Scholar, philosopher, and writer Richard A. Lanham questions the fate of man’s ability to think in a philosophical and economic exploration which intertwines almost every facet of our lives. In his book The Economics of {Attention} Lanham contemplates how the modern human’s reliance upon technology and information might eventually change the nature of the global economy. Not only does he pose how valuable commodities will transform into abstract mental capabilities, Lanham delves into who will be able to control such ‘resources’.
The Economics of {Attention} begins with a contextualization of how a modern human’s environment is void of ‘natural, untouched rawness’. These landscapes in which the American transcendentalists thrived upon, has now been conquered and filled by tourism, advertisements and gift shops. Lanham claims that earth’s ethereal beauty has become a commodity to exploit. No matter how far one goes or how rugged the terrain gets (or if you are Chris McCandless), society’s constant, overbearing need to advertise and own your attention will invade the modern persons psyche.
Into the Wild
Through contemplating this unfortunate reality, Lanham surmises that as information technology invades our life and manual jobs are converted to robotics, knowledge will gain more value.
“‘The basic economic resource- ‘ the means of production; to use the economist’s term is no longer capital nor natural resources (the economist’s land), nor labor! It is and will be knowledge”- The Economics of {Attention} pg. 4
One example of how knowledge in the future will surpass manual labor is the growing capabilities of 3D printers. As market prices drop and the more expensive higher quality machines are invented in private laboratories, 3D printers could potentially become an every day tool. The people who can operate programs with ease and focus their attention on creative applications/projects will be the one’s to take full advantage of this technology.
httpv://youtu.be/hmxjLpu2BvY
Landham’s projections about why nature has become a commodity and the future uselessness of physical labor to produce ‘stuff’, are inspired by another philosopher. Martin Heidegger was one of the first philosophers and scholars to contextualize the appearance of ‘technology’ as a ideological shift in man kind’s nature and interaction with his environment. Like many ‘technological philosophers’ Landham takes Heidegger’s realization and projects it into a incredibly abstract vision of the future.This future he imagines seems vaguely reminiscent of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, in which a human’s ability to think is stolen by the government and censored advertisements.
As constant advertisements bombard our daily life people will find much more use of their innate ability to selectively focus on something, despite the existence of a million shouting ads in the background. This ‘attention’ is what Landham classifies as the ‘gold’ of the future informational based economy. The tactic that companies and marketing firms will use is a utilization of ‘human nature’ for effective solicitation.
“We might think of this inherited set of adaptive patterns, of behavioral inclinations, as the attention capital of human kind… We might, as an outstanding example, point to the “language instinct” that we posses, apparently from birth. Or our response to some sexual signals more than others. Or any of the myriad other suitcases in our evolutionary baggage” The Economics of {Attention} pg 9.
Some of these ‘tactics’ are already in use by consumer products or what Landham classifies as ‘stuff’. One example is the revolutionary Coke bottle design which utilized the sensuality of a woman’s hips as the catalyst for their market boom.
Coke Bottle Design
Although, the future seems quite dim for the attention span of the modern human, designers and artists will find that their overdue talents will be valued in this economy. Landham speculates that aside from computer engineers, designers and artists will be an integral part of capturing the precious ‘attention’ of the market. He mentions artist such as Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg and John Cage, who have grasped the concepts of modern design and utilized it to grab audience’s attention. The importance of design and the demand for aesthetics is something that will be intertwined with data.
“If you look at the history of non-representational painting through the eyes of computer graphics, it comes to seem not pure abstraction but the opposite, data-driven pictures of how we see…When a computer animator creates an algorithm to draw an image, she has looked at the object as information, not as stuff” The Economics of {Attention} pg 16
One example of how art and design are becoming integrated with data is new interfaces and software which originate from a purely creative and spontaneous muse.
httpv://youtu.be/WAuDCOl9qrk
Richard Landham concludes his philosophical exploration by affirming that all of his futuristic projections are nothing but mere speculation. The author lends his reader to assume that all of this speculation is nothing but intellectual masturbation. However, Landham tactically ends Chapter 1 of The Economics of {Attention} with the insight that the age old concept of rhetoric might resurface in the modern age as a tool to grab ‘attention’. “The Art of persuasion” Landham believes is not dead, yet waiting for its proper moment to become a essential part of a incredibly new technological economy.
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