Money VS Time - Attention Economy
- Sushma S
- Jan 5
- 2 min read
Psychologist and economist Herbert A. Simon wrote about the concept of the attention economy in 1971. He noted the link between information overload and attention scarcity, and wrote that “a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.”
As we age, we often gain a deeper understanding of the true value of time, and how it becomes more precious with each passing year. The initial pursuit of wealth, for many, is driven by the idea that money is the ultimate measure of success and security. But as we grow older, we often shift our perspective.
Billionaires, as they accumulate wealth, tend to treat money as a tool because they understand that it can buy time. It can free them from the daily grind of working for a paycheck and give them the flexibility to pursue passions, invest in experiences, or focus on projects that truly matter to them.
To someone with vast financial resources, the real luxury is not the ability to buy material goods but the ability to control how they spend their time.
When you’re younger, you may not fully appreciate the urgency of time without considering how much of your life is being spent in the process. But as the years pass, the trade-offs become more apparent. Each day becomes a little more valuable because you realize that time once lost can never be regained.
As we age, we come to understand that time is not just something we spend; time becomes a form of currency, as it represents the most finite and irreplaceable resource we have. And just like money, how we spend it determines the quality and meaning of our lives. it’s something we invest in—and how we invest it defines the legacy we leave behind.
That's when attention becomes crucial; time equates to focusing on information that alters the course of life or determines its direction.
Attention Economy:
Attention: a selective focus on some of the stimuli that we are currently perceiving while ignoring other stimuli from the environment
Attention holds value not on its own, but as a tool to gain access to valuable things, such as information.
There's information all around, but what you feed your mind depends on where you choose to follow
Today, people who have smart phones are largely engaged in endless and pointless scrolling, which, while offering a few life hacks, is mostly filled with irrelevant increasingly abundant and immediately available information that often keep users hooked to the device.
The Skip Ad feature on YouTube, known to everyone, allows ads to play for only 5 seconds, yet the brands, Advertising campaigns we repeatedly encounter influence us even without our conscious awareness.
Study shows that repeated statements are more often judged to be true, regardless of a person’s age or prior knowledge; illusory-truth effect
This will once more create biases in humans, which I will cover in my next discussion, so stay tuned!
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