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How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

nytimes.com

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Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#111

Post by beat »

vinceguidry wrote: post #106

I'm not sure how best to put this, but I'm not so sure detaching is the answer here, at least not long term. I can detach pretty easily and start daydreaming even while I'm on social media. If what I'm looking at isn't interesting enough, I start skimming. While I'm skimming my attention is divided between trying to find stimulation and whatever thing that's got my larger attention, usually some personal thing. I mig…

Speaking of computing environments... the minimalist nature of HN is one reason I allow myself to keep using it, even while shutting FB/Twitter/etc out.

I'm seriously thinking of switching my computing over to an iPad, to get rid of all the bits of stuff on the periphery of my computing. One app at a time.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#112

Post by nzjrs »

vinceguidry wrote: post #106

I'm not sure how best to put this, but I'm not so sure detaching is the answer here, at least not long term. I can detach pretty easily and start daydreaming even while I'm on social media. If what I'm looking at isn't interesting enough, I start skimming. While I'm skimming my attention is divided between trying to find stimulation and whatever thing that's got my larger attention, usually some personal thing. I mig…

I feel like yours is the best description of the delusion of control many of us lived in, until we didn't.

I mean this honestly that unless you can detach in the ways people describe here, it will get worse.

Personally, I've noticed that my depth of thinking has improved since making time for contemplation. I was nervous initially about not having read everything - I was surprised and proud how people said "have you seen xyz" and I had. I'm not that person any more, but my skills as an engineer to solve complex problems has improved.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#113

Post by beat »

tylerdunkel wrote: post #99
maxxxxx wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really should be made illegal to put TVs and other noise making devices into the public space. I don’t understand why it’s acceptable to put that stuff everywhere. It’s basically visual and auditory littering, not much different from throwing away trash.

how is the lobby of an office building "public space"? its private space owned by that company...

You're being pedantic.

The point is, many people use that lobby. Sure, the owners can legally run 24x7 porn on the screens if they really wanted, but wouldn't we all be better off with no screens there at all?

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#115

Post by marmaduke »

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…

> learning to live with all the people who can't

I think kids (at least early on) as you note are pretty excellent antidote. the first year is especially a whole lotta not much (eat, poop, sleep, make noise, repeat).

at work I found using a really old computer was effective, since switching to slack was like a 30 second endeavor, I would just sit in the terminal all day. at home a shitty cell data plan is effective as well.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#116

Post by bityard »

Theodores wrote: post #86
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.

The key thing is electricity. Spend 48 hours on your own without it (and without any preparation). The first 24 will have you eeking out the last bit of battery from gadgets. You can also turn in early for the night, listening to a battery powered radio. Then in the second 24 hours, with no electricity, see what happens. You might use the daylight hours to tidy up or fix a few broken things. You might read those book…

You now have me wondering whether I should try shutting off all of my circuit breakers (except the fridge) for the whole of this weekend.

Now that I've said it, I kinda want to do it.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#117

Post by ellius »

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 put a lot of thought into what I want out of life, and "contemplation" is a big one. Hannah Arendt drew a distinction I love between "thought" and "contemplation," essentially saying that just because you are thinking doesn't mean you're really spending time coming to know something. Leisure time to think freely and uncoerced is essential to achieving that mode of thought. I find that I even like thinking about work when it's true contemplation; I use some of my own free time to dwell on why the people around me act and think the way they do, what drives my behavior at work, why we face certain problems. It provides real insight and anchoring into the activity that takes up a significant portion of my life and adds considerable value to my work contributions. I think one of the smartest things businesses could do would be to follow Basecamp's "It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work" model, because calm, contemplative employees will come up with hugely profitable insights. As Kent Beck said, "Software is a leverage game." One insightful thought can save millions of dollars. I bet that's true of a lot of industries.

At a higher level, though, it's just an enjoyable mode of being. But you can't get into that state if you don't learn how to stop doing things and just lean back for a minute.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#118

Post by sizzle »

jvagner wrote: post #102
sizzle wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quite frankly, I wouldn't want to meet those people. I'm looking for the ones that do the opposite, greet you with a smile and can hold a conversation about anything effortlessly.

If those people are having a moment, and not to be dismissed out of hand because in their moment they happen to be staring at their phone, it can be a lost opportunity. Recently, I've observed that you're more likely to meet someone, and end up in a long conversation, close to the point where either you, or they, show up. So, you could strike up a conversation with someone after sitting next to them for 30 minutes, e…

Absolutely and I am mindful of people not having their personal space or privacy invaded in public. This dynamic changes in a social setting however where the expectation is to socialize or be friendly to others.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#119

Post by sweetheart »

freddie_mercury wrote: post #58
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…

> I’d take an hour of staring at a wall over an hour of Hacker News any day, if I was trying specifically to drum up ideas for something to hack on. I feel like this misses the point because you're still looking at it through the lens of productivity, albeit a step removed from "writing code" kind of productivity. In your example you're still doing something -- "trying specifically to drum up ideas for something to h…

Yeah I’ve had a couple conversations with friends about this in the last year. They tend to see this as a negative thing (the pressure to always be creating _something_), but I’ve never been convinced by their arguments. I think I look at one’s relationship to value production as a fairly romantic venture that sates some poorly understood desire to leave the world in a better place than you found it. They tend to say this is just because I’ve grown up in a capitalist economy and there is no innate value to producing new things. For some reason that just doesn’t feel right to me.

Re: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

#120

Post by sean2 »

asdff wrote: post #90
code_duck wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I smoked cigars and cigarillos for some time and it’s essentially the same. Maybe worse - you can easily fill an hour with a cigar. No idea about chewing or snuff I suppose.

People I know who've quit dip did it by making themselves sick, packing a huge lip and swallowing instead of spitting. Usually ends in puke. Now just a whiff of the stuff makes them gag.

That sounds very effective; I'm trying to think how you might be able to apply that technique to social media. I want to gag every time I spend too long on Facebook.
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