Some time ago, an article titled "The Battle for Attention" (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/05/06/the-battle-for-attention), written by Nathan Heller, appeared in The New Yorker. The author starts with a basic fact: our ability to concentrate has significantly decreased in recent years, mainly due to the growing influence of technology and digital life.
Heller, who has been on The New Yorker’s staff since 2013, recalls a scene he observed during a subway ride. He describes how people frantically shift between videos, messages, and other digital distractions, struggling to maintain sustained attention. This fragmentation of attention is exacerbated by multiple factors, including widespread multitasking and the design of digital platforms themselves, which are meant to keep users constantly engaged. We’ve all had similar experiences.
Heller highlights alarming data regarding the decline in attention span. The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) has reported a decrease in reading, math, and science skills among adolescents, partly due to digital distractions. Diagnoses of conditions such as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) are on the rise, especially among school-aged children. Even the media has been affected, with a reduction in the average duration of films and pop songs, adapting to these new dynamics.
The advertising sector was one of the first to notice and exploit this phenomenon, striving to capture users' attention with sophisticated strategies. Advanced technologies like eye-tracking and facial coding are now used to measure the value of attention.
One of the pioneers in using eye-tracking for these purposes was Daniel Kahneman, renowned for his studies on the psychology of attention. Kahneman taught at prestigious institutions such as the Hebrew University and Princeton and is best known for his collaboration with Amos Tversky on prospect theory, which revolutionized economic theories about decision-making. This work earned him the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002.
Kahneman was also a student of Herbert Simon, and in his book "Attention and Effort" (published in 1973), he explores the concept of attention and its role in cognitive information processing.
Kahneman focuses on the differences between two types of attention: selective and sustained. In the 1970s, he explained how attention is a key factor in our ability to perceive, process, and respond to information from the environment. He particularly analyzed how mental effort is distributed across different activities. Kahneman expanded on Herbert Simon’s theme of attention as a limited resource, investigating the limits of our ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
In the end, Heller offers a rather disheartening portrait of the modern situation in The New Yorker. Advertising campaigns are increasingly optimized for an audience with an attention span shorter than that of a goldfish, as pointed out by a Mastercard executive. Major agencies like Dentsu use new technologies, including eye-tracking and facial coding, to measure and maximize the value of viewers' attention. This dynamic has led some scholars to consider attention not just as an economic resource but as a force that bestows value on what it focuses on.
Heller also delves into more philosophical themes. He cites Yves Citton, a literature theorist, who suggests that attention should not be reduced to a mere economic unit but seen as a resource that enriches the surrounding world. Citton challenges the idea that the decline in attention can be blamed entirely on technology; instead, he sees it as part of a broader cultural and ideological transformation toward efficiency and objective measurement.
Here, the issue becomes very interesting to explore, and there is no shortage of references and reflections that point in that direction. We will work on these aspects in future newsletters.
However, what most captured my attention while reading the article was the reference to a secret organization called the Order of the Third Bird. The members of this group dedicate themselves to intentional practices of attention focused on works of art. They gather in museums to attentively observe art (often lesser-known pieces) for extended periods, seeking to restore a deep relationship with attention as a form of resistance against modern fragmentation.
This practice, as explained through the recounting of certain actions, becomes a way to "realize" the artwork, giving it meaning through attention and dialogue. Some consider this an act of resistance against the rapid consumption culture and pervasive distraction.
The reference was too interesting not to delve deeper. Following a procedure called Standard Protocol, participants go through several phases: Encounter (meeting the work), Attending (dedicated and complete concentration), Negation (a phase of mental liberation to remove the image of the work), and Realizing (returning to the work to rethink or complete it). This collective practice of attention becomes an act of resistance against the culture of modern distraction.
The Order of the Third Bird's connections with academic and artistic circles are vast and intricate. We will discuss this in greater detail in the next newsletter.