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Ken's Reviews > How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy
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I guess it's not a good thing that my attention drifted while reading a book about resisting the attention economy. Some of it might be the book's organization. Although Odell organizes her chapters as "The Case for Nothing," "The Impossibility of Retreat," "Anatomy of a Refusal," "Exercises in Attention," "Ecology of Strangers," "Restoring the Grounds for Thought,," and "Conclusion: Manifest Dismantling," she also wanders off topic freely.
Some of this might be the mixing and mismatching of her own life and experiences with her research on experts worried about everyone's attentions being owned by social networks, phones, TVs, internet, influencers, etc. Perhaps if she kept the focus on her research it might have been sharper?
In any event, she's reasonable and doesn't insist you cold turkey your Facebook, TikTok, Twitter (now X-rated for lack of honesty), Instagram, yada yada. She just wants you to do your best and remember the good old days when people got out and mixed. You know, with their neighbors (of all people) and their fellow man (of all suspect creatures). There's also a pitch for alone time with nature, for bioregionalism, for being a steward of your local environment instead of being a lonely person whose best friend is her/his screen.
All good. It's just that the delivery was less steady than the advice.
Some of this might be the mixing and mismatching of her own life and experiences with her research on experts worried about everyone's attentions being owned by social networks, phones, TVs, internet, influencers, etc. Perhaps if she kept the focus on her research it might have been sharper?
In any event, she's reasonable and doesn't insist you cold turkey your Facebook, TikTok, Twitter (now X-rated for lack of honesty), Instagram, yada yada. She just wants you to do your best and remember the good old days when people got out and mixed. You know, with their neighbors (of all people) and their fellow man (of all suspect creatures). There's also a pitch for alone time with nature, for bioregionalism, for being a steward of your local environment instead of being a lonely person whose best friend is her/his screen.
All good. It's just that the delivery was less steady than the advice.
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Reading Progress
January 18, 2025
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January 18, 2025
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on-reading-radar
January 30, 2025
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Started Reading
February 13, 2025
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February 13, 2025
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nonfiction
February 13, 2025
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Comments Showing 1-22 of 22 (22 new)
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message 1:
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Kerry
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Feb 13, 2025 08:48AM
Thanks for your thoughts on this one. It got a lot of love for awhile and then seem to disappear. Loved what you had to say about the organization of it.
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Kerry wrote: "Thanks for your thoughts on this one. It got a lot of love for awhile and then seem to disappear. Loved what you had to say about the organization of it."Guess I missed the hullabaloo when it came out. Seems there's been so many books LIKE this that it's easy to lose track of specific ones. In any event, some interesting things here, on the one hand, yet it remains skippable nonetheless, on the other.
I’m sure glad I didn’t cold-turkey GR. How else could I ‘have met’ a cool cat such as yourself, Ken?
Ulysse wrote: "I’m sure glad I didn’t cold-turkey GR. How else could I ‘have met’ a cool cat such as yourself, Ken?"Ha! Yes, Ulysse, GR is proof positive that we shouldn't cool our turkeys too fast when it comes to the attention economy. It's the only "social network" I belong to, spare Bluesky, which I only joined as a means of helping it counterbalance Herr Musk's X-marks-the-spot-remover.
And cool cat back!
Agreed. (It was a bit of a snooze for me).
it's hard to disagree with the idea that we are more alone with our attention constantly elsewhere, I suspect books about the present are difficult to get right simply because they do not have the clarity of distance. Though this sounds much like describing oneself as stuck in mud, knee deep, trying to get out.
Drew wrote: "Agreed. (It was a bit of a snooze for me)."And what's the attention economy to us when we're sleeping? :-)
Nick wrote: "it's hard to disagree with the idea that we are more alone with our attention constantly elsewhere, I suspect books about the present are difficult to get right simply because they do not have th..."
Good points. Distance provides perspective and we have a ways to go. Perhaps a long ways.
I wish I could ban all laptops and phones in the classroom, but the reality is that students save money by purchasing e-book versions of expensive college textbooks, so there's just no way of monitoring how many ways attentions are sliced in a classroom's economy.
You would think the delivery would be key in a book like this, Ken. Almost hard to focus on all that is out there!
Ken wrote: "Nick wrote: "it's hard to disagree with the idea that we are more alone with our attention constantly elsewhere, I suspect books about the present are difficult to get right simply because they d..."
Ah, yes, you're back in the class room: the coal face of attention deficits.
Did you find anything useful in this you'll remember to try for yourself, Ken? During a long train journey, I noticed how relieved and cheerful I felt, having no internet connection, enjoying chatting with my children and being entirely immersed in a novel without distraction.
David wrote: "You would think the delivery would be key in a book like this, Ken. Almost hard to focus on all that is out there!"Yes, David, there's irony to be found in this. I suppose It could be me, but really, how many times can I take the blame? (Even married men have their limits, ha-ha.)
Nick wrote: "Ken wrote: "Nick wrote: "it's hard to disagree with the idea that we are more alone with our attention constantly elsewhere, I suspect books about the present are difficult to get right simply be..."
Nice metaphor, Metaphor Man.
Ilse wrote: "Did you find anything useful in this you'll remember to try for yourself, Ken? During a long train journey, I noticed how relieved and cheerful I felt, having no internet connection, enjoying chatt..."In truth, I'm probably not the target audience because I am much less invested in tech than most. I only got a cellphone three years ago after my first retirement because my wife insisted she needed to be able to find me when I wandered off on walks (which Odell would approve-- the walks, not the phone). That phone is little used and often left downstairs when I'm up, inside the house when I'm out, in the car when I'm in the house. You get the picture.
As for divesting myself from TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X, and other social platforms, I never invested in the first place. So, I guess the biggest take away for me is to get out there NOT ALONE but in a more social manner. When I see a neighbor, do more than wave. Strike up a conversation now and then. Invest in more relationships (a problem in general with men, compared to women). That sort of thing.
“an action plan to resist capitalist narratives of productivity and techno-determinism, and to become more meaningfully connected in the process”Great one more thing I gotta do …
Seriously, interesting discussion about an interesting topic. It seems like we need a different word for the kind of dull, unfocused awareness some people keep across media outlets. Attention is something I want to reserve for intentional and engaged focus.
I’m like a word invention game . How about :“The Infatuation Economy “
Really it’s simply a Command Economy without a five year plan run by a handful of tech billionaires
path wrote: "“an action plan to resist capitalist narratives of productivity and techno-determinism, and to become more meaningfully connected in the process”Great one more thing I gotta do …
Seriously, inte..."
I like the idea of hoarding your attention for worthwhile subjects. Or at least what we suppose might be worthwhile... you don't know till you're paying attention!
Nick wrote: "I’m like a word invention game . How about :“The Infatuation Economy “
Really it’s simply a Command Economy without a five year plan run by a handful of tech billionaires"
The Supreme Court, a few years back, ruled that corporations were people. It was the beginning of the end, which is now in fast-forward.
I am with Ilse on train journeys. Don’t tell him but, sometimes when I meet up with a friend, I enjoy the train ride to and from his place almost as much as his company. It is so precious to be totally immersed in something (anything) and I feel that lately I simply do not get enough of it. Hence my penchant for what I refer to as “writers-who-make-you-slow-down” (Proust and Murnane are my prime examples but if you have any other tips, do let me know!
Jeroen wrote: "I am with Ilse on train journeys. Don’t tell him but, sometimes when I meet up with a friend, I enjoy the train ride to and from his place almost as much as his company. It is so precious to be tot..."Yes, an important distinction that this author would endorse -- being totally immersed in your own pursuits and pleasures OR with other human beings, from the intimacy of your own family to the familiarity of friends. Oh. And sometimes including the pleasure of meeting someone new. We don't do that enough. At least in person.
Here it's easy.
Oh! And Beckett of course. A recent discovery in my case but one I intend to explore more.
Totally agree Ken. We need all in equal measure.
