<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3020" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"
bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document
face=Verdana color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV>
<DIV>Trebor, thanks! This is the best New Year's gift you could possibly
have sent -- to me at least, and I'm sure to fellow sufferers. It's VERY
helpful and practical to those of us drowning in email, desperately
treading water as the tide grows ever higher. The phrase "continuous
partial attention" precisely defines a pernicious cultural condition to which
I've succumbed. My main New Year's resolution is to overcome it and
re-learn to focus.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks again. Here's to longer periods of total attention to a single
task.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>No need to respond!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>cheers,</DIV>
<DIV>Marcia Tanner</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 12/29/2006 9:02:38 AM Pacific Standard Time,
idc-request@bbs.thing.net writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Send iDC
mailing list submissions to<BR> idc@bbs.thing.net<BR><BR>To
subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit<BR>
http://mailman.thing.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/idc<BR>or, via email, send a
message with subject or body 'help' to<BR>
idc-request@bbs.thing.net<BR><BR>You can reach the person managing the list
at<BR> idc-owner@bbs.thing.net<BR><BR>When replying, please edit
your Subject line so it is more specific<BR>than "Re: Contents of iDC
digest..."<BR><BR><BR>Today's Topics:<BR><BR> 1. How to overcome
continuous partial attention. (Trebor
Scholz)<BR><BR><BR>----------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Message:
1<BR>Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2006 10:51:26 -0500<BR>From: Trebor Scholz
<trebor@thing.net><BR>Subject: [iDC] How to overcome continuous partial
attention.<BR>To: IDC list <idc@bbs.thing.net><BR>Message-ID:<BR>
<r02010500-1048-711D9DC4975411DBAFF4001124E13D4E@[192.168.2.3]><BR>Content-Type:
text/plain; charset=US-ASCII<BR><BR>"Our husbands come home from work, glued
to their Blackberries. They don't talk with us or with the children. They
don't connect with us. And then, when we go to bed,<BR>they want sex. I don't
think so." <BR><BR>-a wife and mother
in New York City in November
2006<BR><BR><http://continuouspartialattention.jot.com/WikiHome><BR><BR>In
1998 former Microsoft researcher Linda Stone coined the term continuous
partial attention.<BR><BR>Most of us sit in front of a computer screen while
texting with a friend or communicate our order in the cafe with the cellphone
on our ear. We are aware of several things at<BR>once, shifting our attention
to whatever we deem most important at any given moment. That's continuous
partial attention. Many students are affected by this phenomenon<BR>and the
methods with which we engage them need to reflect these
changes.<BR><BR><http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6062980.stm><BR><BR>Snow
Crash author Neal Stephenson's website makes his take on continuous partial
attention abundantly clear. He writes:<BR><BR>"Every productive thing that I
do requires ALL my attention. I cannot put it any better than Donald Knuth,
who writes on his website, 'Email is a wonderful thing for people<BR>whose
role in life is to be on top of things. But not for me; my role is to be on
the bottom of things. What I do takes long hours of studying and
uninterruptible<BR>concentration.'"<BR><BR><http://www.well.com/~neal/><BR><BR>Continuous
partial attention goes beyond multi-tasking and efficiency optimization. We
are what we are paying attention to. We listen to our ipod while on a bicycle.
We are<BR>online while the TV runs in the background. We answer our cellphone
while checking email. Being part of an opportunity-rich social network is what
matters most. Many of<BR>us take calls on our cellphone while we are on lunch
break. Or even worse, according to a recent study 22% of German cellphone
users report having interrupted sex to<BR>answer their cellphone. Stone argues
that multi-tasking always aims for the most advantageous, beneficial
communication link for each moment. Sex with your partner may<BR>be less of an
overall opportunity than the call from the boss. However, sometimes the moving
of attention from one object to the next may not be related to an
eagerness<BR>not to miss out -- the mind follows stimuli and many of us get
wrapped up in the next task before we even realize that it happened.
<BR><BR><http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/cell_sex.html><BR><BR>The
24/7 e-leash makes people work longer hours in virtually any place. The work
place crisis intrudes into our personal life at any time. Life is marked by
continuous partial<BR>attention equipped with anytime, anywhere, any place
technologies. A recent study by Berry Schwartz at Swarthmore College study
directly linked what he called the<BR>vertigo of voice to the widespread
increase in depression and anxiety. Too much choice makes us
unhappy.<BR><BR><http://www.enotalone.com/article/6839.html><BR><BR>Therefore,
to improve your quality of life, the ability to judge the credibility of
information becomes essential. Today, groups of people help each other to
filter information.<BR>They recommend content on sites like Digg or link to
the URL of a website that they appreciated thus promoting this site's Google
ranking. But Google's evaluation is flawed<BR>because sites like JewWatch
score high rankings despite brainless and offensive content. Also other
ranking systems are controversial as they merely indicate popularity,<BR>which
does not inevitably stand for informative and relevant content. Britney Spears
scores highest rankings in the referral system of the Itunes Store and yet
listeners with<BR>refined music taste may not appreciate her stuff. The
network on Del.icio.us is a helpful filtering system as it relies on a small
group of people whom we trust. They look<BR>through a large number of sites
and vote for a site or article by saving and describing it. Human judgment
alongside more sophisticated tools will lead to higher<BR>trustworthiness of
online resources.<BR><BR><http://del.icio.us/help/network><BR><BR>Many
technologists read a large number of weblogs every morning. This is followed
by a quick check of the latest bookmarks in their Del.icio.us network. After
that people<BR>draw their attention to the dozens if not hundreds of emails in
their inboxes. It is a constant cycle of intake. And, not paying attention to
it does not make it stop. The<BR>default is absorption and not reflection. How
much time are we left with to think? Standing on terabytes of information does
not make us more reflective.<BR><BR>Students readily admit to computer
addiction or continuous partial attention and ask what can be done about it.
<BR><BR>Here are a few practical guidelines for students (and the rest of
us):<BR><BR>Twenty minutes in the morning should be sufficient to <BR><BR>1)
read all emails (!) and write short responses to mails of low importance,
<BR><BR>2) delete uncaught spam and anything that does not need a response,
<BR><BR>3) file away emails that require in-depth responses and <BR><BR>4)
subsequently end up with an empty inbox.<BR><BR>Later in the afternoon,
ideally always at the same time, take an hour to respond to important messages
that require some thought and sensitivity. <BR><BR>Apart from these two times,
*email programs are off.* <BR><BR>This is very hard because at the move of a
finger, a push of a button, your email program pops up. However, with
sufficient intentionality it should be possible. Just think of<BR>the fact
that fewer interruptions lead to more focused work on your projects. You will
experience an increased sense of well-being. At work many people will not be
able to<BR>stay off email from 9-5pm, of course. But you can adapt these
guidelines for your schedule.<BR><BR>A 24-hour response time for email
messages is appropriate.<BR><BR>A recent New York Times article found that
current day students often demand a prompt reply to their email requests from
professors, which is unreasonable. Don't expect<BR>others to immediately
answer and also you do not need to get back right away. <BR><BR>Some people
developed the habit of not responding to some emails addressed to them. (They
simply delete them.) This is exceedingly rude and passive aggressive. A
brief,<BR>clear email explaining a lack of time or interest could often solve
unnecessary tensions.<BR><BR><http://tinyurl.com/ybunfk><BR><BR>Emails
that are charged with conflict should not be responded to right away. Save
them in your drafts folder and get back to them when you feel less afflicted.
If the<BR>conflict is more severe, email is the wrong medium. In that case, a
face-to-face meeting has a much greater chance to lead to conflict
resolution.<BR><BR>Strategies to avoid network distraction include
intentionally working in a place such as a cafe that does not have wireless
service. Or, if you are disciplined enough, just<BR>switch off the wireless
connection on your computer. Online or off, it becomes increasingly important
to intently create time to think.
<BR><BR><http://continuouspartialattention.jot.com/WikiHome><BR><BR>In
addition, a clean desktop can contribute to focus. Furthermore, having only
one application visible makes it easier to concentrate. Applications like the
free Mac program<BR>WriteRoom and the very useful but proprietary, for-pay
program DevonThink switch your computer to full-screen. You write green text
on a black background just like in<BR>the old days. <BR><BR>Such tools are
helpful but the assumption that continuous partial attention can be fixed by
yet another software application is misguided. Machines are supposed to fix
the<BR>problems that we would not have without them. There is not a
technological answer to all social problems. In the end, your focus and
presence throughout the day is not<BR>entirely determined by your mastery of
sociable media skills. However, the ability to judge the credibility of
information is a core skill that will help you to fight continuous<BR>partial
attention.
<BR><BR>-ts<BR><BR>blog:<BR><http://tinyurl.com/yb2toy><BR><http://www.collectivate.net/journalisms/2006/12/29/how-to-overcome-continuous-partial-attention.html><BR><BR><BR><BR>------------------------------<BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>iDC
mailing
list<BR>iDC@bbs.thing.net<BR>http://mailman.thing.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/idc<BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Institute
for Distributed Creativity (iDC)
<BR>_______________________________________________<BR>www.distributedcreativity.org
<BR>_______________________________________________<BR>The research of the
Institute for Distributed Creativity <BR>(iDC) focuses on collaboration in
media art, technology, <BR>and theory with an emphasis on social
contexts.<BR>_______________________________________________<BR><BR><BR>End of
iDC Digest, Vol 26, Issue
12<BR>***********************************<BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>