Continuous Partial Attention

What Is Continuous Partial Attention?

Continuous Partial Attention

We are on the cusp of one Age of Attention and moving into another.   We have been in the Age of Continuous Partial Attention for the last twenty years. We are just now entering the Age of Uni-focus.  Trends start slowly, then accelerate.  The first signs of the shift are starting to show up in this messy transition time.  By 2014, we will be in the prime of this Era.

Continuous partial attention is fueled by the urge not to miss anything.  Every call, every email, every text message, every blog post, every person wandering by, just might have value, might call us toward the next great opportunity or experience. 

Continuous partial attention is different from multi-tasking.   The Age of Multi-Tasking preceded the Age of Continuous Partial Attention. Multi-tasking is motivated by a desire to be more productive and more efficient.  The multi-tasker gives  the same priority to a variety of activities that don’t require much cognitive processing.  We’re multi-tasking when we eat lunch, talk on the phone, and file or copy papers at the same time.  We’re just being in the business of getting things done. We multi-task to CREATE more opportunity for ourselves – opportunity to DO more, to PLAY more, to CREATE more.   We use continuous partial attention to SCAN for opportunity, to connect more, to be a live node in a web of endless possibilities.    With every opportunity, we ask, “What can I gain here?”

When William James, defined attention in 1890, in Principles of Psychology, he said that it is taking possession of the mind in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought… it implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others.

Today, a commonly used definition of attention is:  the act or faculty of attending.   We seem to have completely dropped the part about withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others.  We’re just doing it all.

Continuous partial attention (cpa) is an always on, anywhere, anytime, any place behavior.  It’s neuro-chemically addictive and it involves an artificial sense of constant crisis. We keep a top priority in focus.  At the same time, we scan the periphery to see if we are missing other opportunities, and if we are, our very fickle attention shifts focus.  What’s ringing?  Who is it?  What email just came in?  15 text messages.   Blog this.  What time is it in Beijing?  19 voicemails.

The artificial sense of constant crisis is more typical of continuous partial attention than it is of multi-tasking. In this state of constant crisis, our adrenalized Fight or Flight mechanism kicks in.  This is great when a bear is standing ready to rip us to shreds.  How many of those 500 emails a day is a bear?  How many are flies? Is everything an emergency?   Our way of using the current set of technologies would have us believe it is.

Over the last twenty years, we have not only become expert at paying continuous partial attention, we have become skilled in paying – CONTINUOUS continuous partial attention.  There are times when CPA is the best attention strategy for what we’re doing.  There are times when we can’t seem to shut it off and it’s not the best match.   In small doses, continuous partial attention has served us well. 

Continuous continuous partial attention, an always-on lifestyle, and the fight or flight response associated with it, sets off a cascade in our bodies, starting with norepinephrin and it’s friend, cortisol, a stress hormone.  As a hormone, cortisol is a universal donor.  That is, it attaches with any receptor site leaving little room for other hormones.  As a result, dopamine and seratonin – hormones that help us feel calm and happy – have no where to go.    The abundance of cortisol has contributed to our turning to pharmaceuticals to calm us down and help us sleep.   Consider the success of drugs like Ambien, a non-narcotic sedative-type sleep medication, and anti-depressants, like Prozac. We have more attention-related and stress-related diseases than ever before. We can’t find the off switch --  on our devices or on ourselves.  As we begin to consider the impact of this lifestyle, researchers are beginning to tell us that we may actually be doing tasks more slowly and more poorly.

We are beginning to shift away from a desire to be always-on, and moving toward a desire to protect our time, and to experience more meaningful relationships.  We are moving from what I call the “I CONNECT” Era and the Age of Continuous Partial Attention and into the “I PROTECT and  BELONG Era.” An era, that, over time, will be characterized by Uni-Focus and Presence.  The world may continue to be noisy.  Our yearning and fulfillment going forward will be more and more likely to come from getting to the bottom of things, from stillness, authenticity, meaningful connection, and a sense of protecting ourselves and being protected.   Neo-Luddites Rising!   OR…  I know how to use the tools and I choose not to right now. 

I spoke at DLD in Munich, Germany, in January.  This was a terrific event, hosted by Burda, a major publishing company. 

John Naisbitt, whom I have admired for many years, closed his keynote with this quote:

"If I had to live my life again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week; for perhaps the part of my brain now atrophied would thus have been kept alive through use. The loss of these tastes is a loss of happiness."
-- Charles Darwin, from his autobiography

"We’re so accessible, we’re inaccessible."

"We can’t find the off switch on our devices or on ourselves."

"We want to wear an iPod as much to listen to our own playlists as to block out the rest of the world and protect ourselves from all the noise."

"An iPod says, 'Leave me alone.  I want my space and I’m in it.  I’m taking control of what input comes my way.'"

"We are everywhere except where we actually are physically. "

"Interfaces on new products like the Wii and the iPhone use direct manipulation.   On the iPhone, it’s flick and pinch.  On the Wii, the remote brings movement to game play.   These products bring us back into our bodies after years of 'leaving our bodies to inhabit our computers."

"We have so many powerful technologies, and at the same time as we celebrate these powerful technologies, we feel increasingly powerless."

"We manage our time.  We don’t manage our attention.  Managing time is about tasks.  Managing attention is about intention.  Managing time is an action journey.  Managing attention is an emotional journey."

"The always-on lifestyle, with endless opportunities for communication and interaction -- or put another way -- endless stimulation -- is gradually being replaced with evidence of our emerging desire for exhilaration -- specifically, the exhilaration that comes with creation and being creators.  Stimulation is all abut those things that come at us externally.  Exhilaration is something that comes from within."

"Teens are engaging in something I have come to call, 'semi-sync' communication.  That is, when they exchange text messages, they respond more quickly than one might respond to an (async) email and yet, not as quickly as one might to a (sync) phone call.   Teens think email can be burdensome and phone calls are intrusive.  Semi-sync communicating allows them to stay present with where they are and who they're with, and at the same time, give a quick answer to the person texting them."

"The 'new new thing' is quality of life – this translates to product design as REMOVE EVERYTHING EXTRANEOUS.  The iPod is the canonical product.  McDonald’s premium coffee says, quality of life is here! at McDonalds!  Target, now selling designer works from Michael Graves and other designers,  foreshadows what will be a bigger and bigger trend among consumers.  Consumers will ask, 'What adds to my quality of life?'"

In my framework of eras, it goes like this:
1945-65     products and services were about convenience
1965-1985  products and services were about features
1985-2005  products and services were about ease of use
2005-2025  products and services are about quality of life

"Everything in nature that works seems to have a cycle – the life cycle of a plant, the seasons – summer, fall, winter, spring.  Athletes train with cycles in mind – cycles of high performance, cycles of different types of workouts, periods of rest.  Always on doesn’t respect this.  And if there is no winter, there is also no spring."

Biography

Widely recognized as a visionary thinker and thought leader, Linda Stone is a writer, speaker and consultant focused on trends and their strategic and consumer implications. In 2006 alone, articles on her work have appeared in the New York Times, Newsweek, The Economist, The Boston Globe and hundreds of blogs. Since March 2006, she has spoken at the ETech conference, GEL, the Collaborative Technologies Technologies Conference, the Hidden Brain Task Force for the Center for Work-Life Policy, and to executives at Edelman and at McDonald's. In June 2006, she was invited by Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi to speak to the Medici gathering of positive psychologists, an invitation-only gathering of leaders in this field.

Previously, she spent close to twenty years as an executive in high technology. In 1986, she was persuaded to join Apple Computer to help "change the world." In her 7 years at Apple, she had the opportunity to do pioneering work in multimedia hardware, software and publishing. In her last year at Apple, Stone worked for Chairman and CEO John Sculley on special projects. In 1993, Stone joined Microsoft Research under Nathan Myhrvold and Rick Rashid. She co-founded and directed the Virtual Worlds Group/Social Computing Group, researching online social life and virtual communities. During this time, she also taught as adjunct faculty in NYU's prestigious Interactive Telecommunications Program. In 2000, CEO Steve Ballmer tapped Stone to take on a VP role, reporting to him, to help improve industry relationships and contribute to a constructive evolution of the corporate culture. She retired from Microsoft in 2002.

Over the years, Stone has been recognized by Upside Magazine as one of the Upside 100 Leaders of the Digital Revolution, by I.D. Magazine as one of the I.D. 40, and she was featured in John Brockman’s book, THE DIGERATI, which described her as a visionary both within Microsoft and to the industry at large.

Stone served a six year term on the National Board of the World Wildlife Fund and is currently on the WWF National Council. She is an advisor for the Pew Internet and American Life Project, the Hidden Brain Drain Task Force for the Center for Worklife Policy, and is on the Advisory Board of the RIT Lab for Social Computing. In 2002, she was recognized as Outstanding Regional Volunteer of the Year by F.I.R.S.T., Dean Kamen’s non-profit dedicated to inspiring young people in science and technology.

Recent Photo

Conference in Hawaii

5/06: Gel Conference, NYC

Photo courtesy of Mark Hurst

3/06: O'Reilly ETech Conference

6/06: Collaborative Computing Conference

On Attention: Linda Stone at the DLD Conference (to PLAY VIDEO click on Sunday, January 21, and then the 5:00 pm session ON ATTENTION, both of which can be found on the right hand side of the page)

Attention: The *Real* Aphrodisiac (audio version of ETech talk)

ETech 2006

Supernova 2005