Day95 带读训练 The Attention Merchants —The

Since the 'rise↗ of 'capitalism, it has been 'known that 'capturing 'someone’s at'tention / could 'cause him to 'part with some 'money↘. From the '1890s↗ / through the '1920s, there a'rose↗ the 'first↗ 'means for 'harvesting at'tention on a 'mass↗ s'cale / and di'recting it for com'mercial ef'fect, 'thanks↗ to what is 'now↗ fa'miliar to us↗ in many 'forms / 'under the 'name of↗ / 'advertising↘.At its in∨ception / it was as trans∨formative / as the 'cotton gin↘. For ∨advertising was the con'version engine / that, with as'tonishing eff'iciency, 'turned↗ the 'cash↗ 'crop of at'tention / into an in'dustrial com'modity↘.'As such, at'tention / could be 'not↗ only 'used↗ / but re’sold↘.

We’ve 'already 'seen the at'tention 'merchant’s 'basic 'modus ope'randi:'draw↗ at'tention↗ / with ap'parently 'free s∨tuff / and 'then↗ re'sell it↘.But a 'consequence of that 'model↗ / is a 'total de'pendence on ∨gaining / and 'holding attention↘.This ∨means that 'under 'compe'tition, the 'race will 'naturally 'run to the 'bottom;at'tention will 'almost in'variably 'gravitate / to the more 'garish↗, 'lurid↗, out'rageous al'ternative↗,what'ever↗ s'timulus may 'more↗ likely en'gage / what 'cognitive 'scientists 'call / our “'auto'matic” at'tention↗as opposed to our / “con'trolled” attention, the 'kind we di'rect with in'tent↘.The 'race to a 'bottomless ∨bottom, ap'pealing to 'what 'one might 'call the 'audience’s 'baser 'instincts, poses a ∨fundamental, con'tinual di'lemma / for the at'tention ‘merchant—'just↗ how 'far↗ will he 'go / to 'get↗ his 'harvest↘?If the 'history of at'tention 'capture↗ 'teaches us 'anything, it is that the 'limits / are 'often theo'retical, and when 'real, 'rarely ‘self-im'posed↘.