May I Have Your Attention

These words sometimes come across the public address system in my apartment – usually in response to a fire inspection to warn us that the alarms are not signaling a real fire. But I noticed a connection in a recent article by Charles Warzel, who interviewed Michael Goldhaber and called him a Cassandra for our current age.

Goldhaber was a physicist but also something of a prophet. In the eighties he predicted that society would become totally a world of online technology – with its political rudeness, social media over-sharing, information hijacking, reality TV, influencers and bloggers. Distraction affects our action – or the lack of it.

Goldhaber later termed this “the attention economy”. Everyone from presidents to parents want to have global influence. It used to be that modesty and humility were the pre-eminent virtues but not any more. Everyone is busy seeking attention – or getting it. Attention has become the currency of advertising, journalism and social media where the numbers of likes or subscribers are the only thing that counts.

There is a certain amount of pushback lately with requests for content moderation and censorship. But there is also an appeal to first amendment rights - where what a president Tweets is just a personal expression of his point of view – or even after pushback explained away as sarcasm.

What really matters is that attention is power gained through tweets and rallies carried by cable news. Complaining about it or opposing it as some channels do doesn’t take away the attention. It enhances it.

What Goldhaber wonders about – and we should too – is the effect of this attnetion on democracy. What used to be nuanced discussion now come in the form of slogans. They are easy to say and obvious and become rallying cries. Difference of opinion now gives way to tribalism where every opponent becomes the enemy to be both feared and hated. It’s easy to voice and publish what used to be unmentionable and become a spokesman. These often are views that others have been afraid to say, but are willing to give power to anyone who can say it. That’s precisely the power of the former president.

What is to be done? We need to start to pay attention to personal our habits and hobbies. They simply relate to how we spend our time, a limited and precious commodity. A pandemic could be an unanticipated moment of grace to do that. We also need to see how we relate to the social issues of our era. We also need to re-evaluate our relationship with those closest to us and how to connect during a lockdown. Loneliness and discouragement are common emotions for all of us along with hope for better times. It is not insignificant that a reporter who followed the life of conspiracy enthusiasts found that much of their conversation is social – wishing one another happy birthday in the midst of spreading hateful or ridiculous information. What was desired and met was companionship.

I’ve been a fan of Howard Rheingold since I first encountered him in the eighties. I even wrote him once and was pleased when he took the time to write back. He says:

“Attention is a limited commodity – so pay attention where you pay attention”.