Attention is the scarce resource that powers the information economy.

Evidence

Attention is effectively both the raw material and the fuel of the information society – if it does not attract attention, it does not exist. The decrease of the cost of reproduction of intellectual and cultural products almost to zero accentuates the significance of the capacity to focus attention on those products, and they argue that the attention economy has become an irreplaceable adjunct of the money economy, perhaps to the point of replacing it. — Michael H. Goldhaber, The Attention Economy and the Net, 8

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes the core definition of the attention economy as the raw material/fuel of the information society.
• ADDENDUM: This is the foundational definition for attention economy discourse, relevant to any piece on how attention functions as infrastructure.
• XREF: connects to: Herbert Simon defined attention as the scarce resource that information consumes. — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 35; Attention is becoming the hegemonic resource restructuring material production — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 47; Human serial attention limits make attention the scarce resource — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 137 (+7 more)

Related

• Information abundance creates a scarcity of attention (similarity 0.93)
• Abundant information makes human attention a scarce economic resource. (similarity 0.92)
• Attention is becoming the hegemonic resource restructuring material production (similarity 0.92)
• Human serial attention limits make attention the scarce resource (similarity 0.91)
• Attention is a socially produced and politically governed resource, not merely a scarce one. (similarity 0.89)
• Attention is a finite resource whose unequal distribution produces symbolic misery (similarity 0.89)
• Herbert Simon defined attention as the scarce resource that information consumes. (similarity 0.88)
• Attention is a scarce resource drained by information overload (similarity 0.88)
• Attention is socially and materially mediated, not just a scarce mental resource (similarity 0.88)
• Attention scarcity can be turned into an asset through redistributed attention (similarity 0.87)
• Paying attention differs from spending time or being aware. (similarity 0.86)
• Attention scarcity is a capitalist construction, not a universal given (similarity 0.85)
• Attention is a shared common resource, not private property. (similarity 0.85)
• Attention is a fundamental life resource, not a discretionary commodity. (similarity 0.85)
• Attention is an interactive relation to one’s life-sustaining environment, not a resource (similarity 0.85)

Broader Connections

• Abundant information makes human attention a scarce economic resource. #corroborates (0.92) — Annual Review of Anthropology contributors (⚠ verify author line), The Political Economy of Attention, 18
• Attention is a scarce resource drained by information overload #expands (0.85) — Thomas Davenport & John Beck, The Attention Economy, 17
• Attention is a finite resource whose unequal distribution produces symbolic misery #expands (0.80) — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 185
• Attention is socially and materially mediated, not just a scarce mental resource #qualifies (0.80) — Annual Review of Anthropology contributors (⚠ verify author line), The Political Economy of Attention, 26
• Attention is a socially produced and politically governed resource, not merely a scarce one. #qualifies (0.78) — Annual Review of Anthropology contributors (⚠ verify author line), The Political Economy of Attention, 19