How much do you think your attention worth? | The essay of the economy of attention.

This essay is inspired by the articles on The Economist.

I grew up loving to read. I would lose track of time when diving into something interesting, chasing lightbulb moments sparked by curiosity, and digging deeper by reading more.

What motivates me to draft this essay is a realization about two things:

1. The fragmented but massive flow of information from the internet.

2. The complexity of processing that information, given that attention is such a scarce resource.

Attention fascinates me. It’s something we all think we understand, we’ve heard about it countless times growing up, but few of us were ever taught how to use it, train it, or manage it. If you are reading this, I assume you have internet access and a functioning device. That means you’ve probably experienced “time loss” scrolling, whether reading endless articles or browsing other people’s lives on social media. There’s even an official term for this activity: brainrot.

The purpose of this essay is to document my exploration of how humans work neurologically, and how we should think economically about utilizing our most limited resources.

So, let’s return to attention.

What is attention?

Scientifically, attention is the cognitive process that allows us to focus on a subset of information while ignoring distractions. It is limited, shifts over time, and has identifiable neural correlates. Economically, attention is treated as a scarce commodity, something businesses compete to capture. Because attention is finite in an age of information overload, companies leverage algorithms and psychological principles to hold our focus, turning engagement into revenue through advertising and data collection.

If you felt your attention wander during that long definition, that itself illustrates the problem: our brains are no longer trained for long, complex information. The Economist has observed how reading behavior has shifted in the digital age: towards scanning, skimming, and impatience with complexity.

Now, you might be thinking this: Is our declining focus a disorder, or a cultural response to modern life? The constant notifications and digital consumption are not just personal failures of discipline, they are, indeed, symptoms of a broader cultural shift. The real issue isn’t that we’ve lost the ability to concentrate. It’s that our environment keeps fracturing our focus. Instead of blaming ourselves, we should adapt to these new conditions and learn how to wield attention wisely.

Here are strategies I’ve found helpful and use regularly:

1. Be intentional: Know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.

2. Limit multitasking: Focus on one task at a time. Divided attention reduces quality and efficiency.

3. Engage with meaning: Work on tasks that matter to you. Genuine interest makes focus easier.

4. Start collecting your thoughts: Reduce distractions by writing down stray thoughts and setting clear, achievable goals.

If we begin to see attention as one of our most valuable resources, we can reshape not only our personal habits but also our cultural norms.

— Aurora

09.21.2025

Resources:

1. https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/attention_economy_feb.pdf

2. https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/09/11/can-you-make-it-to-the-end-of-this-column

3. https://aimwellbeing.com/how-to-increase-attention-span-in-a-world-of-distractions/#:~:text=Set%20Distraction%2DFree%20Time:%20Create,distracting%20you%20while%20you%20work.