In
an age where environmental degradation is rampant and levels of air and water pollution
bring beads of sweat on the heads of environmentalists who happen to care for
the planet they call home, there is yet another victim of our callous indifference:
our attention. Where few in the gentry have come to see attention as a
resource, our corporate overlords have already been harvesting it, front, left,
right, and center. The commercialization of public space has been wide spread
and acute. We are bombarded with advertisements at every junction, every
moment, every second. There are advertisements posted not just on billboards,
but on bus stands, platforms, airports, our food boxes; there are
advertisements on vans - which at one time sported amusing catchphrases and
represented the individuality of the driver - as they sell out to big companies
like ‘Bol Media Group.’ As mentioned in class, there are ads being painted on pavements
like the Pepsi Cola advertisement on Cantt Bridge.
The encroachment of public
space seems absolute under the guise of innovate marketing technique. Our
attention is up for grabs, while we are unaware. There will be consequences. An
opinion post in the New York Times states, ‘Just as clean air makes it possible
to breathe, silence makes it possible to think.’ We need our attention to have
mundane moments to look around, observe people, be intrigued by them, and
sometimes even enough to strike up a conversation with a stranger. That is the
beauty of human communication. We need our attention to be creative and think,
and feel each other’s pain and joy. Thus we should at least be weary of the
encroachment of public space, for these human moments which set us apart from
the species and make us human.
2 comments:
Interesting thoughts. Attention, my attention, as you grabbed by posting this blog, it was both a good food for thought and intriguing to know and realize the perspective of how our attention is out there available to anyone who wishes to use it, misuse it or whatever it may be. But then again, what I would like to point out is that even though you are right in whatever you said there is a different side to this. I agree that different corporations, firms, etc use these different techniques of grabbing our attention, our attention is not in their control. It is just a competition among all these trying to grab our attention and i agree this competition is getting such a rise that it is actually really converting our "Attention", an attribute that we possess, in worth something which others would want to exploit or in a positive sense, use/utilize.
I agree. Our attention is constantly being preyed upon by corporations and others, which then reduces our ability to think and judge the world in a more reflective manner. And, as you note, it reduces our capacity to truly be human and make deeper connections with those immediately around us. Crass consumerism continues to rise and our ability to think, feel, and care about issues greater than us remains an ever present challenge.
But at least you - and others - are aware of this challenge and can perhaps work to mitigate it as best you can. Great post!
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