Оглавление
Charles R. Chaffin. Numb
Table of Contents
Guide
Pages
Numb. How the Information Age Dulls Our Senses and How We Can Get Them Back
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
CHAPTER 1 The Information Age
A Scarcity of Attention
By‐Products of This Information Age
CHAPTER 2 Can I Have Your Attention Please?
What Is Attention?
Technology and Our Attention
CHAPTER 3 The News
Drawing Your Attention – and Keeping It
Staying Informed
Being Our Own News Editor
CHAPTER 4 Instagram Worthy
“Do You Remember Where This Was Taken?”
I Can't Wait to Post It!
CHAPTER 5 Who's the Pigeon Now?
Keeping Us Pulling That Social Media Lever
Is the Reward Worth It?
CHAPTER 6 A Habit of Distraction
What Are You Thinking About?
Breaking the Habit
CHAPTER 7 Tinder and I Are Registered at Amazon
You Look Just Like Your Profile Pictures … Kinda
Choosing a Mate
CHAPTER 8 Confirmation Bias
I Knew It the Whole Time!
Sources That Support Our Biases
CHAPTER 9 Compassion Fatigue
Playing to Our Empathetic Side
The Power of Compassion
CHAPTER 10 Too Much Information
Information Overload
Managing It All
CHAPTER 11 FOMO
Keeping up with the Joneses
Freeing Ourselves from FOMO
CHAPTER 12 The Outrage Machine
Did You See That?!
Tired of “Sick and Tired”
CHAPTER 13 Tribalism
“My Tribe Is Better Than Yours”
Breaking Down What Divides Us
CHAPTER 14 Instant Gratification
I Want It Now!
A Bird in the Hand …
CHAPTER 15 Loneliness
Loneliness with 750 of Your Closest Facebook Friends
CHAPTER 16 Choice
I Want to Consider All of My Options First
Combating Choice Overload
CHAPTER 17 Impulse Buying
Fighting for Our Attention
Creating an Attention Budget
CHAPTER 18 Porn
Porn Consumption
Is Porn Good or Bad?
CHAPTER 19 Publisher or Platform?
Section 230
The Future of the Internet
CHAPTER 20 Algorithms
Algorithms in Our Daily Lives
Algorithm Oversight?
CHAPTER 21 Regaining the Feeling
Reflecting
Empowerment
References. Introduction
Chapter 1: The Information Age
Chapter 2: Can I Have Your Attention Please?
Chapter 3: The News
Chapter 4: Instagram Worthy
Chapter 5: Who's the Pigeon Now?
Chapter 6: A Habit of Distraction
Chapter 7: Tinder and I Are Registered on Amazon
Chapter 8: Confirmation Bias
Chapter 9: Compassion Fatigue
Chapter 10: Too Much Information
Chapter 11: FOMO
Chapter 12: Outrage Machine
Chapter 13: Tribalism
Chapter 14: Instant Gratification
Chapter 15: Loneliness
Chapter 16: Choice
Chapter 17: Impulse Buying
Chapter 18: Porn
Chapter 19: Publisher or Platform?
Chapter 20: Algorithms
Index
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Отрывок из книги
Charles R. Chaffin
This information age has us constantly plugged in, and yet we are feeling as disconnected as ever. There are a multitude of sources for news and information, yet we struggle to stay informed, as fact is labeled opinion and opinion is labeled as fact. Sensationalism provides a front‐row seat to the suffering of others, yet our capacity for compassion for those around us is limited as images of tragedy become routine and conflict becomes the norm. We have more choices than we could ever imagine, everything from colleges to potential mates to brands of mustard. Yet many of us are paralyzed to decide, and in some cases are unhappy and mired in regret over past choices. The number of emails and text messages that we receive on a daily basis can be overwhelming to our Stone Age brains, causing us to struggle to filter the relevant from the irrelevant. Social media promises connection to billions of other humans around the world, yet we struggle with loneliness, tribalism, and FOMO as these platforms lure us into a dopamine loop that provides a short‐term fix, sometimes at the expense of authenticity. Algorithms provide us exactly what we want to read, watch, and engage, diminishing our horizons rather than expanding them, while at the same time facilitating a polarized society where common ground is, quite frankly, uncommon. With all of these factors in mind, it is not surprising that the information age is making us numb.
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What are your goals for today? What is it that you want to accomplish? Is there something that you want to experience, whether connecting with a close friend or feeling the burn of a great workout? What about your long‐term goals for yourself? Is it advancing in your career or developing deeper connections with those around you? Do you want to rebuild that old car that your father owned? Perhaps learn a musical instrument? We all have short‐ and long‐term goals for ourselves that relate to our personal and professional lives. In some cases, barriers to meeting those goals might be a shortage of time or money. It might be related to raising children, a new job, or caring for an aging parent. However, in many cases, the biggest hurdle to our goals is merely distraction. For me, I began to realize that technology was a big distraction: the 10, 20, or 30 times a day that I was mindlessly picking up my smartphone to scroll through a newsfeed or fire up the Twitter outrage machine. Initially, I thought that the reason why I wasn't reaching some of my goals was the usual “not enough time” or “things are busy at work.” As time went on, I began to reflect upon where I was devoting my attention and found that where I was investing much of it was wasteful. At the surface, it isn't that devoting enormous amounts of attention towards social media or another information platform is good or bad. Rather, it is up for debate for each of us as to whether they are consistent or inconsistent with our goals. As we all know, there is never enough time and life is always busy. However, things can seem a lot busier when you're fighting a consistent distraction that is with you almost all of the time. For me, mindlessly picking up my phone for no apparent reason came at a price. That price was my attention on the things that mattered most to me. It only occurred to me when the goals I created for myself, both professionally and personally, weren't being realized.
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