I got a lot of freedom when I realized that other people’s judgements are often designed (sometimes subconsciously or culturally) simply to get you to do what they want you to do.

It is quite in the benefit of other people and groups for you to be “productive”.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#22

Post by shoo » Thu, May 02, 2019, 11:24 AM UTC

Jenny Odell has an earlier iteration of "how to do nothing" as a 2017 blog post: https://medium.com/@the_jennitaur/how-to-do-nothing-57e100f5...

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#23

Post by trevyn » Thu, May 02, 2019, 11:34 AM UTC

tw1010 wrote: post #15

Just make your default activity reading (and put zero pressure on what, as long as its on paper) or exersize. That worked for me.

Also great if you have a partner: Reading aloud to each other.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#24

Post by code_duck » Thu, May 02, 2019, 11:37 AM UTC

sweetheart wrote: post #2

I feel like the hardest part of learning to do nothing is getting over an initial period where your body and mind is trying to remember how to fill an hour of idle time without Instagram or Twitter or Facebook. I think after long periods of relying on these services to fill pockets of time that are otherwise hard to capitalize on, we unlearn how to simply sit and be bored. Like any form of rehabilitation, it takes ti…

>learning to do nothing is getting over an initial period where your body and mind is trying to remember how to fill an hour of idle time

That’s essentially the same as trying to quit tobacco.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#25

Post by basetop » Thu, May 02, 2019, 11:40 AM UTC

jfk13 wrote: post #14

Shouldn't we rather call it the Distraction Economy?

Which is what paperbacks, newspapers, radio, tv, movies, etc were/are called at one time or another. I bet in 20 years, smartphone and social media companies and everyone else will be ranting about VR being a distraction.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#26

Post by basetop » Thu, May 02, 2019, 11:44 AM UTC

Isn't the author and the nytimes part of the attention economy? By reading the article and commenting on it, aren't we partaking in rather than resisting the attention economy? It's put us in a bind. In order to learn about resisting the attention economy, we have to join it.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#27

Post by wewake » Thu, May 02, 2019, 11:46 AM UTC

The global economy will collapse the day people get a hold on their senses to the fact that time spent on social media is time wasted poorly. Ofcourse, it is hypothetical... saw a video of a chimp using Instagram the other day on Twitter, so yeah global economy is not collapsing anytime soon.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#28

Post by wewake » Thu, May 02, 2019, 11:50 AM UTC

eswat wrote: post #19

jfk13 wrote: post #14

Shouldn't we rather call it the Distraction Economy?

Could go either way; distraction is the result but attention is the unit of value (now the meaning behind Basic Attention Token is clearer to me).

Yes, attention is a commodity with great value when accumulated in large numbers. Exponential in a way, I would say.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#29

Post by p2t2p » Thu, May 02, 2019, 11:50 AM UTC

cain wrote: post #16

p2t2p wrote: post #9

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Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#30

Post by wackro » Thu, May 02, 2019, 11:55 AM UTC

basetop wrote: post #26

Isn't the author and the nytimes part of the attention economy? By reading the article and commenting on it, aren't we partaking in rather than resisting the attention economy? It's put us in a bind. In order to learn about resisting the attention economy, we have to join it.

I'd say that if you're browsing HN or nytimes of your own free will, came across this article and decided to read it out of interest then attention economy doesn't come into it.