Alex Wagner

But we really tend to think of it as an information economy in which the important stuff is information. Information is what's powerful information. What's important? People talk about like data is the new oil. And I think that just fundamentally misapprehends. the world we live in because information is infinite. It's generative and it's replicable.

But we really tend to think of it as an information economy in which the important stuff is information. Information is what's powerful information. What's important? People talk about like data is the new oil. And I think that just fundamentally misapprehends. the world we live in because information is infinite. It's generative and it's replicable.

But we really tend to think of it as an information economy in which the important stuff is information. Information is what's powerful information. What's important? People talk about like data is the new oil. And I think that just fundamentally misapprehends. the world we live in because information is infinite. It's generative and it's replicable.

Like think about your own personal data, which people talk about all the time. It's like if your personal data, Tim Miller, is in the hands of 10 companies or 100 companies, it does not change your life one iota. Maybe it changes a little bit the ads you get. If your attention is somewhere else in a given moment,

Like think about your own personal data, which people talk about all the time. It's like if your personal data, Tim Miller, is in the hands of 10 companies or 100 companies, it does not change your life one iota. Maybe it changes a little bit the ads you get. If your attention is somewhere else in a given moment,

Like think about your own personal data, which people talk about all the time. It's like if your personal data, Tim Miller, is in the hands of 10 companies or 100 companies, it does not change your life one iota. Maybe it changes a little bit the ads you get. If your attention is somewhere else in a given moment,

That actually does change your life, like from moment to moment, if your attention is being taken as opposed to your data. And so Herb Simon, who's this brilliant political scientist, economist in the 1970s, he just writes this paper about how you design an organization for an information rich world. And what he says is information actually consumes something and what it consumes is attention.

That actually does change your life, like from moment to moment, if your attention is being taken as opposed to your data. And so Herb Simon, who's this brilliant political scientist, economist in the 1970s, he just writes this paper about how you design an organization for an information rich world. And what he says is information actually consumes something and what it consumes is attention.

That actually does change your life, like from moment to moment, if your attention is being taken as opposed to your data. And so Herb Simon, who's this brilliant political scientist, economist in the 1970s, he just writes this paper about how you design an organization for an information rich world. And what he says is information actually consumes something and what it consumes is attention.

And if you think of it that way, if you think the more information there is, the more asks there are on our attention, but attention is finite, you come to see that the information age is necessarily actually the attention age. And the resource that's being used and consumed and pulled on is our attention.

And if you think of it that way, if you think the more information there is, the more asks there are on our attention, but attention is finite, you come to see that the information age is necessarily actually the attention age. And the resource that's being used and consumed and pulled on is our attention.

And if you think of it that way, if you think the more information there is, the more asks there are on our attention, but attention is finite, you come to see that the information age is necessarily actually the attention age. And the resource that's being used and consumed and pulled on is our attention.

Yeah, I think I did. I mean, I think the important foundational insight here is that The way attention works as a necessary evolutionary inheritance is that our attention can be compelled without us willing it to be so.

Yeah, I think I did. I mean, I think the important foundational insight here is that The way attention works as a necessary evolutionary inheritance is that our attention can be compelled without us willing it to be so.

Yeah, I think I did. I mean, I think the important foundational insight here is that The way attention works as a necessary evolutionary inheritance is that our attention can be compelled without us willing it to be so.

Like if a siren is going off in an ambulance down the street, if you're in a party and someone drops a glass, if you're on a flight and a baby's crying, your attention goes to it before you get to weigh in consciously or not. And this aspect of attention is a really key one because it's at war with the conscious self.

Like if a siren is going off in an ambulance down the street, if you're in a party and someone drops a glass, if you're on a flight and a baby's crying, your attention goes to it before you get to weigh in consciously or not. And this aspect of attention is a really key one because it's at war with the conscious self.

Like if a siren is going off in an ambulance down the street, if you're in a party and someone drops a glass, if you're on a flight and a baby's crying, your attention goes to it before you get to weigh in consciously or not. And this aspect of attention is a really key one because it's at war with the conscious self.

And when you create competitive attention markets, they are going to drive towards that compelled attention, right? And that's what we have. So we're constantly struggling to reassert our own volition over where we put our mind because part of what we've inherited is the faculty for our mind to be pulled away from us.

And when you create competitive attention markets, they are going to drive towards that compelled attention, right? And that's what we have. So we're constantly struggling to reassert our own volition over where we put our mind because part of what we've inherited is the faculty for our mind to be pulled away from us.