22 min.

Is there a pandemic crisis in attention control?  Johan Hari says there is.  It’s a perfect storm of new technologies rapidly grabbing control of our attention.  Cell phone culture, streaming entertainment, work paradigms on-line, they all compete for our attention. 

Maureen and Pierre discuss the crisis of attention disorder / control, possible solutions and new perspectives leading to optimism in the midst of crisis.

If there is a crisis and we acknowledge that, how do we change ourselves? How do we change our culture. How do we take collective action?  Very interesting question from Johan Hari’s podcast with Rich Roll. Hari says capitalism is fueling attention control disorder.  The business model of making money via clicks fuels more clicks, shorter edgier content.  Social media is so pervasive, should it be treated like a public utility?  Maybe social media should make money on a subscription model, or a regulated utility model?  The advertising model fueling attention control disorder through TikTok type content – reducing everything to memes of the moment might be causing societal health problems.

Check it out.  A problem is raised and solutions are discussed.