Continuous Partial Attention Revisited
Stowe has recently written about his ideas of 'Flow' and Continuous Partial Attention (CPA).
His premise is that we are not necessarily information saturated - that our brains are evolving to a point where we can let the information flow over us and stay continuously partially attentive to many things at the same time. He claaims that this is a perfectly natural change in our concentration and mental abilities.
He writes about Linda Stone - the guru in CPA.
Actually I think, particularly we here at Faraday Media and Particls, we are exactly in tune with his message.
Information (particularly news) should typically flow - not pool.
Reading news in a folder/item email style metaphor is not as effective for the mainstream as having it flow by.
Note that I say the mainstream. Many of us early adopter control freaks like to read every item and have plenty of time to bury our heads in news readers. But that is not always the case - not all the time. An information flow (river of news, news ticker, popup alerts) is typically more effective.
Our work in the field of Attention is not about fighting off flow, it is about regulating the flow so that the stream is full of good content.
His premise is that we are not necessarily information saturated - that our brains are evolving to a point where we can let the information flow over us and stay continuously partially attentive to many things at the same time. He claaims that this is a perfectly natural change in our concentration and mental abilities.
He writes about Linda Stone - the guru in CPA.
"Linda and many others will tell us it will rot our teeth, disrupt family life, and lead to hair on our palms. I for one am not eager to turn off my devices and pay all my attention to one thing at a time, one moment at a time. There are too many targets on the horizon, too many members of the tribe, and too many jaguars lurking in the shadows for that. In my tribe, we don't do things that way."I'm young - my brain can handle it for now - so I agree with Stowe (to a point) - however he also writes about Linda Stone's concerns about Continuous, Continuous partial attention having deleterious affects on the body and lumps us Attention people into it.
"[Linda's CPA concerns], along with Toffler's Information Overload (it's driving us crazy, he asserted) and the Attention Economy mavens (free information leads to attention scarcity). I don't buy any of it."I disagree with Stowe on this point. We "Attention Economy mavens" and our focus on Attention are not antithetical to his ideas about information flow.
Actually I think, particularly we here at Faraday Media and Particls, we are exactly in tune with his message.
Information (particularly news) should typically flow - not pool.
Reading news in a folder/item email style metaphor is not as effective for the mainstream as having it flow by.
Note that I say the mainstream. Many of us early adopter control freaks like to read every item and have plenty of time to bury our heads in news readers. But that is not always the case - not all the time. An information flow (river of news, news ticker, popup alerts) is typically more effective.
Our work in the field of Attention is not about fighting off flow, it is about regulating the flow so that the stream is full of good content.
Labels: APML, attention, attention economy, faradaymedia, flow, lindastone, Media 2.0, particls, stoweboyd, web 2.0
3 Comments:
A good post!
Great, thoughtful post! For the record, I don't think about attention, or cpa specifically, as "black and white." Everything has a "front and a back," so to speak. There are times when cpa is a terrific strategy. There are times (e.g., making love), when other attention strategies are more satisfying. I am really interested in what using cpa as a primary attention strategy is causing us to become or to want. For some, like Stowe, it appears to cause him to thrive and to want more of the same. For some, it appears to give birth to a desire for more meaningful connections and a desire to get the bottom of things (vs. to stay on top of everything). In the bigger picture, what fascinates me is the degree to which individual patterns of attention resonate with mass consciousness patterns of attention, and open us to insights not only about ourselves, but also about us as a larger community. Cheers.
Linda I do think it is all very, very interesting and I would love to work with you further to design presentation styles and metaphors that work for individuals who appreciate flow, as well as others who appreciate being able to change contexts or switch off (and then come back and catch up).
Drop me a line at chris@particls.com if you'd like to investigate further.
Also I'd say that nothing is black and white. Too much of anything is a bad thing.
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