The Sirens' Call: How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource

by Chris Hayes

We cannot understand the attention age without reckoning with that part of us that seeks out the sirens, that flees the terror of our own uninterrupted minds. Why are we not satisfied with peaceful silence? In 2014, psychologists at the University of Virginia set about to investigate this question. Subjects were asked to simply sit alone in a room doing nothing for periods between six to fifteen minutes and were later asked about their experiences. They hated it. The researchers then tested just how much they hated it: “Would they rather do an unpleasant activity than no activity at all?” the authors asked. In one study participants were given the “opportunity to experience negative stimulation (an electric shock) if they so desired.” And guess what? “Many participants elected to receive negative stimulation over no stimulation—especially men: 67% of men (12 of 18) gave themselves at least one shock during the thinking period.”