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Stand Out of Our Light
Former Google advertising strategist, now Oxford-trained philosopher James Williams launches a plea to society and to the tech industry to help ensure that the technology we all carry with us every day does not distract us from pursuing our true goals in life. As information becomes ever more plentiful, the resource that is becoming more scarce is our attention. In this 'attention economy', we need to recognise the fundamental impacts of our new information environment on our lives in order to take back control. Drawing on insights ranging from Diogenes to contemporary tech leaders, Williams's thoughtful and impassioned analysis is sure to provoke discussion and debate. Williams is the inaugural winner of the Nine Dots Prize, a new Prize for creative thinking that tackles contemporary social issues. This title is also available as Open Access.
150 pages, Paperback
First published May 30, 2018
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August 12, 2019
An important book with many valid speculations and insights.
Williams takes his title from Diogenes, the prototype internet troll who enjoyed being an irritant to other philosophers. The broad thesis of the book is that "we" are misreading the internet and social media: they are neither knowledge systems nor communicative networks. They are, in fact, ways of attracting attention and re-directing people away from their wills. The "attention economy" is not designed malevolently, yet it does have adverse effects. (Williams is a Google analyst turned philosopher-- maybe he is slightly swayed here in his claim that no designer of a system does so with evil intent: a credo of "disruption" by the Silicon Valley gurus hardly strikes me as a sign of good intent). The effect of social media is to stand in the light of freedom and gradually erode away human attentiveness.
In Stand Out of Our Light, Williams writes with lucidity and urgency. His book won the 9 Point Prize for original thinking-- justifiably so. This book is his original submission developed into a full argument from a philosophical standpoint. Of the three parts, Distraction by Design, Clicks Against Humanity, The Freedom of Attention, the first is the most compelling, or maybe it would be fair to say the earthquake has hit by then and the subsequent chapters are after tremors.
Williams limits his examples and that gives the book great effect: well-drawn examples work better than countless facts. For example, China has an agency that specialises in social media interventions. It posts 448 million events on social media per year. The purpose is a politics of distraction (as with Trump) that diverts users away from engaging with real issues. Propaganda has become less effective as a means of control: suppression of dangerous ideas is better achieved by directing human thought processes towards irrelevance. And when it comes to distraction, the internet is a wide and fast flowing river.
The whole issue is a double-edged sword. It cuts one way and hides the cut that is about to come. Williams is spot on when he points out that the growing concern with social media and its effects on children is misleading. Why just children, he asks, why not "the child within us"? By focusing on the horrors unleashed on children, the horrors perpetrated against the adult will are happily forgotten. As he phrases the matter with full force:
"When our daylight is compromised, epistemic distraction results. Epistemic distraction is the diminishment of underlying capacities that allow a person to define or pursue their goals: capacities essential for democracy such as reflection, memory, prediction, leisure, reasoning and goal setting."
Williams is brilliant when it comes to analysing the metaphors that abound in the debate between social media serfdom and liberation. He points out that the counter-argument likes to discuss social media "addiction". It is an unreliable metaphor because medical addictions have a boundary line: beyond this you are an addict! No such boundary line exists with social media usage. And more to the point, social media usage does harm long before addiction/ extreme usage is reached. A personal example of this would be the friend who researches via the internet on his mobile phone, amidst pop ups, notifications from Instagram, email alerts, whilst listening to music on Spotify. Not only is the information being read dubious in the first instance but also the attention given to that information. For every distraction, it take 23 minutes for the brain to regain concentration (Williams). The quest for knowledge is continuously sidetracked by an attention seeking system. The result is "seduction" rather than "direction" or education, a continual re-direction of thought away from what the mind is trying to achieve. As Williams views it, a satellite navigation system going in the wrong direction.
Stand Out of Our Light is a perceptive work on human freedom and democracy. Social media, '"a race to the bottom of the brain stem"'.
Williams takes his title from Diogenes, the prototype internet troll who enjoyed being an irritant to other philosophers. The broad thesis of the book is that "we" are misreading the internet and social media: they are neither knowledge systems nor communicative networks. They are, in fact, ways of attracting attention and re-directing people away from their wills. The "attention economy" is not designed malevolently, yet it does have adverse effects. (Williams is a Google analyst turned philosopher-- maybe he is slightly swayed here in his claim that no designer of a system does so with evil intent: a credo of "disruption" by the Silicon Valley gurus hardly strikes me as a sign of good intent). The effect of social media is to stand in the light of freedom and gradually erode away human attentiveness.
In Stand Out of Our Light, Williams writes with lucidity and urgency. His book won the 9 Point Prize for original thinking-- justifiably so. This book is his original submission developed into a full argument from a philosophical standpoint. Of the three parts, Distraction by Design, Clicks Against Humanity, The Freedom of Attention, the first is the most compelling, or maybe it would be fair to say the earthquake has hit by then and the subsequent chapters are after tremors.
Williams limits his examples and that gives the book great effect: well-drawn examples work better than countless facts. For example, China has an agency that specialises in social media interventions. It posts 448 million events on social media per year. The purpose is a politics of distraction (as with Trump) that diverts users away from engaging with real issues. Propaganda has become less effective as a means of control: suppression of dangerous ideas is better achieved by directing human thought processes towards irrelevance. And when it comes to distraction, the internet is a wide and fast flowing river.
The whole issue is a double-edged sword. It cuts one way and hides the cut that is about to come. Williams is spot on when he points out that the growing concern with social media and its effects on children is misleading. Why just children, he asks, why not "the child within us"? By focusing on the horrors unleashed on children, the horrors perpetrated against the adult will are happily forgotten. As he phrases the matter with full force:
"When our daylight is compromised, epistemic distraction results. Epistemic distraction is the diminishment of underlying capacities that allow a person to define or pursue their goals: capacities essential for democracy such as reflection, memory, prediction, leisure, reasoning and goal setting."
Williams is brilliant when it comes to analysing the metaphors that abound in the debate between social media serfdom and liberation. He points out that the counter-argument likes to discuss social media "addiction". It is an unreliable metaphor because medical addictions have a boundary line: beyond this you are an addict! No such boundary line exists with social media usage. And more to the point, social media usage does harm long before addiction/ extreme usage is reached. A personal example of this would be the friend who researches via the internet on his mobile phone, amidst pop ups, notifications from Instagram, email alerts, whilst listening to music on Spotify. Not only is the information being read dubious in the first instance but also the attention given to that information. For every distraction, it take 23 minutes for the brain to regain concentration (Williams). The quest for knowledge is continuously sidetracked by an attention seeking system. The result is "seduction" rather than "direction" or education, a continual re-direction of thought away from what the mind is trying to achieve. As Williams views it, a satellite navigation system going in the wrong direction.
Stand Out of Our Light is a perceptive work on human freedom and democracy. Social media, '"a race to the bottom of the brain stem"'.
July 17, 2025
James talks about three types of attention that we can give:
And talks about how each one of them is being systemically compromised in the modern attention economy where perverse design logic and the minutest quantification of our worst instincts is what's driving the wheel forward.
I believe everyone has been through a phase in the last few years where you want to do something, but don't have the time to do it right now so you put the task on a to-do list where such tasks, 20 others after it, keep lying for a while. Till you eventually decide to-do one of two things, keep adding to the list (making the to-do list pretty much useless) or delete the tasks on them because let's face it you never ever found the free time to do those things that you had hoped you would enjoy doing. Essentially because the world around us is vying for our attention on a second by second basis, we lose track of our day, which snowballs into us losing track of our goals, and eventually our values. We may not notice the small, subtle changes that any app or product brings to our life on an everyday basis but their impacts show up over time in the form of compromised attention spans, inability to focus on what you want to do, and finally losing touch with our inner values. And when you complain about these forced changes to your behaviour, you're shown that TnC that you agreed to but didn't read. Too bad, should've paid more attention. lol
The attention economy, where the user is the product, is hell-bent on capturing your attention. Not being aware of how you see things in everyday life (especially since the advent of native advertising) is impacting you tremendously and will have disastrous consequences down the line such as loss of the ability to focus on anything that matters and the degradation of our democratic values to say the least. If left to the whims of the attention economy we'd be nothing more than mindless consumers who click like when we see something shiny.
The author does justice to a new and uncharted space, trying to build our vocabulary for dealing with the impacts of our attention being compromised. He rightly points out that the privacy of the mind should and must be treated as sacrosanct, just as privacy of a person is a fundamental right. It's a must-read if you don't want to lose the signals of the self in the noise of the world.
Edit: removed grammatical errors.
1. Spotlight (our immediate attention - like the next notification on your phone)
2. Starlight (our focus on mid-term goals - like health, personal growth)
3. Sunlight (our focus on values - how we'd like to be, how we'd like to impact the world)
And talks about how each one of them is being systemically compromised in the modern attention economy where perverse design logic and the minutest quantification of our worst instincts is what's driving the wheel forward.
I believe everyone has been through a phase in the last few years where you want to do something, but don't have the time to do it right now so you put the task on a to-do list where such tasks, 20 others after it, keep lying for a while. Till you eventually decide to-do one of two things, keep adding to the list (making the to-do list pretty much useless) or delete the tasks on them because let's face it you never ever found the free time to do those things that you had hoped you would enjoy doing. Essentially because the world around us is vying for our attention on a second by second basis, we lose track of our day, which snowballs into us losing track of our goals, and eventually our values. We may not notice the small, subtle changes that any app or product brings to our life on an everyday basis but their impacts show up over time in the form of compromised attention spans, inability to focus on what you want to do, and finally losing touch with our inner values. And when you complain about these forced changes to your behaviour, you're shown that TnC that you agreed to but didn't read. Too bad, should've paid more attention. lol
The attention economy, where the user is the product, is hell-bent on capturing your attention. Not being aware of how you see things in everyday life (especially since the advent of native advertising) is impacting you tremendously and will have disastrous consequences down the line such as loss of the ability to focus on anything that matters and the degradation of our democratic values to say the least. If left to the whims of the attention economy we'd be nothing more than mindless consumers who click like when we see something shiny.
The author does justice to a new and uncharted space, trying to build our vocabulary for dealing with the impacts of our attention being compromised. He rightly points out that the privacy of the mind should and must be treated as sacrosanct, just as privacy of a person is a fundamental right. It's a must-read if you don't want to lose the signals of the self in the noise of the world.
Edit: removed grammatical errors.
April 10, 2021
La tecnología va más rápido que nuestra capacidad de adaptarnos, de evaluar sus consecuencias, de legislar las acciones mediante el uso de la ética...
Aunque no cabe la menor duda de que internet nos ha abierto muchísimas posibilidades, también es importante darnos cuenta de su parte más oscura. La publicidad se ha hecho dueña de esta herramienta y las grandes empresas que practicamente lo monopolizan todo diseñan sus productos por y para ella basándose en las investigaciones de décadas que ha hecho la psicología.
No vivimos en la era de la información, sino en la de la atención. Literalmente hay una guerra muy competitiva por querer robar nuestra atención para que veamos/hagamos clic en los anuncios que nos muestran. La cultura de lo gratis en internet se paga con otra moneda que tiene consecuencias graves para nosotros.
Ya no se trata tanto de que quieren vendernos lo que necesitamos, sino de que quieren que necesites lo que ellos venden utilizando estrategias rastreras que van directas a nuestros sesgos cognitivos, a nuestras necesidades psicológicas humanas y las zonas más primitivas de nuestro cerebro.
Un gran ensayo para reflexionar sobre este gran problema, para hacer algo antes de que se nos vaya de las manos y sobre todo para observar nuestro comportamiento en internet.
Aunque no cabe la menor duda de que internet nos ha abierto muchísimas posibilidades, también es importante darnos cuenta de su parte más oscura. La publicidad se ha hecho dueña de esta herramienta y las grandes empresas que practicamente lo monopolizan todo diseñan sus productos por y para ella basándose en las investigaciones de décadas que ha hecho la psicología.
No vivimos en la era de la información, sino en la de la atención. Literalmente hay una guerra muy competitiva por querer robar nuestra atención para que veamos/hagamos clic en los anuncios que nos muestran. La cultura de lo gratis en internet se paga con otra moneda que tiene consecuencias graves para nosotros.
Ya no se trata tanto de que quieren vendernos lo que necesitamos, sino de que quieren que necesites lo que ellos venden utilizando estrategias rastreras que van directas a nuestros sesgos cognitivos, a nuestras necesidades psicológicas humanas y las zonas más primitivas de nuestro cerebro.
Un gran ensayo para reflexionar sobre este gran problema, para hacer algo antes de que se nos vaya de las manos y sobre todo para observar nuestro comportamiento en internet.
February 13, 2020
We spend too much time on our electronic devices. And, what we do is mostly controlled by the way we are subtly and overly manipulated. The book makes excellent points on how pernicious the impacts of such activities are individually as well as for society. The points are not new, but the discussions are forceful and convincing. With over three-quarters of the work focussing on how the online providers are hammering our all-important cognitive attentions, the arguments quickly turn repetitive. That said, this is a short book.
Despite many pedantic arguments, the author looks at the whole issue beyond their visible manifestations. A human, or any living organism, is always moved by her environment. Some may claim life as nothing but a struggle of the free-will - to the extent it exists - against environmental forces. These beyond-an-individual's-control factors could be natural or human-made. Some of them are worse than others. There is nothing wrong with lamenting them or calling for an action to change them. However, it is still important to remember that a human is always within an environment, and with gazillions of influencers.
In the internet age, the influencer forms are different but not effects. If earlier I was waylaid by an unanticipated gust of wind, not it could be the lack of wifi. My knowledge and opinions depended on the headlines and content my newspaper editor decided to publish then and now by the social media algorithms. In another era, the game addict in me might have spent hours playing the street-side backgammon, and now it is Tetris. Most would disagree that we have less choice now compared to before.
Once again, the author is not wrong in demanding more freedom and less subtle manipulations. However, he is too dismissive of the role that has to be played by self-discipline. If all of us are constantly made aware of the pernicious influencers around us - through works like this book and just the way we are warned against phishing, for instance - the responsibility first and foremost has to be at the individual level. Tetris, for example, was not developed by a group of most intelligent behavioral manipulators. It was built by kids looking for pure fun on a new gadget and still created addicts, like the author himself.
The author's other solutions in the last part of the book also fall short as he tries to pin all the blames and responsibilities on no individual entity but the overall milieu. The solutions effectively rely on good samaritans within the technology sector to almost voluntarily reduce the focus on advertising revenues, take the developer auth to do only the right thing, and forsake profits. This is despite the author arguing earlier in the book that almost all individuals working for all the tech companies have little intention to do any evil. Still, somehow, the corporate setup makes them do these things without realizing or without the ability to withdraw. The author - who favors users to opt-in for advertisements rather than opt-out in settings - never realizes that such processes will create prohibitive cost increases for simplest of activities on Google, messaging platforms, Facebook, or even Twitter.
Ideal solutions perhaps require strict government regulations on the usage time for specific user groups or activities, higher taxation on excessive use/profits, and even monitoring regulators/agencies in the same vein as movie censor boards. Market-based solutions have begun to appear already with a plethora of ever-improving tools measuring the usage times and issuing warnings. A rising din of voices on the topic, like this book, are also raising public awareness with many self-driven initiatives - akin to people voluntarily picking up exercising with more health awareness. At least for this reviewer, the solutions are going to be less driven by tech companies and more by outsiders.
Despite many pedantic arguments, the author looks at the whole issue beyond their visible manifestations. A human, or any living organism, is always moved by her environment. Some may claim life as nothing but a struggle of the free-will - to the extent it exists - against environmental forces. These beyond-an-individual's-control factors could be natural or human-made. Some of them are worse than others. There is nothing wrong with lamenting them or calling for an action to change them. However, it is still important to remember that a human is always within an environment, and with gazillions of influencers.
In the internet age, the influencer forms are different but not effects. If earlier I was waylaid by an unanticipated gust of wind, not it could be the lack of wifi. My knowledge and opinions depended on the headlines and content my newspaper editor decided to publish then and now by the social media algorithms. In another era, the game addict in me might have spent hours playing the street-side backgammon, and now it is Tetris. Most would disagree that we have less choice now compared to before.
Once again, the author is not wrong in demanding more freedom and less subtle manipulations. However, he is too dismissive of the role that has to be played by self-discipline. If all of us are constantly made aware of the pernicious influencers around us - through works like this book and just the way we are warned against phishing, for instance - the responsibility first and foremost has to be at the individual level. Tetris, for example, was not developed by a group of most intelligent behavioral manipulators. It was built by kids looking for pure fun on a new gadget and still created addicts, like the author himself.
The author's other solutions in the last part of the book also fall short as he tries to pin all the blames and responsibilities on no individual entity but the overall milieu. The solutions effectively rely on good samaritans within the technology sector to almost voluntarily reduce the focus on advertising revenues, take the developer auth to do only the right thing, and forsake profits. This is despite the author arguing earlier in the book that almost all individuals working for all the tech companies have little intention to do any evil. Still, somehow, the corporate setup makes them do these things without realizing or without the ability to withdraw. The author - who favors users to opt-in for advertisements rather than opt-out in settings - never realizes that such processes will create prohibitive cost increases for simplest of activities on Google, messaging platforms, Facebook, or even Twitter.
Ideal solutions perhaps require strict government regulations on the usage time for specific user groups or activities, higher taxation on excessive use/profits, and even monitoring regulators/agencies in the same vein as movie censor boards. Market-based solutions have begun to appear already with a plethora of ever-improving tools measuring the usage times and issuing warnings. A rising din of voices on the topic, like this book, are also raising public awareness with many self-driven initiatives - akin to people voluntarily picking up exercising with more health awareness. At least for this reviewer, the solutions are going to be less driven by tech companies and more by outsiders.
April 27, 2024
El autor de "Clics contra la humanidad" plantea una reforma de la economía de la atención ya que la publicidad y la tecnología han conseguido hacernos pasar de una era de la información a una era en la que la atención es aquello que define lo que podemos realizar. No solo por cuestiones de tiempo, sino de procesamiento cognitivo.
A pesar de los pensamientos generales y globales de los que se hablan, ya que esta cuestión afecta a miles de millones de personas, también se puede ver desde el prisma más individual, como ha sido mi caso. ¿Donde debo prestar mi atención si los sistemas tecnologicos existentes se crean basados en la persuasión sin ética y en la información publicitaria que me distrae de mis objetivos personales? ¿Cómo puedo poner límites a algo creado para superar todas mis barreras cognitivas?
Uno solo no puede luchar contra algo tan grande, pero el hacerse esta pregunta ya ayuda a tratar de evitar esas distracciones que nos hacen perder nuestra luz.
He subrayado muchas frases, apuntado la bibliografía y devorado este ensayo. Como persona que trabaja en publicidad, uno no puede mirar a otro lado. Igual que James William, ex-Googler desencantado con trabajar en algo que no se alineaba con sus valores.
"La atención se presta, sí, pero jamás se devuelve, como tampoco se devuelven las vidas que podríamos haber vivido."
A pesar de los pensamientos generales y globales de los que se hablan, ya que esta cuestión afecta a miles de millones de personas, también se puede ver desde el prisma más individual, como ha sido mi caso. ¿Donde debo prestar mi atención si los sistemas tecnologicos existentes se crean basados en la persuasión sin ética y en la información publicitaria que me distrae de mis objetivos personales? ¿Cómo puedo poner límites a algo creado para superar todas mis barreras cognitivas?
Uno solo no puede luchar contra algo tan grande, pero el hacerse esta pregunta ya ayuda a tratar de evitar esas distracciones que nos hacen perder nuestra luz.
He subrayado muchas frases, apuntado la bibliografía y devorado este ensayo. Como persona que trabaja en publicidad, uno no puede mirar a otro lado. Igual que James William, ex-Googler desencantado con trabajar en algo que no se alineaba con sus valores.
"La atención se presta, sí, pero jamás se devuelve, como tampoco se devuelven las vidas que podríamos haber vivido."
January 5, 2019
One of the best books I've read in a long time, devoured in one sitting.
October 10, 2024
read this for class but loved it
Read
March 19, 2021Interesantísimas y necesarias reflexiones de alguien que ha conocido dos orientaciones casi antagónicas del pensamiento humano: la absolutamente pragmática, centrada en el análisis de datos, el crecimiento, el capitalismo y la conversión de personas en usuarios (trabajando en Google), y la filosófica, que trata de tomar distancia y analizar la raíz de nuestras motivaciones más profundas y nuestros objetivos vitales como individuos y especie. Cuesta acercarse a algunas de sus reflexiones y propuestas sin sentirlas utópicas, pero, al mismo tiempo, su discurso resulta muy esperanzador, en cuanto a que empezamos a ser conscientes de lo que realmente estamos perdiendo al permitir que nuestra atención sea rehén de causas y empresas cuyos intereses realmente no coinciden para nada con los nuestros. Es solo una de las primeras piedras en un camino que apenas acabamos de iniciar y que va a requerir de nuevos lenguajes y paradigmas sobre la salud y el respeto atencional, pero es de agradecer que el autor nos haya brindado estas ideas de manera tan honesta y entendedora.
July 3, 2021
I read this book because a speaker at a high school graduation recommended it to the graduating seniors. I didn’t know what it was about, but he mentioned it was short and that it was really impactful for him (he was giving the advice of finding the right people and resources instead of listening to/ following just anyone) so I figured I’d pick it up.
Can confirm, it is short. But it is pretty dense and requires focus, which is something I’m not used to in a non-math related book. I think this book was interesting to read and reflect upon.
The basic premise of this book is that technology is not on our side so we need to stop pretending it is. Digital advertising, something that almost every company has, uses technology to exploit our attention and its goals do not align with ours (their ideal customer is one that stays on their site even though their customers do not WANT to binge watch another season, buy things they don’t even need, spend more time on social media, etc.). Our attention is the new currency.
Technology as it is “stands in our light” more than simply being annoying or distracting. The “lights” of our attention range from our spotlight (immediate capacities for navigating awareness and action toward tasks - enables us to do what we want to do), our starlight (broader capacities for navigating life - enables us to be who we want to be), and our daylight (fundamental capacities, such as reflection, reason, intelligence- enables us to want what we want to want).
To hunker down and expect to just stop getting distracted is ”akin to saying ‘Thousands of the world’s brightest psychologists, statisticians, and designers are now spending the majority of their waking lives figuring out how to tear down your willpower- so you just need to have more willpower.’”
Williams has some interesting suggestions for what companies, policies, and the field of tech, could do to be “on our side”: 1. rethink the nature and purpose of advertising, 2. conceptual and linguistic re-engineering, 3. change the upstream determinants of designs and 4. advance mechanisms for accountability, transparency, and measurement.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. It went well past the normal day-to-day speculations and discussions that I’ve had about technology in our life and society. The reason why I’m not giving it 5 stars is because I think it is harder to read than it should be. Maybe it’s just me, but I fell asleep a few times while reading and caught myself glazing over the words much more frequently than I usually do in a non fiction.
Can confirm, it is short. But it is pretty dense and requires focus, which is something I’m not used to in a non-math related book. I think this book was interesting to read and reflect upon.
The basic premise of this book is that technology is not on our side so we need to stop pretending it is. Digital advertising, something that almost every company has, uses technology to exploit our attention and its goals do not align with ours (their ideal customer is one that stays on their site even though their customers do not WANT to binge watch another season, buy things they don’t even need, spend more time on social media, etc.). Our attention is the new currency.
Technology as it is “stands in our light” more than simply being annoying or distracting. The “lights” of our attention range from our spotlight (immediate capacities for navigating awareness and action toward tasks - enables us to do what we want to do), our starlight (broader capacities for navigating life - enables us to be who we want to be), and our daylight (fundamental capacities, such as reflection, reason, intelligence- enables us to want what we want to want).
To hunker down and expect to just stop getting distracted is ”akin to saying ‘Thousands of the world’s brightest psychologists, statisticians, and designers are now spending the majority of their waking lives figuring out how to tear down your willpower- so you just need to have more willpower.’”
Williams has some interesting suggestions for what companies, policies, and the field of tech, could do to be “on our side”: 1. rethink the nature and purpose of advertising, 2. conceptual and linguistic re-engineering, 3. change the upstream determinants of designs and 4. advance mechanisms for accountability, transparency, and measurement.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. It went well past the normal day-to-day speculations and discussions that I’ve had about technology in our life and society. The reason why I’m not giving it 5 stars is because I think it is harder to read than it should be. Maybe it’s just me, but I fell asleep a few times while reading and caught myself glazing over the words much more frequently than I usually do in a non fiction.
August 6, 2020
Tech companies have long presented their latest technologies and so called "smart" gadgets as tools that help us achieve our goals. The basic argument of this book is that our technologies in fact have an in-built adversarial agenda against us and that, far from being designed as tools that are there to serve us, they are in fact designed with other goals in mind (such as maximizing "engagement"). The author uses the metaphor of a GPS to illustrate this point. When you use a GPS, you expect it to help you navigate towards a destination that you have chosen for yourself. But imagine if you had a GPS that was programmed to take you to a pre-set destination and which was practically impossible to program for yourself. Such is modern technology in the attention economy.
Of course it could be argued that there's nothing sinister about companies wanting you to maximize engagement with their products. Isn't that what all companies are supposed to do? Nir Eyal makes this point in his latest book "Indistractable". However, I do believe that this is a gross oversimplification of the problem. For one, these gadgets/services have an unprecedented level of access to our lives and minds and can thus not be compared to other kinds of consumer goods.
Of course it could be argued that there's nothing sinister about companies wanting you to maximize engagement with their products. Isn't that what all companies are supposed to do? Nir Eyal makes this point in his latest book "Indistractable". However, I do believe that this is a gross oversimplification of the problem. For one, these gadgets/services have an unprecedented level of access to our lives and minds and can thus not be compared to other kinds of consumer goods.
May 31, 2022
Nuskambės klišiškai, bet privertė susimąstyti apie tai, kaip vagiamas mūsų dėmesys, kaip veiki "dėmesio ekonomika". Iš esmės tampame tuo, į ką kreipiame dėmesį. Analizuojant soc tinklų poveikį gebėjimui sutelkti dėmesį, akcentas čia dedamas ne individualiems, bet kolektyviniams veiksniams. Prie autoriaus parašyta, kad filosofas, bet prieš juo tampant Google dirbo. Dabar va pasakoja apie socialinių tinklų etiką ir poveikį žmogui. Turiu pasakyti, kad visai įdomu girdėti sąsajas su įvairiomis senovės ir ne tik filosofų mintimis siejant jas su nūdienos medijų temomis.
August 10, 2019
Just finished reading this powerful, short (125-page) book about Web technology and the race to capture our attention — i.e. The Attention Economy. So many provocative questions and musings. (The book is also required reading for Princeton’s incoming freshmen.) Highly recommended.
PS: You can download the PDF for free here: https://static1.squarespace.com/stati...
PS: You can download the PDF for free here: https://static1.squarespace.com/stati...
June 22, 2019
Disappointing. Starts out strong with great insight, stumbles into too much philosophy and ends up with completely impractical solutions.
January 22, 2024
This take on the attention economy felt deeper and more important than others I’ve read. The arguments for focusing on issues of attention rather than information, advancing humanity rather than manipulating it, and dropping the addiction rap are all forceful and convincing.
It did turn a bit repetitive and present broad strokes of unlikely solutions, but this is still a good starting point for necessary discussions, hopefully leading to change.
I also had a few disagreements but nothing too major. The main one is that prior to the internet people found other ways to rest through distraction their overwhelmingly complicated human brains and that need will never go away. But as the author says, an internet working for us would be amazing. Perhaps it could even guide us to healthy ways of managing that ungainly bowling ball we tote around on our necks.
It did turn a bit repetitive and present broad strokes of unlikely solutions, but this is still a good starting point for necessary discussions, hopefully leading to change.
I also had a few disagreements but nothing too major. The main one is that prior to the internet people found other ways to rest through distraction their overwhelmingly complicated human brains and that need will never go away. But as the author says, an internet working for us would be amazing. Perhaps it could even guide us to healthy ways of managing that ungainly bowling ball we tote around on our necks.
April 6, 2020
I struggled between an ok review 3.5 and a good review 4. The subject matter was dry and I felt the book was a bit repetitive and long-winded. I feel like he could have made the same point in less time. I will admit sheepishly that I slept thru chapter 12. Despite the negative, I did find some of the material interesting and many questions and quotes thought-provoking. I did listen to this on Audible (I purchased thru Chirp) I'm not sure If listening vs reading would make a difference in entertainment factor, I'm not willing to re-read to find out. Maybe someone out there who have read vs listened can let me know. I think I will settle my review on 3.5.
December 31, 2023
Ottima riflessione sull'impatto che la tecnologia digitale ha sulle nostre vite, il punto di vista è critico ma non anti-tecnologico e mette in luce l'evidente invasività dei media digitali sulla nostra attenzione, la tendenza delle piattaforme è generare una dipendenza fine a se stessa e vuota di senso, dove il nostro modo e tempo d'interazione è divenuto l'oggetto di analisi e profitto dei colossi tech, a discapito del fine intenzionale per cui queste piattaforme sono state create.
Attraverso riferimenti a filosofi antichi o contemporanei ed episodi autobiografici, l'invito dell'autore (ex strategist di google) è di non sottovalutare gli effetti di questo "inquinamento" attenzionale ma favorire una tecnologia dalla nostra parte, in armonia con i bisogni umani e per l'uomo; non in antagonismo con esso.
Attraverso riferimenti a filosofi antichi o contemporanei ed episodi autobiografici, l'invito dell'autore (ex strategist di google) è di non sottovalutare gli effetti di questo "inquinamento" attenzionale ma favorire una tecnologia dalla nostra parte, in armonia con i bisogni umani e per l'uomo; non in antagonismo con esso.
April 14, 2019
In a world in which we are always bombarded by endless distractions (notifications, emails, ads etc.), designed to capture our attention and to keep us hooked (by clicking, scrolling, watching etc.) - how do we maintain our attention (awareness) on the things which matter the most to us? How do we also maintain our capacity for being who we want to be, according to our goals and values? And, most important of all, how do we safeguard our capacities (reflection, reason etc.), which enable us to "want what we want to want"?
A thought-provoking book, with many insights and interesting facts (e.g. users check their phones on average of 150 times per day).
March 22, 2023
More of 3.5 stars. Well written but felt a bit repetitive. Probably due to the fact that the topic of "attention economy" has been widely covered, so it didn't feel very novel.
The message that resonated is the total misalignment of your personal goals (getting fit, reading more, learning new things etc) and that of the technology you are using (more clicks, serving better ads, increased screentime & engagement etc). It's time to start making technology work for us.
The message that resonated is the total misalignment of your personal goals (getting fit, reading more, learning new things etc) and that of the technology you are using (more clicks, serving better ads, increased screentime & engagement etc). It's time to start making technology work for us.
February 14, 2022
La cuestión de la pérdida de la atención y la concentración (por la irrupción de las nuevas tecnologías y redes sociales) es un problema en el que no dejo de pensar, porque me afecta directamente. El libro hace una muy buena aproximación al tema (por parte de una persona que conoce muy bien y de primera mano cómo funcionan las empresas tecnológicas). En fin, instalaos un ad block ya.
August 14, 2019
This is a very thought provoking book, that argues that there is an adversarial relationship before most modern digital tech (e.g social media) and our goals - tech is aiming to make money through capturing our attention, and in doing so subverts our abilities to pursue the things that actually matter. The author briefly touches on a number of cognitive loopholes that are often exploited by internet companies, and the consequences for our well being and society for having our attention bandied about.
While the book raises a number of points that were interesting to think about, there is a paucity of evidence (indeed, he argues against the need for evidence - that the internet changes too fast for us to get solid evidence, and that we're in a crisis situation that necessitates action before evidence could be collected). While he paints a plausible picture, and one that aligns with my inclinations, I often found myself wishing there was more meat and less alarmism.
Moreover, his suggested solutions were... not useful. Basically, he's identified a problem, and then adds a chapter at the end on what to do about it (probably because his publisher insisted) and has a lot of handwavy solutions that are clearly not going to be effective (e.g. have designers take an oath to care for the needs of the users over the needs of the company - aside from questions of who counts as a designer, and how to get them to take said oath, it doesn't take into account market pressures and the reality of winner take all societies... there will be people who violate the oath, and those people will win, leaving us where we were before, but with the power concentrated in the hands of the least ethical people).
Regardless, I learned some interesting things, and appreciated several of the thought exercises which led to hours of cognitive entertainment and some fun conversations.
While the book raises a number of points that were interesting to think about, there is a paucity of evidence (indeed, he argues against the need for evidence - that the internet changes too fast for us to get solid evidence, and that we're in a crisis situation that necessitates action before evidence could be collected). While he paints a plausible picture, and one that aligns with my inclinations, I often found myself wishing there was more meat and less alarmism.
Moreover, his suggested solutions were... not useful. Basically, he's identified a problem, and then adds a chapter at the end on what to do about it (probably because his publisher insisted) and has a lot of handwavy solutions that are clearly not going to be effective (e.g. have designers take an oath to care for the needs of the users over the needs of the company - aside from questions of who counts as a designer, and how to get them to take said oath, it doesn't take into account market pressures and the reality of winner take all societies... there will be people who violate the oath, and those people will win, leaving us where we were before, but with the power concentrated in the hands of the least ethical people).
Regardless, I learned some interesting things, and appreciated several of the thought exercises which led to hours of cognitive entertainment and some fun conversations.
February 18, 2020
The author, a former Google executive, wrote this book after completing a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Oxford. He successfully submitted the proposal for this book for the Nine Dots Prize, which recognizes original approaches to solving modern problems. The book was the pre-read selection for the undergraduate class entering Princeton University in 2019.
Williams' essential idea is that smartphones and other digital devices are consuming people's attention, diverting them from pursuing worthwhile goals. The abundance of information is overwhelming people's ability to process it. As a result, attention is becoming a scarce resource. In fact, the demands on our limited attention posed by digital tools are even more dangerous than the threats they pose to our privacy.
According to Williams, the problem here arises from the fact that Internet-based tools are not designed to help people seek self-fulfillment, but rather to advance the interests of the advertising industry. Therefore, he urges their complete redesign to align them with users' needs.
Throughout the book, Williams attempts to shed light on his topic by making references to philosophical insights ranging from Antiquity to the modern day. For example, the title stems from the itinerant philosopher Diogenes. "Stand out of my light" was his retort to Alexander the Great, who offered to fulfill his any wish. The notion here is that smartphones are standing in the way of our directing our own lives.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in exploring the philosophical underpinnings of our present predicament with digital technology and considering potential solutions.
Williams' essential idea is that smartphones and other digital devices are consuming people's attention, diverting them from pursuing worthwhile goals. The abundance of information is overwhelming people's ability to process it. As a result, attention is becoming a scarce resource. In fact, the demands on our limited attention posed by digital tools are even more dangerous than the threats they pose to our privacy.
According to Williams, the problem here arises from the fact that Internet-based tools are not designed to help people seek self-fulfillment, but rather to advance the interests of the advertising industry. Therefore, he urges their complete redesign to align them with users' needs.
Throughout the book, Williams attempts to shed light on his topic by making references to philosophical insights ranging from Antiquity to the modern day. For example, the title stems from the itinerant philosopher Diogenes. "Stand out of my light" was his retort to Alexander the Great, who offered to fulfill his any wish. The notion here is that smartphones are standing in the way of our directing our own lives.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in exploring the philosophical underpinnings of our present predicament with digital technology and considering potential solutions.
January 15, 2022
Un libro de fácil lectura para reflexionar sobre el impacto que tiene la tecnología en nuestra vida. ¿Están alineadas las máquinas tragaperras que llevamos todo el rato en el bolsillo con nuestros valores intrínsecos? ¿Contribuyen a nuestro desarrollo o nos restan secuestrando intrusivamente nuestra atención? ¿Promueven sistemas democráticos o la difusión de fake news? ¿Como reacciona nuestro cerebro frente a un bien que históricamente siempre ha sido escaso? ¿Qué intereses hay detrás y que la gente suele ignorar?
James Williams (ex-Google y cofundador de Times Well Spend junto Tristán Ferris) nos introduce a la economía de la atención. La visión de la gratificación instantánea de Aldolf Huxley ha triunfado frente a la escasez orwelliana. Los adversarios de la libertad no surgirán de nuestros miedos, sino de nuestros placeres.
Me gusta mucho la metáfora informativa del Tetris. Nuestra mente necesita tiempo y espacio para unir las piezas que caen de información desestructurada y poder hacer líneas. Es decir; convertir información en conocimiento. Si las piezas inconexas caen demasiado rápido no absorberemos nada. El scroll infinito zombifica nuestra atención y atonta a nuestra mente.
El futuro pasa por un diseño ético de la tecnología. Dónde el usuario sea el epicentro y no la diana (un nuevo Renacimiento Tecnológico?). En mi opinión se extenderán alternativas open source como Linux a dispositivos móviles , y por Ley, se obligará a fabricantes a dejar al usuario elegir que sistema operativo utilizar.
Dos frases para concluir:
“Los imperios del futuro son los imperios de la mente.” Winston Churchill. -> Nace un nueva forma de control y gobierno.
“El arte máximo consiste en limitarse.” Goethe -> Depositar sin reflexión y sin límites gran parte de nuestra vida a un algoritmo con fines puramente comerciales nos garantizará una ruina moral.
James Williams (ex-Google y cofundador de Times Well Spend junto Tristán Ferris) nos introduce a la economía de la atención. La visión de la gratificación instantánea de Aldolf Huxley ha triunfado frente a la escasez orwelliana. Los adversarios de la libertad no surgirán de nuestros miedos, sino de nuestros placeres.
Me gusta mucho la metáfora informativa del Tetris. Nuestra mente necesita tiempo y espacio para unir las piezas que caen de información desestructurada y poder hacer líneas. Es decir; convertir información en conocimiento. Si las piezas inconexas caen demasiado rápido no absorberemos nada. El scroll infinito zombifica nuestra atención y atonta a nuestra mente.
El futuro pasa por un diseño ético de la tecnología. Dónde el usuario sea el epicentro y no la diana (un nuevo Renacimiento Tecnológico?). En mi opinión se extenderán alternativas open source como Linux a dispositivos móviles , y por Ley, se obligará a fabricantes a dejar al usuario elegir que sistema operativo utilizar.
Dos frases para concluir:
“Los imperios del futuro son los imperios de la mente.” Winston Churchill. -> Nace un nueva forma de control y gobierno.
“El arte máximo consiste en limitarse.” Goethe -> Depositar sin reflexión y sin límites gran parte de nuestra vida a un algoritmo con fines puramente comerciales nos garantizará una ruina moral.
January 31, 2025
Fantastic non fiction book to read. Satisfied the student in me. Concise author who references an incredible array of references to get the reader to critically explore our attention span.
Please read if you have an unhealthy relationship with social media and technology. Also covers the breadth of being a good human and navigating hyper-polarized modernity.
"We have to lean into experiences of awe and wonder."
"We often conflate leisure with entertainment" **Connecting this to my favorite quote from the last book I finished "The sabbath" of "labor is a craft, but perfect rest is an art".**
Got me thinking critically about how the best minds of our generation are wasted on high-paying jobs designed to sell us ads and products and corrupt the human attention span.
Please read if you have an unhealthy relationship with social media and technology. Also covers the breadth of being a good human and navigating hyper-polarized modernity.
"We have to lean into experiences of awe and wonder."
"We often conflate leisure with entertainment" **Connecting this to my favorite quote from the last book I finished "The sabbath" of "labor is a craft, but perfect rest is an art".**
Got me thinking critically about how the best minds of our generation are wasted on high-paying jobs designed to sell us ads and products and corrupt the human attention span.
December 2, 2024
Un libro non molto lungo che porta però a fare delle riflessioni profonde sul nostro rapporto con Internet. James Williams è stato per anni strategist di Google e ha visto con i suoi occhi quale è il vero scopo delle tecnologie, dei social media: catturare la nostra attenzione a discapito di altre azioni al di fuori del telefono. Williams, con esempi pratici, ci fa ragionare su come le piattaforme fanno in modo di "manipolare" come ci sentiamo; su come ci trasformiamo in folle che linciano; sull'uso che ne fanno anche i governi... Mi ha fatto pensare molto su quanto utilizzo il telefono, su come finisco a guardare cose che neanche avevo cercato, su come mi pongo sui social... C'è davvero tanto su cui ragionare, lo consiglio molto! ❤️
July 15, 2021
The book is based on how modern technology feeds on our attention, and in doing so, flood our minds with so much information that we do not have enough time to process things. Moreover, in order to get our attention (and of course for some company's profit), they use all means, even if it harmful to us in the long run. The whole idea was out into good words in the book but I felt a part of it was repetitive (although presented in varied ways).
November 19, 2019
Una storia di fiducia tradita. Una storia vera eh, con una premessa di grandi promesse (scusate) e poi arriviamo al climax attuale dove tutto ci crolla sotto i piedi.
Stiamo prestando attenzione, ma non abbastanza. Crediamo di poter controllare anche quest'ennesima erosione che ci avviene intorno, ma basta concentrarsi un secondo per rendersi conto che non è così.
Stiamo prestando attenzione, ma non abbastanza. Crediamo di poter controllare anche quest'ennesima erosione che ci avviene intorno, ma basta concentrarsi un secondo per rendersi conto che non è così.
April 14, 2023
Siendo innegables y abundantes las bondades que los avances tecnológicos traen consigo, particularmente el acceso a internet para la obtención de información, el autor plantea que nos encontramos en la Era de la Atención (más que de la Información) en tanto, siendo un hecho que la información está allí, las compañías superan cualquier dilema ético con tal de que sigamos dando clics.
Manifiesta ser optimista respecto del futuro, como si las posibles soluciones o alternativas que propone no dependieran de esa buena fe tan disminuida, que poco podría enfrentar el afán de dinero y ciencia.
Manifiesta ser optimista respecto del futuro, como si las posibles soluciones o alternativas que propone no dependieran de esa buena fe tan disminuida, que poco podría enfrentar el afán de dinero y ciencia.
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July 22, 2023I don't rate nonfiction, but the book was interesting and well-written. It got a bit repetitive and boring, especially around the mid-point, but I'm glad I read it.
February 21, 2025
Lest ifm. prosjektoppgave.
November 26, 2024
[4.5] - In order to do anything that matters, we must first be able to give attention to the things that matter. It’s my firm conviction, now more than ever, that the degree to which we are able and willing to struggle for ownership of our attention is the degree to which we are free.
Often, when we talk about matters of disinformation and Big Tech, we tend to speak in broad strokes: issues of society and politics tend to be top of mind when we think about its dangers. So, I guess what makes this manifesto work is its clear link between the social and the personal — of how this attention economy proves to threaten each of our personal wills.
A must-read for anyone in media or interested in the study of it. 👍
Often, when we talk about matters of disinformation and Big Tech, we tend to speak in broad strokes: issues of society and politics tend to be top of mind when we think about its dangers. So, I guess what makes this manifesto work is its clear link between the social and the personal — of how this attention economy proves to threaten each of our personal wills.
A must-read for anyone in media or interested in the study of it. 👍
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