Attention (Part One)

Conversations with David J. Temple

Summary

This conversation explores the concept of attention and its importance in our lives. It delves into the attention economy and the hijacking of attention in the digital age. The speakers discuss the value of attention and its role in uniqueness, eros, and intimacy. They also examine the evolution of attention and its expression in pre-modern, modern, and post-modern times. The conversation highlights the distinction between attending beings and reliably differentially responding beings. It explores the problems with surveillance and the degradation of attention in conditioning. Ultimately, the conversation emphasizes the fundamental need for attention and the consequences of degrading it.

Takeaways

• The attention economy involves the grabbing and hijacking of attention in order to keep people online and engaged.
• Attention is a core structure of cosmos and is intimately related to love, creativity, and intimacy.
• Surveillance degrades attention by reducing it to a form of control and manipulation.
• The vulnerability of the attentional system makes it susceptible to capture and exploitation.
• Attention is a fundamental human need and its degradation threatens our humanity.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

00:46 The Attention Economy

03:02 The Problem with Stealing Attention

05:21 The Value of Attention

07:08 Attention as a Core Structure of Cosmos

08:49 The Evolution of Attention

10:08 Attention in Pre-Modern, Modern, and Post-Modern Times

11:19 Attention in Evolution

12:56 Joint Attention and Language

15:13 Attention in Intergenerational Transmission

18:05 The Universe Values Attention

20:36 The Relationship Between Love and Attention

23:55 Continuity and Discontinuity of Attention

26:05 The Difference Between Attending Beings and Reliably Differentially Responding Beings

27:40 The Problem with Surveillance

29:14 The Distortion of Love and Attention

30:00 The Degrading of Attention in Surveillance

32:27 The Difference Between Surveillance and Conditioning

36:23 The Manipulation and Control of Attention

37:59 The Vulnerability of the Attentional System

39:08 The Need for Attention