Alex Wagner

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.

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 one of the key insights and aspects of the world we live in now, there's an incredible bit of literature on the cocktail party effect, which is if you're in a room and you hear your name, in another conversation, it will wrench you out. It will penetrate your consciousness and your attention will go to it. And no other stimuli works in the same way.

And one of the key insights and aspects of the world we live in now, there's an incredible bit of literature on the cocktail party effect, which is if you're in a room and you hear your name, in another conversation, it will wrench you out. It will penetrate your consciousness and your attention will go to it. And no other stimuli works in the same way.

And one of the key insights and aspects of the world we live in now, there's an incredible bit of literature on the cocktail party effect, which is if you're in a room and you hear your name, in another conversation, it will wrench you out. It will penetrate your consciousness and your attention will go to it. And no other stimuli works in the same way.

And we've got psychological literature on this. And that's because we also have inherited this desire and need for social attention. This is what's been so commercialized in the attention age. From the moment we come crying into the world, we necessarily depend on other human attention.

And we've got psychological literature on this. And that's because we also have inherited this desire and need for social attention. This is what's been so commercialized in the attention age. From the moment we come crying into the world, we necessarily depend on other human attention.

And we've got psychological literature on this. And that's because we also have inherited this desire and need for social attention. This is what's been so commercialized in the attention age. From the moment we come crying into the world, we necessarily depend on other human attention.

And because that inheritance is so deep, we now have a situation in which social attention from others can be experienced at scale in a way it never has before in the history of humankind. Getting social attention from strangers used to be something that like a tiny fraction of a sliver of people, you know, movie stars or politicians now like extremely hot people or extremely hot people.

And because that inheritance is so deep, we now have a situation in which social attention from others can be experienced at scale in a way it never has before in the history of humankind. Getting social attention from strangers used to be something that like a tiny fraction of a sliver of people, you know, movie stars or politicians now like extremely hot people or extremely hot people.

And because that inheritance is so deep, we now have a situation in which social attention from others can be experienced at scale in a way it never has before in the history of humankind. Getting social attention from strangers used to be something that like a tiny fraction of a sliver of people, you know, movie stars or politicians now like extremely hot people or extremely hot people.

Now, any teenager with a phone can experience this. Everyone can. And in fact, you see it like Elon Musk and a lot of people get driven insane by this in real time as you watch.