attention

This is why the placebo effect works, because while it doesn’t change any material thing, it changes the shape of your attention, which is the fabric of perception. The placebo effect is your belief made tangible.

I recently declared feed bankruptcy.

At various points in my week // day, I type "kottke.org" into my browser, hit enter, and read whatever is there. Then I type "chorus.fm" and do the same thing. Then Daring Fireball. Then Hacker News.

I read good things, on good websites.

And it feels like an exercise in nostalgia.

Between 2010 and now, we... See more

This, to me, is the proper role of attention. Attention must be in service to eros, or soul (my names for the structures of consciousness that attune us to Reality's desires for us). If we "worship" things out of animal craving, or boredom, or cultural habits, or social shoulds , or other such unconscious urgings, we're misusing one of our greatest... See more

One of the special things about human consciousness is that we can shape it. We can choose to bend and sculpt our consciousness through attention. Which, if you entertain a worldview similar to mine, means that we can sculpt Reality's intelligent drive towards Life & evolution by choosing what we attend to and how we attend to it.

When you choose whom to follow on Twitter, you’re choosing what types of mindsets and aesthetics to expose yourself to on a regular basis. You’re choosing what types of conversations to have. You’re choosing to be reminded regularly of certain things, and not of others. This is a kind of Programmable attention.