Some attention’s value resists translation into any other good

Evidence

Or perhaps the answer is right there before us: the value of the curbside catcher is in the curbside catching itself! Which is to say that, for this guy, the experience of giving his attention for hours with little promise of reward is justification enough. This may appear perfectly obtuse to many, but it contains, in fact, a deep wisdom: that there is a kind of value that cannot be assessed by translation into something else. Attention creates this kind of value in the lives of many, many people; it is a source of fulfillment that needs no justification. Goods such as this are rare indeed. Their preciousness is in the way that they puzzle us, and please us all the while. In this spirit, let’s make space for those whose attentional commitments confuse and provoke us: Let us call them our PUZZLERS. — The Friends of Attention, Attensity!, 416

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces and names the ‘Puzzlers’ as a third category of attention activists whose attentional commitments can’t be justified instrumentally.