attention is sacred
exploring the sacred nature of "attention"
sari and
attention is sacred
Perhaps that is why so many of us have half-done tasks on our to-do lists and half-read books on our bedside tables, scroll through Instagram while simultaneously semi-watching Netflix, and swipe between apps and tabs endlessly, from when we first open our eyes until we finally fall asleep. One uncomfortable explanation for why so many aspects of
... See moreCasey Cep • What Monks Can Teach Us About Paying Attention
A book is, we know, an unrivaled technology for living more life .
The contemporary internet-abetted image, on the other hand, is a highly potent yet f--ked-up technology for living more life. It comes with all kinds of strings attached, and it has a way of leaving us feeling lonely, lacking, unsatisfied, and jittery.
This is not thanks to creeping... See more
The contemporary internet-abetted image, on the other hand, is a highly potent yet f--ked-up technology for living more life. It comes with all kinds of strings attached, and it has a way of leaving us feeling lonely, lacking, unsatisfied, and jittery.
This is not thanks to creeping... See more
This life gives you nothing
Normally, when we pay attention to someone or something, we undertake what Weil calls a “muscular effort”: our eyes lock on another’s eyes, our expressions reflect the proper response, and our bodies shift in relation to the object to which we are paying attention. This kind of attention flourishes in therapists’ offices, business schools, and... See more
Robert Zaretsky • Simone Weil’s Radical Conception of Attention
muscular effort vs reflective attention
We don’t track time on site on Sublime. We also don’t track passive consumption. We only track people actively building and curating their library (which itself is not a perfect metric - because we don’t want to incentivize collecting. we want to incentivize creating with your knowledge) but is better than time on platform.
If a platform enables
... See more
Rather than the contracting of our muscles, attention involves the canceling of our desires; by turning toward another, we turn away from our blinding and bulimic self. The suspension of our thought, Weil declares, leaves us “detached, empty, and ready to be penetrated by the object.”
Robert Zaretsky • Simone Weil’s Radical Conception of Attention
The hardest thing is making anyone care.
In the Renaissance, a Florentine merchant could sponsor an artwork that would matter for centuries. In the early days of the American republic, a pamphlet could catalyze revolution. Today, even the most earnest Substack post risks being skimmed between an AI-generated video essay and a TikTok about luxury... See more
In the Renaissance, a Florentine merchant could sponsor an artwork that would matter for centuries. In the early days of the American republic, a pamphlet could catalyze revolution. Today, even the most earnest Substack post risks being skimmed between an AI-generated video essay and a TikTok about luxury... See more
Joan Westenberg