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I'm currently halfway through Jenny's book of the same title, and the situated and the personal, with a strong philosophical grounding makes this such a refresh

I'm currently halfway through Jenny's book of the same title, and the situated and the personal, with a strong philosophical grounding makes this such a refreshing read compared to the rest of the literature on attention. Attending is such a subjective experience, and the personal account of developing a different kind of attention (especially one that is situated in places relatable to myself) makes this so much more meaningful than other, still excellent, but more View From Nowhere texts such as Stand Out of Our Light, or The Attention Merchants. Reading this post earlier this year stopped me in my tracks and would highly recommend the book if you enjoyed this!

trevyn 7y ago
While I am glad to see and encourage the production of more material on the topic of intentional attention, I found this particular book amateurish and much more of an angry clichéd rant about active resistance against certain qualities of our current political and cultural climate than useful and fundamental advice on personal attentional freedom, and would actively dis-recommend this book.
- vollmond 7y ago
  Do you have others which you would recommend in this vein?
  - waveymaus 7y ago
    there are a few on the topic of the attention economy: - stand out of our light by james williams - the attention merchants by tim wu - the shallows by nicholas carr and not on the attention economy, but nervous states by william davies is very much in the similar thread.
- waveymaus 7y ago
  well i’m sorry to hear that. i understand your point about cliché. there is a good deal of tired arguments to be made about how to be more human, but i’ve still never read one that is as personal as this one. as for being “useful”, it is not so cut and dry, which i think her philosophy wouldn’t allow. it isn’t a “do this” so much as it is an “i did this”. and for me, the subjectivity of attention is much better lent to that than some objective diagnosis of attention.

trevyn 7y ago

While I am glad to see and encourage the production of more material on the topic of intentional attention, I found this particular book amateurish and much more of an angry clichéd rant about active resistance against certain qualities of our current political and cultural climate than useful and fundamental advice on personal attentional freedom, and would actively dis-recommend this book.

vollmond 7y ago
Do you have others which you would recommend in this vein?
- waveymaus 7y ago
  there are a few on the topic of the attention economy: - stand out of our light by james williams - the attention merchants by tim wu - the shallows by nicholas carr and not on the attention economy, but nervous states by william davies is very much in the similar thread.
waveymaus 7y ago
well i’m sorry to hear that. i understand your point about cliché. there is a good deal of tired arguments to be made about how to be more human, but i’ve still never read one that is as personal as this one. as for being “useful”, it is not so cut and dry, which i think her philosophy wouldn’t allow. it isn’t a “do this” so much as it is an “i did this”. and for me, the subjectivity of attention is much better lent to that than some objective diagnosis of attention.