←back to thread

The quiet art of attention

(billwear.github.io)
865 points billwear | 9 comments | 13 Oct 24 15:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.418s | source | bottom
1. andsoitis ◴[13 Oct 24 15:04 UTC] No.41828623[source]▶
"As we grow in this practice of attention, something else becomes clear: much of what occupies our thoughts is unnecessary. The mind is cluttered, filled with concerns that seem urgent but, on closer inspection, do little to serve our deeper well-being. Simplification is not just a matter of decluttering our physical surroundings—it is a way of thinking, of living. As we quiet the noise within, we see more clearly what truly matters. We focus, not on everything, but on the essentials. We pare down, not by force, but by choice."

Our information-technology driven culture does not help; the algorithms and shiny objects they push undermine our attention-ability.

replies(3): >>41829155 #>>41829628 #>>41829654 #
2. abound ◴[13 Oct 24 16:08 UTC] No.41829155[source]▶
This may be the culture, but one can largely choose to not participate in it. E.g. not having social media accounts and curating your news sources with a focus on unsensational, fact-based reporting.
replies(2): >>41829267 #>>41829465 #
3. billwear ◴[13 Oct 24 16:23 UTC] No.41829267[source]▶
yes.
4. rfonseca ◴[13 Oct 24 16:45 UTC] No.41829465[source]▶
"curating your news sources with a focus on unsensational, fact-based reporting" -> curious how you do this!
replies(2): >>41829509 #>>41829562 #
5. dleink ◴[13 Oct 24 16:51 UTC] No.41829509{3}[source]▶
I’m working on this as a personal project so I’m interested in other’s solutions!

I’m not working on it toooo hard. This is something I think some AI software tool might swoop in and solve before I can build something I’m happy with.

6. abound ◴[13 Oct 24 16:57 UTC] No.41829562{3}[source]▶
News Minimalist [1] is one way, where it aggregates stories across outlets and uses LLMs to remove clickbait from titles. It also assigns loose 'scores' to each story to approximate how 'important' it is, which I've found to be directionally useful.

Ultimately, it comes down to why one consumes news at all. If it's to have something to discuss around the water cooler or dinner table, that's a very different use case than someone trying to pattern match on world events for trading stocks or selling their wares.

[1] https://www.newsminimalist.com/

replies(1): >>41833875 #
7. 8n4vidtmkvmk ◴[13 Oct 24 17:07 UTC] No.41829628[source]▶
This is why I don't wear a smart watch. My phone is always on silent. Sometimes i Ieave it in a different room. There's nothing good on here. 99% of notifications are just trying to sell me something or bad news. Go do something you enjoy and put down the devices, the notifications will still be there in the morning. That is to say, dedicate a block of time for that stuff if you must, but otherwise tune out the Internet.
8. dirtyhippiefree ◴[13 Oct 24 17:09 UTC] No.41829654[source]▶
The “attention economy,” defined.

It’s why sensory isolation is valuable.

Shut out the world and hear what’s being drowned out by the mad scramble to control our attention…

9. SoftTalker ◴[14 Oct 24 03:09 UTC] No.41833875{4}[source]▶
Interesting concept.

"Today ChatGPT read 6997 news articles and gave 0 of them a significance score over 6.5."