Beyond Attention Deficit: A Call to Reclaim What Truly Holds Our Focus
As society increasingly medicalizes “attention deficit,” a more fundamental question emerges: what are we choosing to attend to? This inquiry is gaining traction, fueled by a growing movement questioning the relentless optimization of human experience adn advocating for a richer, more meaningful engagement with the world.
A recent opinion piece in The New York Times highlighted the concerns of the Friends of Attention, a collective of artists, scholars, and activists dedicated to exploring the very nature of focus. As one observer noted, “Does it need to be said? We are not machines.Our lives are not data problems that can be quantitatively optimized. And the actual human ability to attend is something much more expansive and much more beautiful than a tool for filtering information or extending our time on task. True attention lies at the heart of personhood: reason, judgment, memory, curiosity, duty, the feeling of a summer day, the burying of our dead. All of these require and activate our presence.”
This sentiment resonated particularly strongly with recent family discussions surrounding the educational challenges faced by younger generations. the very researchers who pioneered the field of human-computer interaction, decades ago, however, thay established a powerful paradigm that saw humans as attention-paying machines, paying attention to machines. That model helped give rise to the present era, when most of us spend more than half our waking hours on devices designed to keep us enthralled to the taps and swipes of the attention economy.
Interestingly, the ancient pursuit of “attending” isn’t limited to modern research. The Jesuit tradition, rooted in the spiritual exercises of st. Ignatius loyola, offers a compelling parallel. In 1522, loyola retreated to a cave in Catalonia, Spain, for a year of “attentive contemplation.” This period of focused introspection yielded two meaningful outcomes: his conversion from a soldier to a spiritual leader, and the development of his Spiritual Exercises – a series of meditations on gratitude, anguish, and the full spectrum of human emotion – which remain central to Jesuit training today.
The friends of Attention formally emerged in 2018, coinciding with the rapid advancement of AI. The group describes itself as “a loose,informal network of creative collaborators,colleagues,and actual friends who share an interest in ‘ATTENTION’.” Founded by eighteen artists, scholars, and activists at the 2018 São Paulo Biennial, they continue to convene virtually, united by a vision to “place the economies of attention at the center of our relationship to works of art… attention lies at the nexus of perception and action, aesthetics and ethics, wealth and power.” Notably, they emphasize a non-hierarchical structure, stating simply, “There is no ‘membership’ in the Friends. There are friends.”
This emphasis on holistic engagement aligns with the enduring value of a Liberal Arts education. AI itself offers a reassuring outline of the core components:
Core Areas of Study
- Humanities: Literature, History, Philosophy, Languages, Art.
- Social Sciences: Psychology, Sociology, Political Science, Economics, Anthropology.
- Natural Sciences: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Science.
- Mathematics: Algebra, Statistics, Logic.
- Arts: Visual arts, Performing Arts, Music.
Key Goals & Skills Developed
- Broad Knowledge: Provides a foundational understanding across disciplines.
- Critical Thinking: Analyzing complex issues from multiple perspectives.
- Communication: Strong reading, writing, and persuasive expression.
- Adaptability: Learning how to learn and apply knowledge in new contexts.
- Problem-solving: Identifying, analyzing, and solving complex problems.
The author of this piece,a graduate of both Fordham Prep and LeMoyne College,reflects a personal connection to this tradition. Ultimately, the challenge isn’t to resist technological advancement, but to consciously cultivate the capacity for deep, meaningful attention – a capacity that lies at the heart of what it means to be human.
