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mostlysignssomeportents · 5 years

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How to Do Nothing: Jenny Odell's case for resisting "The Attention Economy"

Artist and writer Jenny Odell (previously) is justifiably beloved for her pieces and installations that make us consider the economics and meanings of garbage, weird markets, and other 21st century plagues; in her first book, How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, Odell draws on art criticism, indigenous practices, "Deep Listening," anti-capitalist theory, and psychology to make the case that the internal chaos we feel is no accident: it's the result of someone's business-model, and until we reject "productivity" in favor of contemplation and deliberation, it will only get worse.

Odell's central thesis is hard to pin down; part of her subject-matter here is that really important ideas don't neatly distill down to short, punchy summaries or slogans -- instead, they occupy a kind of irreducible, liminal complexity that has to be lived as much as discussed.

With that in mind, the broad strokes of her book are that:

* The rise of "productivity" as a measure of the quality of life is incredibly destructive, and it obliterates everything inside and outside of us that make us happy, because sleep and love and laughter and beauty are not "productive."

Odell links this to neoliberal capitalism, and the requirement that each of us be a hustling entrepreneur, which, in turn, is a way for capital to shift risk onto labor. It's a scam that moves both wealth and joy off of our balance sheets and onto the balance sheets of the super-rich.

This is very strong material, and it reminds me of the one conversation I had with David Allen, author of "Getting Things Done." Allen lamented that everyone pays close attention to the first two parts of his book (which focus on making sure that the stuff you decide to do get done) and skip over the third part (which focuses on deciding what to do).

* That doing "nothing" doesn't mean becoming a hermit: it requires more social engagement, not less

Odell builds on the idea that capitalism atomizes us and makes us stand alone and think about our relations to others in instrumental, individualistic terms; the reason social media is toxic isn't that it connects us with others, it's how it connects us with others. Doing "nothing" (that is, spending your time doing "meaningful," rather than "productive" things) requires that we find ways to genuinely interact with others.

This reminded me strongly of Patrick Ball's incredible essay on depression and suicide, and the reason that affluent white dudes are the most suicidal people in America today. Ball's thesis is that people who lack privilege must forge social relations with the people around them just to survive. If you have no money for a babysitter, you can substitute favors from friends.

"Favors from friends" are unreliable and nondeterministic, while spending cash with a sitter (or better, a service that has many interchangeable sitters) is extremely reliable. But if you keep substituting transactions for social networks, you'll eventually end up lonely and outside of any kind of social group that can form a resilient mesh for your inevitable problems: there's no one to put a hand on your shoulder, look you in the eyes, and say, "Are you all right? You seem to be in trouble."

Reading Ball's essay made me realize how much of a hermit I'd become, substituting work and transactions and "productivity" for friendship and connection, and how much of the anxiety and depression I was experiencing was the result of this isolation.

Social media is a great way to stay in touch with the people who matter to me, so that we can have offline, longer-form, important and meaningful interactions. But the commercial imperatives of social media work against that kind of socializing, because once you get together and start to have those contemplative and meaningful interactions, your social telephone starts ringing, because the algorithms that govern it notice that you're not paying attention to it anymore.

* That refusing to pay attention is an act with a long and honorable history

Odell traces the traditions of refusal from the ancient Greeks to avant-garde artists, and connects these to feminism and liberation struggles. This was fascinating context, and often very funny, and felt like something of a masterclass in understanding abstract art as well

* That cities have unique properties that make them hubs of resistance

The struggle against our reduction into productive workforce units, as opposed to thriving, contemplating, loving humans is the struggle against monoculture. Cities, with their diversity of people, backgrounds, incomes, social situations, and so on are the perfect place to resist monoculture. Places where strangers mix, like public transit, are hotbeds of resistance.

Odell also lauds "third places" here, the places that are outside the market, like libraries and parks, where your welcome is not dependent on your productive contributions, which ask nothing of you except that you be there.

And even as Odell is praising cities here, she's also working in a strong environmental message, connecting refusal to indigenous practices of attentive co-existence with the natural world, and connecting that to the complex idea of "bioregionalism," which involves identifying as a person whose place matters, whose views on the world and daily activities are influenced by the things that grow and thrive around you.

I've been around "bioregionalism" advocates for much of my life, and I admit I still struggle with some of the nuance of this idea, but Odell's connection feels right, and I really enjoyed the way she connected the beauty of cities -- which I love -- with an appreciation of, and connection to, the natural world.

* That technology isn't the problem, but rather, its economic and political context are what get us in trouble

This is the argument that puts Odell in the same group as some of my other favorite thinkers, like Leigh Phillips, Paul Mason, and Peter Frase.

Like the others, Odell doesn't argue the simple position that technology is neutral, but rather takes the position that technology's current decidedly partisan configuration is the result (and not the cause) of market ideology that demands growth, consumption and "engagement" instead of joy, meaning and peace.

It's an important point: Odell isn't telling us to stop using technology, but to use different technology in different ways.

There is so much to love about this book: Odell's discursive, interdisciplinary critique approaches an important and difficult question from many different angles, making it a chewy, provocative pleasure of a book.

But all that said, I'm looking forward to her next book. I know from my own work that what feels like irreducible complexity is often a lack of clarity. That is, just because you think you've made something as clear and simple as it can be, it doesn't mean you're right, it might just mean that you don't understand your own material well enough, and have not spent enough time trying to explain it to other people in order to learn what parts of it are important and which parts can be left to one side.

As much as I love this book, I also think that there is room to make it crisper, and some of that room will come from Odell gaining clarity as she tours with and discusses these ideas, and some of it will come from the rest of the world catching up with her -- when we started talking about online privacy, there was a lot of getting-up-to-speed that had to happen before the discussion could start. Today, the baseline of familiarity that others have with the ideas is much farther along, and so the discourse is more substantial and less about getting on the same page (this is also true of other complicated debates, including the contemporary critique of capitalism and concerns over climate change).

That's not to say that Odell has fallen into the trap of the masochistic longread ("because paying close attention to complicated ideas is a virtue, I will simply write this idea out in sprawling and undisciplined form, because the longer it is, the more virtue it has"). This book never bores. However, it does leave the reader with more feelings (which are good and important!) than clear articulation (also good and important!), and I think that Odell's continuing trailblazing will find a place where these two virtues are more in balance.

How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy [Jenny Odell/Melville House]

https://boingboing.net/2019/04/09/resisting-attention-economy.html

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rochellespatial · 7 years

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Reflection on Thesis

“While commencing this body of research I was simultaneously struck with my most intense personal encounter of mental health issues and consequent loneliness. Exactly as Popova (2015) describes; the issues I was facing took control of every aspect of my life making it difficult to see past what I was experiencing. Instead of dwelling on the issue and allowing it to hinder my progress I embraced it and channelled it within my research; this is my journey.”

“This focus on my own experience does not endeavor to imply that everyone will encounter or cope with the issues that I have in the same manner. However, I do believe that this incredibly personal and individual exploration of loneliness can support an authentic and comprehensive discourse surrounding the issue.”

This second half of this project will begin from the launching point left at the end of last semester in the fact that it will follow my own experience and needs - not to design simply for myself but in order to validate an authentic exploration and solution that may also be suitable for others.

“A space that would have respected my state of mind and nurtured me.”

“It is important though to understand that despite any intent within a design of a space its sociology cannot exist entirely without the participation of the inhabitants (Sommer, 1967).”

“Aligned with Sommer’s theory of participation in space (1967), caring spaces cannot and will not exist entirely without the participation of the subjects and the performance of these self-caring acts. We must provide for ourselves what we want and need from our spaces in order to reveal the spaces that can care for us. “…we take what is built for us, and build upon it” (Luckert, 2013, p. 9).”

All space and objects cannot be activated and experience without that of the user. The needs and wants of the user should be at the forefront of all design.

“Nonetheless it made it apparent that many experience the city alone, and that this experience of being alone within the city should be of essential consideration when designing the city.”

This concept of being alone is not always bad and therefore how can public spaces be converted and transformed into private spaces for an individual in order to choose and be alone at any time they may wish.

“Within this shift comes a necessary consideration of the terms used, ‘recovery’ versus ‘renewal’ (Donovan, 2013). The use of the term recovery implies that over time and once recovered one will return from their current state to their previously obtained state. Whereas renewal, despite holding similar meaning, goes further to imply the potential to propel one forward into a new position within their future; potentially better than it once was (Donovan, 2013).”

How can, rather than healing, spaces and objects become an essential element of this renewal stage and assist with preventative and restorative rituals and routines?

“Borasi and Zardini’s proposed shift requires a transition from medicating issues and instead implementing preventative measures (Borasi & Zardini, 2012, Winch, 2014). If we compare the frequency in which we medicate injuries and symptoms that we can physically identify with how often we acknowledge and heal the symptoms and injuries we sustain mentally and emotionally; there is a huge imbalance (Winch, 2014).”

To acknowledge and heal our mental and psychological injuries one may think this only requires the brain however if experiencing such injuries the mental state may not be in a position to recognise and assist and therefore how can the spaces and objects we use and inhabit everyday - in a ritualistic way, assist us?

“Learning to care rather than cure ourselves will equip us with the skills to deal with the situation again rather than the distress of a relapse; having expected the issue to disappear once cured the first time (Winch, 2014).”

The potential space or object will not be used only once - instead it will embrace and harness the fact that solutions to such mental health issues and wellbeing maintenance are not simply one offs and instead they are installed within routines and eventually become rituals - if found effective by the individual - as preventative solutions. They care for rather than cure.

“Of relevance to this notion of caring and advising one other is Borasi and Zardini’s (2012) concept of ‘breathing well’. This concept emphasizes our need to understand and care for ourselves before we can ever hope to be successful in caring for and enabling others to care for themselves. Experience influences further experience (Borasi & Zardini, 2012). It is these concepts that reiterate the necessity of self-care.”

This emphasizes designing for the self as if something would not be used by you or be effective on you, how can one validate that it will work on others? We cannot help others without helping ourselves.

“As a self-proclaimed introvert I like to spend copious amounts of time on my own and when those around me used to perceive my isolation as impolite and excessive I would in turn become offended. It was not until I took a step back and interpreted my acts of solitude that I realized I was not accomplishing anything through this act.”

“The success in these moments of solitude should not be measured in physical accomplishments but rather in how much we learn about ourselves (Tiwari, 2013). Solitude is equally as important as moments of social interaction and connection as if we don’t teach ourselves to be alone we run the risk of setting ourselves up to feel nothing but lonely (Turkle, 2012).”

“Author Pico Iyer (in The art of stillness, 2014) compares actions of being still within our lives to the beauty of pauses in music, literature and poetry. This emphasizes the importance of not rushing through our lives and requests us to compose our lives the way we would a piece of music or writing. We need to let ourselves breathe more, take deeper breaths, leave more space between breaths, treasure and truly experience life.”

There is a balance needed between moments of solitude and connection, the solution ultimately found throughout this project will not be an attempt to isolate individuals further but it will assist moments of solitude that happen ritually but ensure that these moments enhance moments of reflection, contemplation, enlightenment and renewal.

#reflection #journal #thesis #S2 #wk3

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mostlysignssomeportents · 5 years

Text

How to Do Nothing: Jenny Odell's case for resisting "The Attention Economy"

With that in mind, the broad strokes of her book are that:

Odell links this to neoliberal capitalism, and the requirement that each of be a hustling entrepreneur, which, in turn, is a way for capital to shift risk onto labor. It's a scam that moves both wealth and joy off of our balance sheets and onto the balance sheets of the super-rich.