Attention!

I read an amazing article last week about the

attention economy.

That is, the world we live in. Where “one is never not on, at least when one is awake, since one is almost always paying, getting or seeking attention.”

The author of this article (Charlie Warzel) and the subject of this article (Michael Goldhaber, “the Cassandra of the Internet Age”) are talking mostly about technology and the glut of information that’s available to us these days. They’re arguing, wisely, that we’ve got “to pay attention to where we pay attention.”

I AGREE.

But maybe for slightly different reasons from Warzel and Goldhaber.

To me (and Sara Ruddick, one of my heroes, who wrote a wonderful book called Maternal Thinking: Toward a Politics of Peace), paying attention is a form of loving. It is a force for good. It happens between two people, one who needs attention and the other who has the attention to give.

When my daughter was very little and would act badly, I would contemplate ignoring her. I mean, she was “negative-attention-seeking,” (or even just “attention-seeking”), right? And that’s bad, right?

Wrong.

I realized that, if my daughter needed attention, that’s what I would give her. Not attention that shamed her — “Stop it! You’re being obnoxious!” — but attention that satisfied her need. Whatever it was.

When I attended to her — that is, when I loved her — the bad behavior always ended.

This also applies to students.

This type of attention economy is what human co-existence depends on. Paying attention to, loving, caring for people in need is what attention is for. Because attention does seem to be a finite resource — there’s just so much attention we can “pay” without veering toward compassion fatigue or burnout — we do have to “pay attention to where we pay attention.” And take care of ourselves. And get cared for by others.

But this type of attention economy is different from the one Warzel and Goldhaber are talking about. I would actually call what they’re talking about a

distraction economy,

where distraction is the “currency.” Where distraction is the goal. Where the power of our attention is gutted and reduced to mere dopamine hits.

Where information, the content, is our focus rather than the purposes, the needs, underlying attention seeking. Or attention giving.

Looking underneath the content to the emotional bedrock is an important and highly productive way to use our attention. With our children. With our students. With each other.

Sorry:

I’m not sure watching cat videos or cruising around facebook is.

Mantra: My attention is precious. Distraction jerks me away from what matters. In my personal economy, what am I spending my attention on?