How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy

A galvanizing critique of the forces vying for our attentionâ€”and our personal informationâ€”that redefines what we think of as productivity, reconnects us with the environment, and reveals all that weâ€™ve been too distracted to see about ourselves and our world

Nothing is harder to do these days than nothing. But in a world where our value is determined by our 24/7 data productivity . . . doing nothing may be our most important form of resistance.

So argues artist and critic Jenny Odell in this field guide to doing nothing (at least as capitalism defines it). Odell sees our attention as the most preciousâ€”and overdrawnâ€”resource we have. Once we can start paying a new kind of attention, she writes, we can undertake bolder forms of political action, reimagine humankindâ€™s role in the environment, and arrive at more meaningful understandings of happiness and progress.

Far from the simple anti-technology screed, or the back-to-nature meditation we read so often, How to do Nothing is an action plan for thinking outside of capitalist narratives of efficiency and techno-determinism. Provocative, timely, and utterly persuasive, this book is a four-course meal in the age of Soylent.
Country USA
Manufacturer Melville House
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2019-04-23
Format Kindle eBook

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