Conversations with David J. Temple Attention (Part One)
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