Reasons Revisited9 Juli 2023

Driven to distraction: can we resist the attention economy?

Hello! Do you ever glance at your phone to check an email then look up to discover that two hours have gone by? In a world where information is abundant, our attention is hot property. What exactly do we know about how our attention is drawn and held by the environment and technology around us? We talk to Professor Polly Dalton who researches the psychology of attentional capture and to tech ethicist James Williams about why the issue of the attention economy cuts deep. Does it have the potential to change the course of our lives and restrict our freedom? We try to break free from the shackles of Silicon Valley with Tom Hodgkinson, editor of The Idler, who tells us about his strategy to resist the demands on our attention and time without even having to resort to a brick phone.

Plus: Ed’s in denial about his National Portrait Gallery debut…

Guests

James Williams, technology ethicist at the Oxford Internet Institute and the author of Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy (@WilliamsJames_)

Polly Dalton, professor of cognitive psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London (@PollyDalton)

Tom Hodgkinson, editor of the Idler magazine and author of How to Be Idle (@idler)

More information

Buy or read a copy of James’ book (open access) here

Watch a video of James talking about the attention economy (Youtube)

Subscribe to the Idler or purchase Tom’s book How to be Idle

Is modern life ruining our powers of concentration? (The Guardian, 2023)

Ed mentions The Shallows by Nicholas Carr

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