What Is the Attention Economy?
The musician Brian Eno sounded an awful lot like Augustine of Hippo when he was recently interviewed on BBC’s Radio 6. Speaking in regards to the “attention economy” and the undeniable fact that each of us is bombarded by a median of ten thousand ads a day, he remarked, “What is it I actually like? That, to me, is crucial query you possibly can ask in your life. It’s the form of guiding star of what you do.” For Augustine, this query is the “guiding star” because we’re defined by our affections; we’re defined by what we love. More importantly, consider Jesus’s words in Matthew 6:21: “For where your treasure is, there your heart shall be also.”
The human heart shouldn’t be easily moved to real love, however it is definitely misled by lust. Actual love consists within the steadfast pursuit of the great of one other. The remarkably unsentimental picture that Paul paints for us in I Corinthians 13 offers a portrait that’s equal parts vivid and sobering. When we consider the various voices clamoring for attention in our feeds, it’s clear that they constitute a far cry from Paul’s description. We should not being invited to be patient and type and it’s protected to say that the web world, removed from keeping no record of wrongs, is in some ways an enormous collage of threats, accusations, and insults. Grace and forgiveness are sometimes notably absent on this hostile environment.
Given these facts, the relentless pursuit of our attention definitely targets the human heart, however it’s hardly centered on love. No, as a substitute, the eye economy runs on lust. In order to maintain us captivated, nevertheless, the people vying for our attention are obliged to construct a gallery of seduction. This is the rationale that almost all of our ads, reels, videos, and, indeed, news items are rigorously crafted to be maximally addicting. We often complain in regards to the sensationalized nature of the news. If we’re honest, though, we’ll quickly recognize that this sensationalism is the very thing we’re demanding. Obviously, the goal in all of this is normally not to advertise real thought or concern for the wellbeing of others but to maintain eyeballs on screens.
Are You Stuck within the Seduction Cycle?
With this dynamic in mind, consider what we’re calling the seduction cycle. This cycle involves three parts: gratification, distraction, and seduction. Why is that this cycle so destructive? In a word, since it keeps us from the wholehearted pursuit of Christ and His kingdom. It also results in boredom and an abiding sense of ennui.
The Danger of Choosing Instant Gratification Over Long-Term Growth
Most people don’t wish to begin their day by observing a phone. Rather, the force of habit and a dependency on the stimulation provided by the device keep us coming back. Starting with our devices, nevertheless, starts the day on a note of fast gratification. There are myriad studies that confirm the addictive effects of this habit, but for our purposes, let’s consider the advantages of long-term vs. short-term rewards. Let’s take an example from the world of literature. The more wealthy, dynamic, and complicated a book is, the more it’s going to demand of its readers. In this sense, Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady shouldn’t be going to supply the fast gratification of a Harlequin Romance novel. But most of us will readily concede that it’s a superior story. The Harlequin Romance novel will entertain you; Portrait of a Lady can enrich you.
If we’re subsisting on a gentle weight-reduction plan of fast gratification, we’re training ourselves to pursue only short-term rewards. Practically speaking, this results in loneliness, isolation, and addiction—all besetting problems of our cultural moment. In spiritual terms, this short circuits our efforts to cultivate real love of Christ and neighbor. Genuine love depends upon a steadfast pursuit of long-term well-being. From physical exertion to skilled development, we recognize that major achievements all the time require discipline, perseverance, and self-sacrifice. We also recognize that if we care about someone, we regularly should challenge them—pushing them to work harder, grow up, and abandon self-destructive habits. Instant gratification predisposes us to decide on lust over love.
How Instant Gratification Traps Us in a Cycle of Distractions
One of probably the most incisive modern apologists is Blaise Pascal, and in his estimation, one in all the largest obstacles to the wholehearted pursuit of Christ consists in distractions. If we regularly begin our day by observing a screen and starting with fast gratification, the following phase involves getting tousled in an online of distractions. Think of the variety of reels that get sent to you in a single day. With regard to lots of these little skits, the issue shouldn’t be that they’re amateurish, aggravating, and dull. No, the issue is that almost all of them are made with consummate craftsmanship. In a word, they’re too entertaining and so they often result in a number of time being wasted. We’re not arguing that every one fun and rest have to be jettisoned from our lives. What we’re saying, nevertheless, is that these many distractions can and infrequently do rob us of our focus and intentionality with regard to our pursuit of Christ and neighbor. Beginning on a note of fast gratification results in our entanglement in distractions, which in turn leads us to the ultimate phase of this cycle.
How Seduction Leads Us Away from Our Devotion to Christ
If we press into the etymology of the word seduce, we discover that its original connotations weren’t only sexual. Instead, the definition centered on the dereliction of duty—being persuaded to desert one’s post. This original sense of the word brings us closer to the dynamic of this cycle with regard to the Christian life. Though the seduction happening in our lives can definitely be of a sexual nature, the foremost point we wish to emphasize here is that the ultimate phase of this cycle involves us being led astray from our service to Christ. In this sense, allowing a selected online influencer’s vision of earthly success to tug us away from our devotion to Jesus and His kingdom would constitute a seduction.
Breaking the Spell of Distraction by Praying the Lord’s Prayer
How will we break the powerful spell of the seduction cycle? In an age obsessive about fad diets, quick fixes, and exotic recent tools and methodologies, it’s helpful to be reminded that going back to basics is normally one of the best maneuver. In this case, we want look no further than the Lord’s prayer:
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your shall be done on earth,
because it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we want,
and forgive us our sins,
as now we have forgiven those that sin against us.
And don’t allow us to yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.
-Matthew 6:9-13
We would really like to attract your attention to 3 facets of this prayer that may counteract the seduction cycle—namely, praise, repentance, and give up. Instead of starting the day with a screen, start with a word of praise (“hallowed be your name”). Beginning with praise engenders gratitude and helps to still our hearts before the majesty of God. It also functions as a holistic alternative to the fast gratification that numbs us to God’s grace in our actual lives. How over and over will we overlook God’s direct answers to prayer because our eyes are glazed over?
From praise, we move into repentance (“forgive us our debts”). Asking for forgiveness keeps us in contact with our complete dependency on our Savior. It also serves as a needed reminder of our sinful condition, prompting us to treat the shortcomings of others (and ourselves) with compassion and humility quite than pride and condemnation.
Finally, we conclude on a note of give up to Christ (Thy shall be done), entrusting our lives to Him and confessing that every one things (including our lives) are in His hands. In this fashion, we hand over the illusion of control and profess our reliance on God for our well-being. Needless to say, this shouldn’t be a confession that comes naturally to us, which is why prayer shouldn’t be a one-time solution but quite a lifestyle. The seduction cycle is indeed a formidable challenge to real Christian love. However, adopting the threefold strategy from the Lord’s prayer of praise, repentance, and give up could make an actual difference in sharpening our deal with Christ and our neighbor.
Photo Credit: Tim Mossholder/Unsplash
Kenneth Boa equips people to like well (being), learn well (knowing), and live well (doing). He is a author, teacher, speaker, and mentor and is the President of Reflections Ministries, The Museum of Created Beauty, and Trinity House Publishers.
Publications by Dr. Boa include Conformed to His Image, Handbook to Prayer, Handbook to Leadership, Faith Has Its Reasons, Rewriting Your Broken Story, Life within the Presence of God, Leverage, and Recalibrate Your Life.
Dr. Boa holds a B.S. from Case Institute of Technology, a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary, a Ph.D. from New York University, and a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford in England.
