More attention, better understanding – that thought has resonance today, given society’s discussion of the risks and opportunities of digital media. Attention is valuable. For instance, the larger the audience watching a television show, the more money the programmer can charge advertisers wishing to sell things to that audience. The more attention a program, video, email, text, tweet, article, game or whatever can grab, the more monetarily valuable that entity becomes.
The idea that more attention leads to better understanding works only when sufficient concentration gets focused on one topic for an extended period of time. But extended focus has been undermined by the desire to steal a person’s time, which has led to a proliferation of attention-grabbing tactics, some less honorable than others.