Attention harvesting grows more sensitive the closer devices get to the body

Evidence

It seems only natural that the closer a technology feels to being part of us, the more important that we trust it; the same goes for someone who is creating a virtual reality for you to inhabit. And so, in the coming decade, the attention merchants will need to tread very lightly as they come as close as one can to the human body. Nonetheless, adaptation is a remarkable thing, and if our history has shown anything, it is that what seems shocking to one generation is soon taken for granted by the next. — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1131

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the book’s recurring theme of how scandalous technologies normalize, echoing earlier chapters’ coverage of radio/tabloid moral panics. — connects to: Routine bodily self-monitoring has become a competitive, profit-generating infrastructure — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 25; Smartphones evolved from McLuhan’s media extensions into prosthetic parts of the body — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1131; Attention-maximizing technologies can reduce rather than increase user control over attention — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 635 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Attention-maximizing technologies can reduce rather than increase user control over attention #expands (0.85) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 635
• Hearing functions as touch at a distance and fosters sociability #expands (0.70) — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 42