Attention consists in labor that augments our ability to notice the neglected

Evidence

In the course and writings that Husserl dedicated to the phenomenology of attention, he discusses at length the theory of Carl Stumpf (1843–1936) which placed a ‘pleasure taken in noticing’ (Lust am Bemerken) at the heart of its definition of attention. While Husserl rejects the idea that every act of attention aims at pleasure, he seems, however, to take up the central importance, emphasized by the German language, of the effort made towards noticing (bemerken) at the heart of attention (Aufmerksamkeit). The essence of attention consists in a labour undertaken to augment our ability to notice that which is noticeable in what is in sight (or in another sense). It is this ability to notice what is there – which is important but which we have until then neglected – that Joseph Jacotot and Jacques Rancière have made into the resource of a pedagogy directed towards intellectual emancipation. The essential function of their (potentially ignorant) master is not to explain contents, but to train the pupils’ attention, whether that be through a demand made on their will or through the stimulation of their desire. It is towards ‘a habit of, and a pleasure taken in, noticing’ that every teaching experience should tend. — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 269

Categorization

• DEFINE: Provides the book’s core definition of attention grounded in Stumpf and Husserl, connecting it to Jacotot and Rancière’s emancipatory pedagogy.
• DEEPTHINKING: Fuses a phenomenological account of attention with an emancipatory pedagogy that reframes the ignorant master, a genuinely paradigm-shifting convergence worth sitting with.
• XREF: Directly bridges to Frankfurt School concerns about attentional training and to digital-platform attention as a cultivated faculty rather than merely an exploited resource. — connects to: Attentional habits divide the world into meaningful figures and neglected ground — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 494; Attention itself constitutes productive labor that generates value — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 148; Attention can be deliberately wielded, not just reclaimed (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Attention is fundamentally a growth of our faculty for noticing #corroborates (0.90) — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 268
• Attention can be deliberately wielded, not just reclaimed #expands (0.80)
• Attention training reveals the many distinct ways one can fail to notice something #expands (0.78)
• Attention is the mechanism by which we reteach things their loveliness #expands (0.75) — The Friends of Attention, Attensity!, 472
• Attention is the substrate of care for self, community, and planet. #expands (0.75) — The Friends of Attention, Attensity!, 93
• Attention is the mind’s selective possession of one focus amid several possible ones. #qualifies (0.72) — Michael H. Goldhaber, The Attention Economy and the Net, 5
• Attention is learned rather than innate, always and for everyone #expands (0.72)
• Focused attention necessarily amputates awareness of other stimuli #qualifies (0.72)
• Paying attention differs from spending time or being aware. #expands (0.72) — Thomas Davenport & John Beck, The Attention Economy, 22
• Education and knowledge are reified forms of accumulated attention #expands (0.72) — Michael H. Goldhaber, The Attention Economy and the Net, 13