The Attention > Information Paradigm

Originally written on February 19th 2020

The abundance of information around us creates a scarcity of attention. Attention is not just the surface layer, but in a sense the whole stack of capacities we use to navigate life.

This scarcity frustrates our need for personal transformation, and is central to the meta-crisis of our time.

What does it mean to live in a world of attention scarcity?

I suggest that we need to change how we look at information and choose carefully what we give our attention to.

We evolved in environments where information was scarce

Imagine standing on a wide, open field. It’s a sunny, calm day.

You hear birds chirping. You smell the fresh air of a nearby forest. Every now and then, you mumble something to your fellow humans, but you mostly keep quiet. You’re all paying attention to small signals in your environment. What’s that movement in the grass? Is it a snake or the wind?

You encounter some berries and inspect them closely — are they the good kind? You notice the shape of some distant clouds. Does that mean some light rain or a heavy storm?

You haven’t checked your mails this morning, instead you paid close attention to the people around you. Using a significant amount of energy, your brain is trying to make sense of the expressions on their faces, the tone of their voices…