links for 2010-08-03

"Attention, at least the kind we care about, is an intrinsically scarce resource [ 4 ]. Consider yours, right now. You are reading this paper, or more likely, since it is intended to be delivered at a conference, listening to me speaking it. You have a certain stock of attention at your disposal, and right now, a large proportion of the stock available to you is going to me, or to my words. Note that if I am standing in front of you it is difficult to distinguish between paying attention to me and paying attention to my words or thoughts; you can hardly do one without doing the other. If you are just reading this, assuming it gets printed in a book, the fact that your attention is going to me and not just to what I write may be slightly less obvious. So it is convenient to think of being in the audience at this conference in order to consider what attention economics is all about."

"Innovation in Silicon Valley is […] an inherently social process: it is only through participating in a community that entrepreneurs pioneer the technological and commercial breakthroughs that have fueled rapid regional growth. And yet without opportunities for intensely competitive and single-minded individuals to achieve personal status and wealth, this self-organizing and technologically dynamic industrial system would simply grind to a halt. Frederick Terman's brilliance lay in his ability to envision and foster a technical community that transcends the boundaries between individuals, firms, and other local institutions–and one that balances the ongoing tension between individual autonomy and collective endeavor."

"The instantaneous nature of the Net is both its marvel and menace. We feel a need for speed. Thus the compulsion to answer emails and tweets quickly, without thinking things through. Impermanence is seen as a virtue, a signal of a world in constant change (where change is a buzzword). Like, nothing is forever, dude.

Civility has gone out the window when you can hide behind the anonymity of the Internet. It's easier to be rude, even hateful -in the guise of "freedom of expression" -than it is to formulate a reasoned argument. (Indeed, reasoning and civility are slowing-down processes in themselves.) As an absolutist on freedom of expression, I oppose anti-hate speech laws -alas, hate speech is the price we pay for freedom. But that's no excuse for indulging in it because you can get away with it."