Alex Wagner

Yeah, I think that's right. And again, I think that's just because when they're in that interview, they're not thinking about how do I keep people's attention? They're thinking about how do I not screw up and make news? I mean, again, that's that is that's the key part of the orientation here.

Yeah, I think that's right. And again, I think that's just because when they're in that interview, they're not thinking about how do I keep people's attention? They're thinking about how do I not screw up and make news? I mean, again, that's that is that's the key part of the orientation here.

Yeah, I think that's right. And again, I think that's just because when they're in that interview, they're not thinking about how do I keep people's attention? They're thinking about how do I not screw up and make news? I mean, again, that's that is that's the key part of the orientation here.

The broad thesis is that we live in an age, you know, if the defining resource of the industrial age was fossil fuels, and if you look at 1961 of the top 10 companies by, you know, assets, it was like oil companies and like DuPont and General Motors, right? Physical production and... If you look now, it's attention companies and that's Google and it's meta. It's to a certain extent, Microsoft.

The broad thesis is that we live in an age, you know, if the defining resource of the industrial age was fossil fuels, and if you look at 1961 of the top 10 companies by, you know, assets, it was like oil companies and like DuPont and General Motors, right? Physical production and... If you look now, it's attention companies and that's Google and it's meta. It's to a certain extent, Microsoft.

The broad thesis is that we live in an age, you know, if the defining resource of the industrial age was fossil fuels, and if you look at 1961 of the top 10 companies by, you know, assets, it was like oil companies and like DuPont and General Motors, right? Physical production and... If you look now, it's attention companies and that's Google and it's meta. It's to a certain extent, Microsoft.

It's definitely Apple, which, of course, inaugurated the attention age with the birth of the iPhone in 2007. It's the guys on stage next to Donald Trump. And there's a few important things I think to say here. One is it's already intuitive that we have this like break between the old industrial economy and the new digital like information economy.

It's definitely Apple, which, of course, inaugurated the attention age with the birth of the iPhone in 2007. It's the guys on stage next to Donald Trump. And there's a few important things I think to say here. One is it's already intuitive that we have this like break between the old industrial economy and the new digital like information economy.

It's definitely Apple, which, of course, inaugurated the attention age with the birth of the iPhone in 2007. It's the guys on stage next to Donald Trump. And there's a few important things I think to say here. One is it's already intuitive that we have this like break between the old industrial economy and the new digital like information economy.

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.