TheZero-SumGameofAttention

HerbertSimon,theNobellaureate,saiditbestin1971: "Whatinformationconsumesisratherobvious:itconsumestheattentionofitsrecipients.Henceawealthofinformationcreatesapovertyofattention."

WearelivingintheAgeofAttentionPoverty.

TheEconomyofeyeballs

Thereare24hoursinaday.Yousleepfor8.Youworkfor8.Youhave8hoursof"discretionaryattention." Netflixwantsit.TikTokwantsit.Yourchildrenwantit.Thenewswantsit. ThisisaZero-SumGame. IfTikTokwins1hour,yourreadinghabitloses1hour. Unlikemoney,attentioncannotbesaved.Youcannothoardfocustodaytouseitnextweek.Itisaflowresource.Ifyoudon'tuseit,itdissipates.

TheDopamineLoop

Techcompanieshireneuroscientiststoengineer"Sticky"experiences. The"PulltoRefresh"mechaniconyourfeedisaSlotMachine. Youpullthelever.Thewheelspins(loadingicon).Yougetareward(newcontent)oryoudon't. VariableRewardSchedulesarethemostaddictivereinforcementpatternsknowntopsychology. TheyhaveweaponizedB.F.Skinner’spigeonexperimentsagainstus.

D_{release} approx rac{Reward_{magnitude}}{P(Reward)}

Theunpredictabilitymaximizesthedopaminespike.

DeepWorkvs.ShallowWork

CalNewportdistinguishesbetweenDeepWork(distraction-freeconcentration)andShallowWork(logistical-styletasks,checkingemails). ValueintheAIagewillaccruetothosewhocanperformDeepWork. AIcansendemails.AIcanwritebasiccode.AIcansummarizemeetings. AIcannot(yet)inventanewbranchofmathematicsorwriteasoul-crushingnovel. Thesetasksrequiredeepattention. Butourcapacityfordeepattentionisatrophying.Wearetrainingourbrainstobedistracted.Wegetanxiousifwearenotinterruptedevery6minutes.

TheResistance

Reclaimingattentionistherevolutionaryactofourtime. Itrequiresaggressivefiltering.

1. Notification Bankruptcy: Turn them all off.
2. Greyscale Mode: Turn your phone screen black and white. It becomes a tool, not a toy.
3. Physical separation: Sleep with the phone in another room.

Thebattleisasymmetrical.Youhavewillpower(afinitemuscle).Theyhavesupercomputers(infinitestamina). Youwillloseunlessyouchangetheterrain. Buildafortressofsilence.Defendyourmind.