Loved this last year so chose it for my book group pick this year: our discussion tonight was interesting and fruitful, although not everybody loved it. It was good to have an artist in the group. Good insights about how dedication to community is part of resisting the attention economy, the value and challenge of attentiveness, and our own relationships with social media, and how they vary with younger age groups.
To stand apart means giving yourself the critical break that media cycles and narratives will not, allowing yourself to believe in another world while living in this one. It is a perfect image of this world when justice has been realized with and for everyone and everything that is already here. To stand apart is to look at the world (now) as it could be (the future), with all of the hope and sorrowful contemplation that this entails.
so-soAn interesting and meandering narrative surrounding the pervasive need to be constantly, and shallowly, connected and productive.
so-soLowkey kinda hard to follow over the course of the book at times. Enjoyed the thought trains she follows and overall concepts. Also references endless interesting sources and art pieces. At times felt like I was in an art theory class in college. Makes me wanna get into bird watching and meet my neighbors tho.
Heard about this book from the Ezra Klein show. I‘m only partway through the episode and already fascinated. The author looks at attention as a factor of wellbeing, not productivity. I‘ve excited to finish the episode and read the book!
pick
In a world where addictive technology is designed to buy and sell our attention, and our value is determined by our 24/7 data productivity, it can seem impossible to escape. But in this inspiring field guide to dropping out of the attention economy, artist and critic Jenny Odell shows us how we can still win back our lives.
+ eye opening
