Inside the School of Radical Attention: Activists teach focus as resistance to Big Tech's attention economy
By
Cheyenne McNeill
Summary
This article reports on the "School of Radical Attention," a grassroots activist movement in Brooklyn that teaches people to reclaim their focus from the attention economy dominated by Big Tech companies. The author participates in exercises designed to rebuild deep attention and interpersonal connection, framing tech platforms' business models as akin to "fracking" human attention — extracting value by fragmenting our ability to concentrate. The piece explores the psychological, social, and political consequences of attention fragmentation and profiles activists developing counter-practices to resist digital extraction.
Source
bskyInside the School of Radical Attention: Activists teach focus as resistance to Big Tech's attention economymotherjones.comKey quotes
· 3 pulledWe hold each other's gazes for several seconds, then I look away. My eyes return to her face, but I avoid her dark eyes, peering from under a ballcap, and instead stare at a spot on her forehead, maintaining the illusion of eye contact without actually holding it.
Big Tech is 'fracking' your attention — extracting value by shattering your ability to focus into ever smaller fragments.
The activists at the School of Radical Attention are fighting back, teaching people to reclaim their minds from the extraction economy.
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