jenny odell & the attention economy

A how-to book that, wonderfully, contains no practical "how to" advice

Most successful mindfulness techniques ground the meditator in the present moment: consider where you are. Feel your muscles, group by group, limb to limb, flex then release. Sit calmly with your heart lifted, or stand with bare feet in the grass, and name 5 things you can see, 4 things you can hear, 3 things you can smell, 2 things you can taste, one thing you can feel.

Remember where you are, in other words. Become aware of the place you currently inhabit as a real human body — this is the way back to your life, to your real actual breathing experience. Whatever is happening anywhere else, especially online, is not here and now. It’s important to remember the here and the now.

These days, attuning yourself to the present moment has become a form of political resistance, a way to throw middle fingers at the “attention economy” and establish a self outside of the branded spheres of online platforms. This is the central argument of Jenny Odell’s thought…