Across centuries, thinkers have sought to fend off distraction. But the loudest calls to attention have been directed toward subordinates, schoolchildren, and women. “Atten-tion!” military commanders shout at their men to get them to stand straight. The arts of attention are a form of self-discipline, but they’re also ways to discipline others.
Attention is a moral act: it creates, brings aspects of things into being, but in doing so makes others recede. What a thing is depends on who is attending to it, and in what way. The fact that a place is special to some because of its great peace and beauty may, by that very fact, make it for another a resource to exploit, in such a way that its p
... See moreIn a world full of things to look at, our world rewards attention as a currency with things such as social media and other online spaces. What will grab attention? What will make people look?
What came first, attention as a currency or the rise of social media?