Attention

Image by Tuan Hung Nguyen from Pixabay

Our attention spans – the amount of time we can collectively focus on one thing at a time – is said to be only eight seconds now,

People have been working with and trying to understand attention for a long time.

This article describes an organization called the Order of the Third Bird (now ESTAR(SER), which calls attention to attention.

We can manipulate our own attention, and this is the goal of many practices. For example, we might choose to focus narrowly, or else wide, as we might in an open awareness practice versus a meditation where we focus on the breath.

This is also the focus of what are known as "attention mechanisms" in AI or deep learning.

How do you separate attention in your mind from attention in your body? Do you think our attention is too short? What might you do to expand attention over time? Could computer systems really develop ways to pay attention?