Chris Hayes

And there is something very similar happening, obviously, here, right? The expanded supply. So, like, eating into your sleep hours, that's more supply. Getting children, that's more supply. Looking at two or three things at once, which would have seemed totally, like, antisocial and borderline deranged. Two or three years ago, five years ago, 10 years ago.

Like if someone did that 10 years ago, you would have been like, what are you? It would be so weird. The qualitative or subjective experience of what attention is, is shifting.

Like if someone did that 10 years ago, you would have been like, what are you? It would be so weird. The qualitative or subjective experience of what attention is, is shifting.

Yes, the book was written before I think he kind of got a second chapter.

Yes, the book was written before I think he kind of got a second chapter.

That's a great point. Yes, I think he backed into the purchase of Twitter based on a kind of howling personal void. But in the same way that Donald Trump backed into the same insight born of his personality and his – upbringing in New York tabloid world, he figured something out that has been obviously tremendously valuable in dollar terms.

That's a great point. Yes, I think he backed into the purchase of Twitter based on a kind of howling personal void. But in the same way that Donald Trump backed into the same insight born of his personality and his – upbringing in New York tabloid world, he figured something out that has been obviously tremendously valuable in dollar terms.

One of the really important ironies here, which I think does map onto labor, is that the aggregate of attention, like lots of attention or the collective public attention is wildly valuable. Right. Volodymyr Zelensky is a great example of this. Right.

One of the really important ironies here, which I think does map onto labor, is that the aggregate of attention, like lots of attention or the collective public attention is wildly valuable. Right. Volodymyr Zelensky is a great example of this. Right.

The president Ukraine, like he understands that attention on Ukraine's plight is essentially the engine for securing the weaponry and resources his country needs to defend itself.

The president Ukraine, like he understands that attention on Ukraine's plight is essentially the engine for securing the weaponry and resources his country needs to defend itself.

And yet, even though the aggregate of attention is very valuable in market terms, each one of our individual attention, the second a second is like pennies, fractions, not even pennies, not even pennies, fractions of pennies. And that was exactly what it was like with labor.

And yet, even though the aggregate of attention is very valuable in market terms, each one of our individual attention, the second a second is like pennies, fractions, not even pennies, not even pennies, fractions of pennies. And that was exactly what it was like with labor.

when Marxists would say labor is a source of all value, they were right in the aggregate, take away all the workers and the industrial revolution doesn't happen. But to the individual worker in the sweatshop, the little slice of labor that you're producing is both everything you have as a person and worth nothing in the market, almost nothing.

when Marxists would say labor is a source of all value, they were right in the aggregate, take away all the workers and the industrial revolution doesn't happen. But to the individual worker in the sweatshop, the little slice of labor that you're producing is both everything you have as a person and worth nothing in the market, almost nothing.

And I think we have the same thing with attention where it's like, it's really valuable pooled and aggregated, like the most valuable, but Each individual part of it that we contribute is essentially worthless, is pennies. And then subjectively to us, it's all we have.

And I think we have the same thing with attention where it's like, it's really valuable pooled and aggregated, like the most valuable, but Each individual part of it that we contribute is essentially worthless, is pennies. And then subjectively to us, it's all we have.

I really like this theory. I think you're totally right to identify that they kind of – it's sort of a sliding scale between the two, which is to say –

I really like this theory. I think you're totally right to identify that they kind of – it's sort of a sliding scale between the two, which is to say –

politics that had the least attention money matters the most right so in a state rep race yes right money really matters state rep race partly because no one's paying attention to who the state rep is local media has been got in can buy their attention money can buy their opinion so you're like you could put out glossy mailers you could there's a lot you can do that the further up you go from that to senate to president the more attention there is already the less the money counts and you saw this with the harris campaign