Attention

[Mole]

Attention is a scarce resource.

And Economics is the study of scarcity.

That is why I say, we live in an Attention Economy. And that is why advertisers spend billions of dollars every year just to get our attention.

But the best way to get attention is to give attention

And the best attention is empathic attention.

However we all seem to want and give sympathetic attention.

Sympathy means to feel the same as, and we try to share the same feelings and thoughts.

While empathy means knowing the feelings and thoughts of another, but not necessarily sharing them.

Sympathetic attention seems more natural, while empathic attention needs to be learnt, like reading and writing - so it is possible to become empathically literate.

I am not much good at giving attention because I am so concerned about getting enough attention for myself.

This leads to an attention poor environment - when, with a little practice, we can create an attention rich environment.

 

[BlackCat]

Why would an advertiser give attention to one person? That's a waste of time and energy for them, he would be much better off to advertise to the masses. This environment is unrealistic for our world. I'm curious as to how it could come to be and how it would look.

 

[Lateralus]

Is attention a resource? I suppose that depends on how you define a resource, but I don't view attention that way. It's far too abstract.

 

[ragashree]

I am not much good at giving attention because I am so concerned about getting enough attention for myself.

LOL. Victor, I honestly never would have guessed!

 

[Mole]

Is attention a resource? I suppose that depends on how you define a resource, but I don't view attention that way. It's far too abstract.

Yes, there is the abstract and the concrete.

And both are important.

In fact they have a relationship in that the abstract can refer to many concrete examples, while the concrete can't return the favour.

To be trapped in the concrete is like being trapped in a maze, while being trapped in the abstract is lifeless.

So to be alive and know where you are, you need to alternate between the abstract and the concrete - I call this, "l'alternance".

So in this case, the concrete is, "attention", and the abstract is, "resource".

 

[Mole]

Why would an advertiser give attention to one person? That's a waste of time and energy for them, he would be much better off to advertise to the masses. This environment is unrealistic for our world. I'm curious as to how it could come to be and how it would look.

A society based on the mass media, such as newspapers, radio and television creates a mass audience.

While a society based on the new media such as the internet creates audiences of many different tribes. And the MBTI tribe is one of them.

So rather than all of us reading the same newspaper, we talk with each other within our own tribe.

We are just starting to do this and so we have much to learn.

So we start off with sympathetic attention, but we know that empathic attention gives much greater returns in the Attention Economy.

Almost all of us here have been compelled by Law to go to school to learn to read and write. But probably none of us has learnt to give and receive empathic attention.

A good place to start is something called, "Active Listening".

Sometimes you can find a class on Active Listening.

Interestingly the internet is the perfect place to learn to give and receive empathic attention.

But so far as I know, no entrepreneur has taken advantage of this.

 

[matmos]

Economics is supply and demand. Nothing more.

If talking is supply, then listening is demand.

When no one listens and everybody talks we get inflation. And listeners become more in demand - their scarcity revalues them above talkers.

The intarwebs are the perfect playground for this to happen. And it is visible here.

So, you can instantly increase your value in the attention economy, as Victor says, by more listening and less talking.

You can't put a nut in a monkey's mouth if he's brushing his teeth!

I apologise if my style appears a parody, Victor. It just comes out that way.

 

[Synarch]

So rather than all of us reading the same newspaper, we talk with each other within our own tribe.

We are just starting to do this and so we have much to learn.

So we start off with sympathetic attention, but we know that empathic attention gives much greater returns in the Attention Economy.

Almost all of us here have been compelled by Law to go to school to learn to read and write. But probably none of us has learnt to give and receive empathic attention.

These are compelling thoughts, Victor. You are a potent thinker, though I sometimes struggle with your manner of expression.

We now have the ability to connect (each of us) with one another with minimal mediation. I wish I knew what the results may be, but I do think you hint at a powerful idea: these immediate, unmediated connections creating empathy and fostering human understanding. We see a splintering of once monolithic identities across the world, even while contextual tribal identities emerge. The end result may indeed be something where value is dictated by who can reach people most effectively.

 

[Giggly]

Attention is what we settle for when we can't get love.

 

[Synarch]

Attention is what we settle for when we can't get love.

That rings true to me. Attention is candy. Love is nourishment. Attention is easy, love is difficult. Attention is safe, love is risky.

 

[something boring]

Attention is what we settle for when we can't get love.

Excellent point.