Information and attention

Start here · 1 min read

Overview

Modern societies produce more information than anyone can read, and the scarce resource is attention. Algorithmic feeds decide what billions of people see, generative tools can produce convincing fake images, audio and video, and public debate in many countries has become more polarised. The topic matters because decisions in health, voting, work and relationships depend on the quality of what people believe. It also asks an old question in a new setting: how can a person stay in charge of their own mind.

Context

The printing press in the fifteenth century transformed the spread of ideas and was followed by long conflict and confusion before new norms emerged. Radio and television did similar things in the twentieth century. Since the 2000s, social media platforms and smartphones have placed a personalised, constantly updating feed in nearly every pocket, including across South Asia, where messaging apps carry much news.