Note: The Attention Economy as Lady Folly
What Proverbs and Facebook have in common
In a previous issue, I wrote about the attention economy and the way it calls out to you as an individual, cultivating the impression that each of us are at the center of the universe:
Consider the experience of shopping. Nearly every product calls out to you. They offer to meet your needs. They promise to please you, to improve you. Every advertisement assures us that you deserve the product or service. Each product and advertisement desires you. They desire your attention, your time, your money, your acquisition. They desire to join you in the grand quest of your identity formation and self-actualization. How flattering is that?
Later that day, it struck me that this happened to be a good description of Lady Folly from Proverbs, Chapter 7:
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