Attention is a Melting Iceberg
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Attention economy
13 min read
The article's central metaphor of attention as a 'melting iceberg owned by the fairground' directly engages with how human attention has become a scarce commodity exploited by technology platforms. This concept provides the theoretical framework for understanding the article's critique of smartphone-mediated existence.
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Svalbard
15 min read
The article opens with imagery from this Norwegian archipelago where the polar bear photograph was taken. Svalbard is a fascinating location with unique geopolitical status, extreme environment, and serves as a bellwether for climate change—deepening the melting iceberg metaphor.
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Polar bear
18 min read
The opening image of a polar bear sleeping on a melting iceberg serves as the article's foundational metaphor. Understanding polar bear biology, their dependence on sea ice, and their status as climate change indicators adds scientific depth to the poetic imagery.
Those who said life is here and now did not have internet-enabled smartphones.
The joy of existence has been tempered by the collapse of space and time.
Our trap is the presence of the screen and the scream of its presence.
The past is a home we live in that we can’t return to.
The future is ours, but it’s on indefinite loan to an exiled friend.
Eternity is quiet, as always.
Our I-ness has become a product disguised as a project.
Our We-ness is becoming an algorithm that does not care if we have eaten.
Attention is a melting iceberg owned by the fairground.
We are ready to move, but in the same way that a three-legged elephant is ready.
Our social structures are like drawers with big spoons that cannot be opened.
Our politicians wear invisible pirate eye masks that blind them to the light we need.
Can there be an action plan for billions of people?
The answer is Yes, who doesn’t understand the question.
And No, who feels guilty about being lonely.
What, then, is asked of us?
To put aside the vainglory of endings.
To step away from the spectacle that insists on lamentation.
To gently lead modernity off its naughty step, and let it lick its wounds.
I can do what is mine to do.
I can care for those who need me.
I can listen to the perennial music on my plate.
I can stretch, and know the body as stardust.
I can sand the old doors, ready for new paint.
We can all fight, yes, and gladly.
We can find the others and remind each other what matters.
We can look ahead together with grateful trepidation.
We can rediscover what we are sure of, and love it all the more.
This excerpt is provided for preview purposes. Full article content is available on the original publication.