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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
Discover how to manage this noisy world without it managing you. In Numb, distinguished author Dr. Charles R. Chaffin delivers a fun and evidence-based exploration of how you can devote more attention on what you believe is important while ignoring the distractions that increasingly permeate your life. Using research from cognitive, education, positive, and clinical psychology, the book identifies the sources of noise and distraction in this information age and how we can manage it in all aspects of our lives. You'll learn about: * How experiences in technology, from social media to selfies to porn, impact our ability to engage and connect with others * The news we consume and the impact of confirmation bias, filter bubbles, and tribalism * How FOMO and choice overload impact our decision-making * The power of our attention in all aspects of our daily lives Perfect for anyone interested in the expanding impact of the information age on our collective psyche, ;Numb helps empower you to use technology and information not as a destination, but as a tool towards authenticity and empowerment.
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Seitenzahl: 390
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
CHAPTER 1: The Information Age
A Scarcity of Attention
By‐Products of This Information Age
CHAPTER 2: Can I Have Your Attention Please?
What Is Attention?
Technology and Our Attention
CHAPTER 3: The News
Drawing Your Attention – and Keeping It
Staying Informed
Being Our Own News Editor
CHAPTER 4: Instagram Worthy
“Do You Remember Where This Was Taken?”
I Can't Wait to Post It!
CHAPTER 5: Who's the Pigeon Now?
Keeping Us Pulling That Social Media Lever
Is the Reward Worth It?
CHAPTER 6: A Habit of Distraction
What Are You Thinking About?
Breaking the Habit
CHAPTER 7: Tinder and I Are Registered at Amazon
You Look Just Like Your Profile Pictures … Kinda
Choosing a Mate
CHAPTER 8: Confirmation Bias
I Knew It the Whole Time!
Sources That Support Our Biases
CHAPTER 9: Compassion Fatigue
Playing to Our Empathetic Side
The Power of Compassion
CHAPTER 10: Too Much Information
Information Overload
Managing It All
CHAPTER 11: FOMO
Keeping up with the Joneses
Freeing Ourselves from FOMO
CHAPTER 12: The Outrage Machine
Did You See That?!
Tired of “Sick and Tired”
CHAPTER 13: Tribalism
“My Tribe Is Better Than Yours”
Breaking Down What Divides Us
CHAPTER 14: Instant Gratification
I Want It Now!
A Bird in the Hand …
CHAPTER 15: Loneliness
Loneliness with 750 of Your Closest Facebook Friends
CHAPTER 16: Choice
I Want to Consider All of My Options First
Combating Choice Overload
CHAPTER 17: Impulse Buying
Fighting for Our Attention
Creating an Attention Budget
CHAPTER 18: Porn
Porn Consumption
Is Porn Good or Bad?
CHAPTER 19: Publisher or Platform?
Section 230
The Future of the Internet
CHAPTER 20: Algorithms
Algorithms in Our Daily Lives
Algorithm Oversight?
CHAPTER 21: Regaining the Feeling
Reflecting
Empowerment
References
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Information Age
Chapter 2: Can I Have Your Attention Please?
Chapter 3: The News
Chapter 4: Instagram Worthy
Chapter 5: Who's the Pigeon Now?
Chapter 6: A Habit of Distraction
Chapter 7: Tinder and I Are Registered on Amazon
Chapter 8: Confirmation Bias
Chapter 9: Compassion Fatigue
Chapter 10: Too Much Information
Chapter 11: FOMO
Chapter 12: Outrage Machine
Chapter 13: Tribalism
Chapter 14: Instant Gratification
Chapter 15: Loneliness
Chapter 16: Choice
Chapter 17: Impulse Buying
Chapter 18: Porn
Chapter 19: Publisher or Platform?
Chapter 20: Algorithms
Index
End User License Agreement
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
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Numb
How the Information Age Dulls Our Senses and How We Can Get Them Back
Charles R. Chaffin
Copyright © 2021 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per‐copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750‐8400, fax (978) 750‐4470, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748‐6011, fax (201) 748‐6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permission.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data:
Names: Chaffin, Charles R., author.
Title: Numb : how the information age dulls our senses and how we can getthem back / Charles R. Chaffin.
Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, [2021] | Includes bibliographicalreferences and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021005107 (print) | LCCN 2021005108 (ebook) | ISBN9781119774358 (hardback) | ISBN 9781119774495 (adobe pdf) | ISBN9781119774488 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Human information processing. | Distraction (Psychology) | Attention.
Classification: LCC BF444 .C43 2021 (print) | LCC BF444 (ebook) | DDC153–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021005107
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021005108
COVER DESIGN: PAUL MCCARTHY
To all who have taught me, whether scholars, students, or educators, and others who have fed my wonderment and spirit. To those closest to me – Mom, Dad, Amy, Josh, Cole, Grandma, Kostas, Ryan, Steven, Steven, Gary, Keith, David, Roger, Brian, Richard, Mike, Bob – all of whom bring love, support, and authenticity to my life. To all of the helpers.
Preface
I wrote Numb because we have too much to read.
This information age has us constantly plugged in, and yet we are feeling as disconnected as ever. There are a multitude of sources for news and information, yet we struggle to stay informed, as fact is labeled opinion and opinion is labeled as fact. Sensationalism provides a front‐row seat to the suffering of others, yet our capacity for compassion for those around us is limited as images of tragedy become routine and conflict becomes the norm. We have more choices than we could ever imagine, everything from colleges to potential mates to brands of mustard. Yet many of us are paralyzed to decide, and in some cases are unhappy and mired in regret over past choices. The number of emails and text messages that we receive on a daily basis can be overwhelming to our Stone Age brains, causing us to struggle to filter the relevant from the irrelevant. Social media promises connection to billions of other humans around the world, yet we struggle with loneliness, tribalism, and FOMO as these platforms lure us into a dopamine loop that provides a short‐term fix, sometimes at the expense of authenticity. Algorithms provide us exactly what we want to read, watch, and engage, diminishing our horizons rather than expanding them, while at the same time facilitating a polarized society where common ground is, quite frankly, uncommon. With all of these factors in mind, it is not surprising that the information age is making us numb.
Our attention is both limited and valuable. We only have so much of it at any given time. It is vital, as it drives our consciousness and, ultimately, where and to what we direct our cognitive and physical resources. Given the sea of information and the limits of our attention, we have become overloaded with the sights and sounds that are now a significant part of our everyday lives. Technology lures our attention onto apps of all kinds through push notifications and reward systems that work to engage us and ultimately keep us engaged. The technology and many of our sources of information have different objectives than our own. While the user or viewer is interested in staying informed or connected, social media platforms, streaming services, and cable news channels all have a vested interest in capturing and, perhaps more importantly, keeping our attention. It is not enough to just log on or “tune in.” These platforms are designed to keep you engaged for as long as possible, through algorithms that provide similar content based upon past consumption and variable rewards that keep you posting and reposting and checking and rechecking those posts and reposts. Sensationalism and opinion keep viewers engaged through breaking news that may or may not be breaking news and opinion that sometimes only confirms existing biases. Through these tricks and tools, platforms of all kinds deliver screen time and ratings to advertisers, while the user sometimes remains no more informed or connected than before. We are living in an attention economy where this scarce resource has become the price for much of the information that is around us. Social media – an attention marketplace where regular exchanges of this valuable currency take place – also brings those who are seeking attention. Many visit and revisit Facebook, Instagram, and a host of other apps seeking validation from others, whether the subject is a vacation, a new car, or their most recent cheeseburger. These same platforms are a breeding ground for echo chambers and confirmation bias as individuals with similar perspectives come together. In some cases, the loudest or wildest conspiracy theories within the echo chamber receive the most attention, leading to further bias, misinformation, and in some cases radicalization. Whether searching for attention via shirtless selfies or political misinformation, many see social media as a platform for panhandling for attention. This search for attention and validation sometimes comes at the expense of authenticity as we prioritize the rewards of the platform with perfect strangers at the expense of meaning and connection with those closest to us.
There are immense benefits to this information age. It provides incredible power to fuel our abilities to problem solve, create, and even help those who live a world away. Our sustained connectivity fuels almost every aspect of our daily lives. Algorithms help fight crime and enable better medical diagnoses. We have the capabilities to be informed voters and investors, learning about each issue and how it impacts our communities, families, and wallets. There is not only a democratization of information but also a universal ability to express our viewpoints. Social media provides the billions who engage it the ability to convey their lived experience, no matter how trivial or serious. However, with all of those benefits, there are by‐products to this information age that have real implications on our ability to experience our environment, think critically, and live our lives to the fullest. Technology, and all of the information that goes along with it, somehow evolved from a tool to get us to our life's destinations to our actual destination. These by‐products, which largely focus on the scarcity of our attention as well as the psychological issues that come with all of this information and connectivity, are at the heart of Numb.
I wanted Numb to have a real purpose in people's lives. It was not enough to identify the problems with this information age, many of which are quite apparent. But rather, I wanted to present real solutions. I interviewed over 60 professionals, ranging from psychologists to researchers to everyday people, to talk about ways that each of us can address many of the challenges that come from this information age. Each of these interviews has been incredibly useful in my own personal journey, and I hope you see the same value as you read. I present research from a variety of fields in a manner that I hope is digestible and relevant and, perhaps most importantly, answers the “so what” of many aspects of our lives. Nowhere in this book do I argue in favor of any type of technology oasis or dopamine fasting where we cut off our access to social media or any other platform or information source. Rather, Numb is written to help us use information and technology as a tool to make our lives better. Our smartphones, PCs, televisions, radios, and all the other devices that help us receive and create information can be useful to us if they are an accompaniment to our lives, rather than the primary focus of our attention.
My vision for Numb is a book that can be read cover to cover, with short chapters for attention‐scarce readers living in a busy world. I suspect that you will identify with some of the topics and vignettes more than others, but regardless, the book is written with context (i.e., the real world) in mind. After the first read – and as the many devices and sources of information once again work to steal your attention – I hope that Numb can be a semi‐regular reference; a reminder of how to take control and use technology to accentuate our lives rather than control them. At the end of the day (or perhaps at the end of the book), Numb is a guided reflection for each of us to determine our own relationship with this information age. The suggestions shared in this book are designed to empower you to use information, and the positive power and connectivity that can go along with it, towards productivity and authenticity. Now that Numb has your attention, let us begin.
Acknowledgments
A special thank you to all of the researchers, clinicians, and everyday people who generously contributed to this book. Each one of them were asked to be part of this project because of their expertise and, perhaps more importantly, their willingness to help others. I hope that each of their voices shines through in this book.
Thank you to the team at Wiley for believing in this project from the very beginning and supporting this vision. It was a long time coming to fruition, and throughout, Wiley was steadfast in their support. I cannot imagine a better creative partner.
Introduction
Our attention impacts our world and our world impacts our attention. With attention comes our awareness. Sometimes focused, sometimes divided, our attention helps us in our work, using our knowledge and skills towards everything from problem solving to creating a safe work environment on a job site. It also brings a focus on those around us, noticing their behavior and appearance, what they say and how they say it. With our attention also comes compassion towards the suffering of our neighbor or those far away. Attention is that critical prerequisite to so many of the thoughts, feelings, and actions that make us human. Being educated, skilled, or even empathetic means little without attention. If our attention is not focused on a conversation, we cannot bring our perspective, expertise, or caring to that dialogue. One could have all of the resources in the world to cure disease, fight hunger, or end wars, but if her attention isn't focused on those problems, those resources are not much use.
Each of us has only so much attention. If we focus on something – whether a sound, sight, smell, or touch – that focus is highlighting something as much as it is blocking other sights or sounds around us. For example, as you read this book, you are focusing on the words on this page at the expense of the sounds of voices around you, the smell of food in the kitchen, or even the feeling of the chair in which you are sitting. Attention is a limited resource, so we have to be selective about what we want to focus. If you have this book open, you cannot focus on the words on this page if you are attending to the sound of the neighbors arguing next door. Given that attention is linked to our consciousness, we have in it a valuable and finite resource that requires careful management. If you do not have control of your attention, someone or something else will take it. Walking through any city or town, you will notice the sights, sounds, and even smells that are clamoring (sometimes literally) for your attention. Advertisers and proprietors large and small all know that if your attention is captured, your wallet may soon follow. They use colorful signs and ads, music, and a host of other tactics to lure your attention to their product. Incidentally, my favorite is Cinnabon. They purposely place those ovens in the front of the store to grab your attention with that delicious cinnamon smell. My wallet indeed follows my attention, which takes me on a path towards deliciousness, followed by an even longer path on the treadmill to compensate for it!
Lots of humans in our lives want our attention, too. Bosses, partners, families, and neighbors all want varying levels of our attention at different times. Some want our attention focused towards our work and others want attention focused on their needs to be heard, touched, and loved. When we focus our attention on people and activities, they tend to go better. Or perhaps better stated, if we do not focus our attention on people and activities, they have a higher likelihood of going much worse. If you do not focus your attention on your spouse or partner for a week or a day or maybe even a moment at dinner, it is likely not going to guarantee a healthy interaction. If you do not focus your attention on your work, the quality of your work will likely suffer as well.
The relationship between attention and this information age is powerful. Technology, and all the information that comes along with it, has created numerous places where we can devote our attention. We can (and do) spend our time fixated on the screens around and with us all day, scrolling through social media feeds, responding to text messages, and swiping left and right to glance at profiles of potential mates. We can binge‐watch Netflix, YouTube, and cable news programs, and argue with strangers on Twitter about politics, sports teams, and the best breed of cat to own during a blizzard. Each of these activities can take us down rabbit holes that can kill hours per day. We all seem to receive emails by the dozen. Adobe surveyed 1,000 workers and found that they spend on average close to five hours per day checking email. Five hours looking inside a mailbox! It is rather astounding that given the amount of time that so many of us spend reading, responding, and composing emails that “Outlook Etiquette” isn't part of the interview process for many employment positions. “Do you end your emails with ‘Sincerely’ or ‘Best’? We are really looking for a ‘I hope you are well' person to join our team.” Oh, and “Read‐receipt people need not apply.” Nevertheless, each of our emails require our attention to read, process, and respond, knowing full well that there will likely be another email volleyed back like a never‐ending tennis match. Whether in our professional or personal lives, our attention is taxed constantly in this information age. Making sense of it all, deciding what is relevant and what isn't, as well as prioritizing what is important, is an art and science in and of itself. Essentially, this information age expands the possibilities of places for us to spend our attention.
Beyond the cognitive aspects associated with the information age, I spent a great deal of time reflecting upon the nature of experience. I started to question what was authentic and what was not. This is not just a commentary relative to fake news, although that is certainly part of it and addressed in this book. I was thinking more about authenticity when it comes to our life experiences, from what gives us joy and happiness to how and if we are truly present with the people and experiences that make up daily life. Picking up my smartphone at dinner to get that dopamine fix via social media meant that I wasn't really present with that friend sitting across the table from me. Is that dopamine hit that comes from the push notification or the attention that comes from a “like” on social media really an authentic experience? In his book The Necessity of Experience, Edward Reed identifies ecological information as the type of information that “all humans acquire from their environment through looking, listening, feeling, sniffing, and tasting.” Essentially, Reed describes ecological information as things we experience “for ourselves.” He identifies the power that ecological information has in engaging with other human beings, including reading their facial expressions, listening carefully to the tone of their voice, and all of the other verbal, nonverbal, and visual signs that accompany our engagement and shared experiences with other human beings. Through technology and this age of information, we see a shift in focus to processed information, which Reed defines as secondhand: signs and symbols based upon our primary experience with one another. These secondhand experiences, whether via television, social media, porn, or any other experience that is conveyed to us by others, has become more dominant than experiencing the world firsthand for ourselves. We seem to be spending an increasing amount of time hearing or viewing the experiences of others rather than participating ourselves. When we think about the idea of FOMO – fear of missing out – it is no wonder that so many of us experience it because we spend a lot of time in the audience observing others. Maybe we are actually missing out!
We all experience the benefits of this information age, from connecting with others across multiple geographic regions to the accessibility of information, whether news, education, or Wikipedia. Information, and the technology that goes along with it, makes our lives better. We have seen during the COVID‐19 pandemic an ability for some of us to keep working and at least engaging on some level with those we care for most, even if remotely. However, over the course of the last several years (even prior to the pandemic), I started questioning the impact of this information age on many aspects of our lives. I began reflecting on the relationship between information and my biases, habits, and even participation in echo chambers. I started to wonder how we have all of this information at our fingertips (or in our pockets), and yet we seem to be increasingly less informed. I started thinking about the potential impact of our compassion for those closest to us when we are regularly exposed to graphic images of the suffering of others from far away. With the increasing number of choices available to us, I wondered about our ability to navigate so many options, whether choosing a jar of jam or a life partner? I also began to realize the impact of loneliness on people of all ages and questioned how this was possible when social media was such a big part of our lives. The hours per day that we spend on our smartphones scrolling and texting are immense. At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, what happens at the end of our lives when we look back on all of this time? Will we see this engagement as authentic and enhancing our in‐person experiences or will we see it as a waste of time, providing short‐term satisfaction at the expense of long‐term goals and relationships? The answer for each of us is likely different. For me, it seemed as if there was something missing from this engagement. The short‐term dopamine hit was coming at the expense of authentic engagement. The regular access to all the hyperbole, hysteria, and echo chambers began to numb me, making me feel overwhelmed with emotion. Compassion fatigue is only one component of this short yet broad work, but it was the genesis of this book. I began to reflect that the emotion I was feeling from information on the screen was creating a level of apathy in my real life. Essentially, I was hearing about bad news and suffering all day viewing the news and social media, so I didn't need more of it in real life. Real life is where I can make a difference. Real life is the people who are closest to me whom I care about. I needed to better understand this phenomenon so I could be present with them. I wanted authenticity.
That brings us to Numb. My objective with this book was to better understand, and then ultimately outline, the pushes and pulls on our attention in this information age. Perhaps more importantly, I wanted to outline some of the psychological factors that are created through this information age and its impact on our attention. And finally, what is the “so what?” of all of this, meaning what can we do about it to make our lives better in some way, shape, or form? Although Numb is not a novel by any means, it does tell a story of how we so often become engrossed in technology looking for love through likes, swipes, and a host of other bells and whistles. In many cases, we constantly return to social media and many other apps looking for love, attention, and recognition only to fail at finding it. We become addicted to that pursuit, through dopamine loops and habits. If we are not careful, we can find ourselves looking for love from social media, apps, and devices that will never love us back. As you will see with many of the topics, there is an ongoing “chicken or egg” here, where it is unclear whether those who are lonely or struggling with choice are more attracted to their devices or whether time on these devices facilitates loneliness and many of the other factors mentioned throughout the book. If you are looking for a quick answer that summarizes the book, there isn't one (I am not sure I would tell if there was; why read further if the mystery is solved in the introduction?). However, I do think that if you have been thinking about your own relationship with technology and in particular, this information age, you may identify with some of the vignettes and research shared and decide for yourself how it all may be impacting you. I hope that the clinical psychologists, therapists, researchers, and everyday people who were interviewed as part of this book bring value to observation, relevance to research, and hopefully solutions to problems. I am grateful to each of them for their contributions in helping this book become a potential resource. I personally found their insights incredibly helpful to me in my journey towards living in this information age. I hope you will, too.
So let us begin. I hope that Numb satisfies some curiosities when it comes to many of the experiences we all seem to have in this information age. We can be connected and engaged with information without letting it eliminate the authentic experiences that are so important to being human. We can develop ways to eliminate habits that are not serving our long‐term goals and interests. One of the primary themes that seems to emerge throughout the book is the notion that information and technology are at their best when they are tools to something greater. It can bring new experiences and people into our lives in meaningful ways. If managed properly, this information age can help us be more objective and well‐informed regarding issues that affect both us and our communities. The possibilities are endless. It is just a matter of balance, understanding, and empowerment. As you read Numb, I invite you to reflect upon your own experiences in your daily life and decide what's working for you and what isn't – and perhaps ultimately, what needs to change. I hope that Numb empowers you to take control of your attention and use it towards what you think is important, authentic, and fulfilling. We just have to find ways to manage all the information and technology around us, rather than all of it managing us.
CHAPTER 1The Information Age
Josh is facing a pretty normal Tuesday. The alarm on his smartphone rings at 7 a.m. and as soon as he turns it off, he immediately starts exploring his social media newsfeeds. One Facebook friend posted a picture of a sloppy Big Mac that he ate at McDonald's; another posted that she did not like the newest Netflix series (but is binge‐watching it nonetheless), and Josh's cousin shared a political rant predicting the end of the republic (again). Josh then questions his own selfie on Instagram and wonders if he should have used a filter; it had been two days and not many “likes.” He wonders whether he should take it down. Has his ex seen the picture? Does it look like he's gained weight? Josh then gets lost in a scroll of Instagram posts from friends as well as a slew of strangers whom he follows. He explores all of the vacation pictures that several friends posted and wonders why he hasn't had a vacation like that in years. He asks himself, “How do they find the time and money to travel around the world like that? I wish that were me.”
As a part of his daily routine getting ready for work, Josh listens to the morning news in the background to hear the traffic and weather reports. Another accident on the freeway means either an alternate trip or a late arrival to the office. He asks himself whether he should skip breakfast to make up some of the time. His mind returns to the selfie. Maybe skipping breakfast would be a good idea if he has gained weight. He thinks briefly about what an exercise regimen might look like. He hates running and wonders how much a gym membership might cost. Josh's attention shifts back to the news, where he hears about the pain and suffering from yesterday's typhoon in the Pacific as well as the latest drama unfolding on the set of The Bachelor. He hears the latest report on the market and wonders briefly about the status of his 401(k) and when and if he will be able to retire. He wonders how much longer he can work, and how much longer he wants to work at his current job. Throughout, his attention on the news of the day is intermittent as his mind also wanders to a wide range of topics. Does his youngest really need braces? Should he get a haircut? How should he approach today's meeting with his team?
Upon arrival at the office (he was 15 minutes late), Josh sees dozens of emails that require his attention. He thumbs through each of them, getting a sense of the topics and determining which may be a priority. He has no time to respond to any of them as he begins to tackle a packed Tuesday agenda. His first meeting had two interruptions from staff members who needed a decision regarding a completely unrelated topic. Josh shifted his attention quickly to make the urgent decision before returning his focus to the content of the meeting. As his colleague shared some of her ideas regarding a new project, Josh's mind wandered back to one of the two decisions he just made, reflecting upon whether it was the right choice or not. He misses some of what his team member is saying during his reflection. As he focuses back on what she is saying, his phone vibrates with a push notification of a text from his youngest daughter. He fights the urge to read the text during the meeting. His mind then wandered as he considered why she could possibly be texting so early in the day. Was she sick? Was it another issue in her biology class? He focuses his attention back to the meeting, nodding his head to indicate that he is paying attention even as text messages and reflections have taken his attention away. Josh's day continues with meetings and rare appearances in his workspace, which also brings with it several interruptions from both his boss and co‐workers, all of whom need something from him right away. Josh stares at his voluminous email inbox sporadically but spends little time reading and responding as his attentional focus switches from person to person, meeting to meeting, and push notification to push notification. By the end of the day, Josh has little time to develop the two reports that are due by the end of the week. Each time he begins to work on them, someone comes to his desk with a question, derailing his attention, and in some cases taking his work down an unexpected rabbit hole.
Josh's only companion throughout the entire day is his smartphone. It is on the table in front of him during meetings, in his hand when walking to lunch, and next to him while he is at his desk. He averages about three to four hours of screen time per day. Sometimes he checks his phone to respond to a text message and sometimes he is reading a push notification via one of the news apps. As with his email inbox, he also has a tendency to scroll mindlessly through the endless newsfeed on social media between meetings and phone calls. Whether at work or at home, Josh will check his social media apps after posting something to see if anyone has responded and sometimes he picks up his phone to see if he has those three tiny bubbles that indicate a response to his text is forthcoming. And sometimes he checks his cell phone for no real reason. If his phone vibrates, Josh responds by at least looking at his screen, indicating that at least some portion of his attention is regularly focused on the device, even if it is facedown.
Many of our days are not unlike Josh's. We are all living within a tidal wave of information and it is seemingly coming from all angles. Just within the environment around us, our brains are absorbing everything that our senses have to offer, whether sights, sounds, smells, or touch. We focus on the speech of those around us, deciphering their meaning and (hopefully) communicating an adequate verbal and nonverbal response. Internal and external distractions bring with them additional information requiring us to sift through each to determine what is meaningful and worthy of a response. Through technology, we have access to 24‐hour news cycles that are constantly racing to bring breaking news, sensationalized videos, and mountains of opinion. The scandals and tragedies, each of which get their short 15 minutes of fame, seem to become more and more vividly detailed as competing news sources race not only to be the first, but perhaps to be the most shocking. Before the beginning of the commercial break comes the pull to keep you engaged, asking questions that once again raise an internal alarm of some sort. “Is America dying a slow and gruesome death before our very eyes? Find out in 90 seconds.” How can we turn away? I have to know if America is going to be happy and healthy. Routinely, a 10‐minute commitment to catch up on the day's news turns into 45 minutes of sensationalism, opinions, and sometimes outrage – and I am not sure they ever mentioned what will happen to America after the commercial break!
On social media, we engage, post, and retweet regularly, hoping for the likes and comments that seem so prized. Instagram has created a virtual sweatshop of people diligently working to select just the right selfie with the perfect filter. We perform the endless scroll on Facebook to observe the curated lives of our friends while we curate our own lives for them. Within the past several years, many of us have developed the habit of doomscrolling, perusing our social media newsfeed for what we expect will be more bad news. It can become a regular diet of news regarding political turmoil, and economic and racial inequality, maybe garnished with a pandemic for good measure. We engage and reengage those within our echo chambers, receiving confirmation of our positions. Like those seeking attention through selfies, many within the echo chambers stretch the boundaries of the truth, using less than credible sources to gain affirmation within their tribe. The wildest conspiracy theories sometimes garner the highest amount of attention. In response, the algorithms serve us up more of it, basing new content in our newsfeeds upon what we have previously engaged.
Through the use of algorithms, YouTube recommends millions of videos to users based upon our previous viewing habits. As a platform that allows users to post content that has little to no vetting process, there is something for just about every mainstream and radicalized belief. With so many videos, the algorithms on YouTube are like a good waiter at an all‐you‐can‐eat pancake breakfast: serving you up more of exactly what you want, without judgment. We engage and reengage on social media for that dopamine high of receiving both new information as well as attention that comes in the form of likes and comments. We spend hours per day, logged in and sharing curated aspects of our lives, to get that dopamine hit and perhaps also searching for connectivity with others. There is a sad irony that billions of us are connected, yet so many feel isolated and alone. In many cases, we turn to social media for connection, sacrificing many forms of authenticity that come from shared experiences and deeper connections with friends and loved ones.
We generate more data than ever. According to the Data Never Sleeps 5.0 Report, from 2016 to 2018, we created 90% of all of the data ever created in the world in just two years. Every day, 1.5 billion people are on Facebook. Every second, 456,000 tweets and over four million YouTube videos are viewed. Every minute, we send 16 million text messages, swipe on Tinder close to one million times, and send over 150 million emails. Not long ago, the limits to our ability to create, learn, and experience were limited by a dearth of information. Now, in this information age, we are limited by our cognitive capacity to comprehend all of the information that is available to us on a daily basis. Networks, laptops, and smartphones have all evolved to have more capacity, with one notable exception: our brains. We are still functioning with the same brains that our ancestors used thousands of years ago for hunting and procreating and then hunting and procreating some more. With the expanded capacity of technology and all of the information that comes along with it, there is an incredible battle for perhaps your most prized possession: your attention.
A Scarcity of Attention
When I think of all the things in our world that compete for our attention, the first place that comes to mind is Times Square. It is a battlefield for attention where billboards are stacked upon one another using a variety of colors and flashing lights. There is flickering, neon, and other forms of luminescence all selling something, from Broadway shows to hamburgers and fancy red cars. These signs are positioned within every possible inch of our sightlines, all with the purpose of drawing our thoughts to their product or experience. Of course, I cannot forget the people dressed as furry cartoon characters that invite you to take a picture (yes, I have done it and there is photographic evidence of such an experience). But if you have had the opportunity to walk through Times Square, you might remember how difficult it was to focus on any one particular sign or activity. You could be fixated on an ad on a high‐definition screen but then suddenly become fixated on an even brighter set of lights. During the entire experience, you are likely focusing your attention on a variety of different sights and sounds, sometimes within the same second. Actually, you might walk away from Times Square and not be able to recall any of the individual ads or signs because there were so many stimuli and it was difficult to process any one particular item.
Most of our daily lives do not look anything like Times Square, but think of all of the activities, devices, and information sources that you come into contact with every day that, like those neon signs, all compete for your attention in one way or another. In his morning routine, Josh was devoting his attention towards multiple activities simultaneously. He has dressed himself for work many, many times and so therefore it requires very little thought or attention. He could get dressed while listening to the news or thinking about his day ahead. However, what if for the first time, he had to tie a bow tie? He might have difficulty listening to the weather while simultaneously focusing his attention on making that first perfect knot. Since it is a new (and complex) task, the bow tie would require additional attention that would take away from his ability to concentrate on anything else. In this case, Josh might ignore the news or even turn off the TV so he could focus on his bow tie. Attention is a zero‐sum game because we have only so much to give. If all of our attention is devoted to doing something, we cannot “dig deeper” and find more for something else. The popular analogy of our attention acting as a bucket of water is apt: every cup or spoonful of water that we take out leaves us less in the bucket, or in the case of attention, less to devote elsewhere to other things. So, if the amount of human attention is fixed, it is valuable, perhaps every bit as valuable as any other resource we can offer any other person or activity.
Herbert Simon, the Nobel Prize–winning economist and cognitive psychologist, was one of the first to articulate the basis for an attention economy. He suggested that “a wealth of information creates a scarcity of what that information consumes,” which is attention. Essentially, we pay for items not necessarily with money but with our attention. Websites and apps lure us to visit or stay on their platforms with catchy animations or lots of information crowded into one site, hoping that something will catch our eye and get us clicking further. With almost universal access to the internet, there is a wealth of information that is both free and accessible. At the same time, our cognitive capacity has not changed. Therefore, we have to make decisions regarding where we devote our attention.
Speaking of decisions, the buffet line at almost any Las Vegas casino is a fabulous place. These colossal gardens of gluttony offer nearly every type of food imaginable. However, our plates – and our stomachs – have only so much capacity. We cannot possibly consume all of the food that is available to us, so we have to make decisions. We can certainly sample a little bit of a lot of things, but we cannot expect to consume everything. Therefore, since we cannot have it all, we have to prioritize what we want, or perhaps need, the most. Like our plates and stomachs at the buffet, our cognitive capacity is limited. We have to consciously make decisions regarding the information we consume at any given time, filtering what we want and need from what we don't. Incidentally, making healthy choices for both information and buffets requires immense self‐discipline – and sometimes antacids afterwards!
