Are We Thinking About Attention All Wrong?

From Economy to Ecology in the Work of Yves Citton

Recently I stumbled on this YouTube video of Professor Marion Thain explaining the emerging field of Attention Studies, based in a center at King’s College London. Scholars from all kinds of disciplines are combining forces to understand attention from a variety of academic perspectives, rooted firmly in historical analysis. Thain says they want to challenge the overly simplistic “yay or nay” approach to technology, and in particular, she’s interested in the “potential benefits of distraction.” I am very excited about this!!!!!

Somewhat serendipitously, I picked up McKenzie Wark’s book Sensoria, which is kind of like if a curatorial newsletter of current critical thought was translated into book form. One of the thinkers Wark looks at is the French media studies professor Yves Citton, who wrote a book called The Ecology of Attention in 2017 that vibes extremely well with Thain’s stated mission of Attention Studies.