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

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#61

Post by asark » Thu, May 02, 2019, 3:21 PM UTC

addicted wrote: post #44

basetop wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I think this dismissal really ignores a very crucial difference. Unlike magazines or even TV for that matter, the new social media has personalized and detailed information on individuals and can tailor their content and design to target every person individually. IMO, that is a substantial and qualitative difference that makes the new “distraction” mediums far more effective and dangerous.

Yeah, having lived in the world before the Web had much on it, when it was slow and inconvenient to use, and could only be used certain places (at a desk, with a computer), when a computer not connected to the Internet wasn't a useless paperweight, and then in the world after Facebook and the iPhone and the full blossoming of the spyvertising industry, web-connected cell phones and the modern attention economy are strikingly different. There's no comparison to books or magazines, however low-value, or even to TV or radio. It's a whole other thing, and overall mostly terrible.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#62

Post by JohnFen » Thu, May 02, 2019, 3:21 PM 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…

> we unlearn how to simply sit and be bored.

I would say that we unlearn how to simply sit and be without being bored.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#63

Post by superkuh » Thu, May 02, 2019, 3:26 PM UTC

agentultra wrote: post #60

Doing nothing is how I often stayed productive. I used to be able to stay and think about something for hours. If I encountered something difficult I would go for a walk or take a nap. Now that I've been forced, at work, to use Slack day in and out -- I feel like I can't spend 5 minutes without flipping to another window, checking this, checking that. It's counter productive and feels like torture. I get a hangover f…

> The hardest part of doing nothing is learning to live with all the people who can't.

Very true. Network effect doesn't only have effects online. I've missed out on quite a bit of real life socialization (friends, community, and business) because I never signed up for Facebook and refuse to carry a cell phone.

At least in the last few years people are coming around on Facebook but I still get weird responses to not carrying a cell phone.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#64

Post by icebraining » Thu, May 02, 2019, 3:32 PM UTC

kumarvvr wrote: post #31

Recently uninstalled Reddit on my mobile and ipad. Stopped watching netflix before going to sleep. Stopped listening to podcasts, youtube or music while driving. Started wearing a watch to avoid opening my phone to check the time, like 600 times an hour. Its been extremely difficult but doable. Now i know what withdrawal feels like.

Do you feel it's been a positive experience?

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#65

Post by kodz4 » Thu, May 02, 2019, 3:34 PM UTC

agentultra wrote: post #60

Doing nothing is how I often stayed productive. I used to be able to stay and think about something for hours. If I encountered something difficult I would go for a walk or take a nap. Now that I've been forced, at work, to use Slack day in and out -- I feel like I can't spend 5 minutes without flipping to another window, checking this, checking that. It's counter productive and feels like torture. I get a hangover f…

:) I like this routine. All you need to do is find one or two more people to do nothing with you. And you are set.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#66

Post by wool_gather » Thu, May 02, 2019, 3:34 PM UTC

Bjartr wrote: post #38

mettamage wrote: post #37

Oh, it's quite easy but that may just be me, it also helps to know when the hard part arrives ;-) (which is at the beginning) This is what I do: 1) Do nothing 2) Feel your sensations in the body as your doing nothing. In the beginning I sometimes feel aggitated, I just keep observing the my sensations for a couple of minutes. 3) Close your eyes. 4) Congratulations, you are now limited by your fantasy. Have fun, exper…

Your step two is mindfulness meditation

Perhaps, but step 4 is definitely not; if you're freely daydreaming you're not developing awareness of the mind's activity.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#67

Post by kumarvvr » Thu, May 02, 2019, 3:36 PM UTC

icebraining wrote: post #64

kumarvvr wrote: post #31

Recently uninstalled Reddit on my mobile and ipad. Stopped watching netflix before going to sleep. Stopped listening to podcasts, youtube or music while driving. Started wearing a watch to avoid opening my phone to check the time, like 600 times an hour. Its been extremely difficult but doable. Now i know what withdrawal feels like.

Do you feel it's been a positive experience?

Absolutely. Getting more work done. Less fatigued. Able to concentrate more.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#68

Post by [deleted] » Thu, May 02, 2019, 3:37 PM UTC

wewake wrote: post #27

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.

[deleted]

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#69

Post by [deleted] » Thu, May 02, 2019, 3:37 PM UTC

superkuh wrote: post #63

agentultra wrote: post #60

Doing nothing is how I often stayed productive. I used to be able to stay and think about something for hours. If I encountered something difficult I would go for a walk or take a nap. Now that I've been forced, at work, to use Slack day in and out -- I feel like I can't spend 5 minutes without flipping to another window, checking this, checking that. It's counter productive and feels like torture. I get a hangover f…

> The hardest part of doing nothing is learning to live with all the people who can't. Very true. Network effect doesn't only have effects online. I've missed out on quite a bit of real life socialization (friends, community, and business) because I never signed up for Facebook and refuse to carry a cell phone. At least in the last few years people are coming around on Facebook but I still get weird responses to not…

[deleted]

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#70

Post by icebraining » Thu, May 02, 2019, 3:39 PM 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.

There's no contradiction; if your read the article, it's because you're not already resisting, so there's no loss. And you don't have to comment on it, you know - you can just shut down the screen.