Attention is a fundamental life resource, not a discretionary commodity.

Evidence

Here’s a thought experiment: What if we were to think of our attention as an absolutely essential precondition of life itself? Because it is exactly this. So, what if we were to think of it as something like, say, WATER? A fundamental resource without which our beings cannot survive. Would not, then, the existence of a vast network of thieving siphons seem like a nightmare out of some dystopic science fiction? — The Friends of Attention, Attensity!, 104

Categorization

• XREF: Recalls the book’s earlier water/fracking infrastructure metaphors and links to the general ‘attention as resource’ frame used by economists and philosophers from James to the present. — connects to: Attention is an interactive relation to one’s life-sustaining environment, not a resource — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 86; Attention is an activity that forms persons, not a resource that platforms act upon — Annual Review of Anthropology contributors (⚠ verify author line), The Political Economy of Attention, 68