{"id":144713,"date":"2025-06-24T14:24:07","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T18:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=144713"},"modified":"2025-06-26T14:26:22","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T18:26:22","slug":"chris-hayes-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/chris-hayes-attention\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Hayes’s 3 Tips for Reclaiming Attention (The Sirens’ Call)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How many times per day do you reach for your phone? Do you want to regain power over your attention?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In The Sirens\u2019 Call<\/em>, MSNBC host Chris Hayes demystifies the mechanics of an economy built to commandeer your attention. He reveals how our attention has become a commodity seized and controlled by media platforms<\/a> and advertisers for their profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is Chris Hayes’s advice for how individuals and society can reclaim their attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

How Can We Reclaim Our Attention?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Chris Hayes explains that we can take action, individually and collectively, to resist the attention economy<\/a> and demand a healthier path forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Resist the Attention Economy Personally<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Hayes acknowledges that individual resistance to the attention economy faces enormous challenges, but argues that personal strategies remain both necessary and potentially effective<\/strong>. The attention economy is designed by teams of engineers and psychologists using billions of dollars and sophisticated technology to exploit human psychology. Individual willpower alone can\u2019t consistently overcome such systematic manipulation. But individual action, while it can\u2019t solve a systemic problem, can help you reduce harm as larger changes develop\u2014and it gives you a way to model more thoughtful approaches for others to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most radical personal strategy Hayes proposes is abandoning smartphones <\/strong>in favor of \u201cdumb phones,\u201d which can make calls and send texts but can\u2019t access the internet or run apps. Hayes argues that smartphones have become so central to the attention economy\u2019s business model that opting out represents a form of economic resistance as well as personal protection. For those unwilling or unable to abandon smartphones, Hayes suggests implementing strict boundaries around digital engagement\u2014turning off all nonessential notifications, using website and app blockers during focused work periods, and establishing phone-free zones to eliminate as many involuntary attention triggers as possible from daily life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Hayes frames switching to \u201cdumb phones\u201d as a form of personal protection and economic resistance against attention extraction, but this solution isn\u2019t feasible for everyone. Many dumb phones cost $299 to $799<\/a>\u2014often more than basic smartphones<\/a>. Meanwhile, many jobs now require smartphones even for low-wage positions, and essential services increasingly assume smartphone access for banking, navigation, and communication. Many dumb phone users keep a smartphone as backup<\/a> for tasks that require app-based authentication. This suggests that opting out may be more symbolic than systemic\u2014a choice available primarily to those with economic flexibility and privilege.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hayes also recommends consuming media through formats that resist attention extraction techniques.<\/strong> Reading physical newspapers and books helps you engage with content designed for sustained attention, and listening to long-form podcasts or watching documentary films exercises the cognitive muscles required for deep focus. Choosing subscription-based media over advertising-supported platforms reduces exposure to attention-optimized content designed primarily to deliver eyeballs to advertisers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Research supports some benefits of switching from digital to physical media: In The Shallows<\/em><\/a>, Nicholas Carr notes that reading on paper instead of on screens yields greater comprehension<\/a>. But critics argue this misses the structural problem: For instance, in Indistractable<\/em><\/a>, Nir Eyal contends that technology isn\u2019t the root cause of distraction<\/a>, and workplace culture<\/a> and environmental factors are more to blame than our digital devices. A bigger challenge may be that individual media choices don\u2019t address the economic incentives driving attention-capture design<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps most importantly, Hayes emphasizes cultivating an awareness of where your attention is going<\/strong>, whether that allocation serves your interests<\/a>, and what you might be missing while focused on digital content. He explains that the practice of meditation<\/a>, while not explicitly political, can become a form of resistance by strengthening your ability to exercise your voluntary attention and reducing your susceptibility to the capture of your involuntary attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Hayes\u2019s idea of meditation as resistance finds a parallel in Edward Carey\u2019s The Swallowed Man<\/em><\/a>, which retells Pinocchio from Geppetto\u2019s perspective<\/a> after he\u2019s swallowed by a giant fish. With candles for light and a logbook for writing, Geppetto must focus entirely on his immediate surroundings and thoughts<\/a>: making art, writing, and reflecting on fatherhood<\/a>. But this shift comes only after Gepetto accepts his isolation and faces his fears of being alone. Similarly, when the devices that fragment our attention also connect us to others, removing ourselves from the chaos\u2014as Gepetto did by getting swallowed by a fish\u2014might exact psychological costs that make it impractical for most people.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Odysseus<\/a> Problem: When Self-Protection Requires Self-Limitation<\/strong>

Hayes\u2019s approach to individual resistance mirrors an episode from The Odyssey<\/em><\/a>, the Homeric epic that inspired his book\u2019s title. When Odysseus needed to sail past the deadly Sirens<\/a>, he didn\u2019t rely on willpower or better decision-making<\/a>. Instead, he had his crew plug their ears with wax and lash him to the ship\u2019s mast so he could hear the Sirens\u2019 song<\/a> without being able to act on it. The parallel runs deep: As scholar Emily Wilson notes, the Sirens\u2019 seduction isn\u2019t sexual\u2014it\u2019s cognitive. They promise knowledge<\/a> of \u201call that had occurred during the war at Troy, and everywhere else besides.\u201d This mirrors the internet\u2019s fundamental appeal: the promise that endless information can provide answers to everything we want to know.\u00a0

But like the sailors lured to their deaths, we often end up overwhelmed and lost rather than enlightened. Some researchers suggest Odysseus travels in circles<\/a> during his journey\u2014a fitting metaphor for how we wander through digital feeds searching for meaning or answers that remain elusive. This reveals an uncomfortable truth<\/a> about Hayes\u2019s personal solutions: They often require eliminating choice<\/a> rather than improving it. Switching to a \u201cdumb phone\u201d or reading a print newspaper instead of a news app is the equivalent of being tied to the mast\u2014it\u2019s not about learning to make better decisions<\/a>, or addressing the underlying forces<\/a> that make such extreme measures necessary, but about removing the opportunity to choose.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2. Take Action at the Collective Level<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Personal resistance strategies, while valuable, cannot address the structural forces driving attention extraction across society. Hayes argues that meaningful change requires collective action to create alternative systems and advocate for broader social changes<\/strong> that prioritize human attention and well-being over corporate profits. He explains that \u201cattention resistance\u201d groups like Friends of Attention<\/a> are beginning to organize for limits on attention extraction, cognitive safety protections, and the right to mental privacy.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Hayes points to Friends of Attention as an example of emerging attention resistance movements, and such organizations can provide valuable personal benefits<\/a> for participants through practices like sustained focus exercises and community building. But they face significant barriers<\/a> to scaling into the mass resistance necessary to challenge billion-dollar attention extraction industries. Friends of Attention, which emerged from a 2018 art symposium, remains concentrated among educated, predominantly white academics and artists<\/a> in major cities. Participating in their activities requires leisure time and cultural capital that may be inaccessible to the working-class people most affected by attention extraction.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hayes also identifies the potential for <\/strong>businesses to profit by helping people reclaim their attention rather than extracting it.<\/strong> This includes companies offering distraction-free productivity tools, meditation apps that don\u2019t track user data, and social media platforms designed for meaningful connection rather than maximizing<\/a> engagement. The demand for these solutions has become so apparent that even Apple and Google now build screen time monitoring and app usage controls into their operating systems, while subscription-based services that eliminate advertising continue gaining traction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Community-based resistance strategies offer another avenue for collective action.<\/strong> Hayes advocates for creating and participating in private, invitation-only online spaces that operate without advertising or algorithmic manipulation. These might include private group chats, email lists, or small forums where conversations can occur without the attention-extraction pressures of commercial platforms. The goal is to model what healthy digital communication looks like while building networks<\/a> of people committed to protecting their collective cognitive resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: The strategy of creating alternative online spaces faces what political scientist Albert Hirschman calls the \u201cexit vs. voice\u201d dilemma<\/a>: When dissatisfied people can easily leave a flawed system, they\u2019re less likely to stay and fight to improve it. The recent Twitter\/X exodus illustrates this problem: As Elon Musk\u2019s changes drove millions of users to platforms like Bluesky, Threads, and Mastodon<\/a>, the result wasn\u2019t a reform of X but further fragmentation of online discourse<\/a> and a weakening of any collective pressure for X to change its policies. This creates a paradox: The people most motivated to resist attention extraction are precisely those who can most easily afford to exit to alternatives, leaving others behind.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Illusion of Choice in Collective Solutions<\/strong>

Hayes\u2019s collective action proposals face a challenge illustrated by the Black Mirror<\/em><\/a> episode \u201cFifteen Million Merits<\/a>.\u201d In this dystopian future<\/a>, characters believe they\u2019re making autonomous choices between options like \u201capple or banana\u201d at vending machines, while being systematically guided toward outcomes that serve the system\u2019s profit motives<\/a>. Similarly, we participate willingly in systems that constrain our options from the moment we sign up\u2014a dynamic that applies directly to solutions like subscription services and time-monitoring tools.

When Apple and Google add screen time controls to their operating systems, or when we join private social networks, are we exercising genuine resistance or simply choosing between pre-approved alternatives? We might feel empowered by selecting distraction-free tools while remaining within attention-extracting ecosystems, a paradox that questions human agency itself. Neuroscience research suggests that environmental factors shape our decisions<\/a> far more than we realize,and if changing our digital environment simply substitutes one set of influences for another, then collective action becomes less about liberation and more about choosing which forces shape our behavior.\u00a0<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

3. Realign Economic Incentives<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The most ambitious solutions Hayes proposes involve changes to the economic structures that make attention extraction profitable.<\/strong> His <\/strong>most radical proposal is government-mandated limits on attention extraction\u2014such as a legislated cap on hours of screen time or restrictions on the types of psychological manipulation techniques<\/a> that platforms can legally employ\u2014similar to how labor laws limit the number of hours employers can require workers to spend on the job. Hayes acknowledges that such regulations would face fierce opposition from technology companies and people who might view them as restrictions on personal freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The framework Hayes envisions would require developing new legal precedents to treat attention as a protected resource,<\/strong> similar to how environmental regulations protect air and water quality. He proposes changes to how tech companies can measure and optimize their success: <\/strong>Government agencies could require them to report metrics like user satisfaction, well-being outcomes, or the quality <\/em>rather than quantity of attention captured. He argues that workplace safety regulations, environmental protection<\/a> laws, and consumer protection standards all represent cases where government intervention<\/a> constrained corporate behavior to protect public welfare\u2014and that the attention economy deserves similar regulatory responses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Hayes\u2019s call for government regulation touches on a question that extends beyond technology policy: Should critics of existing power structures work within existing institutions<\/a> to create change or seek to transform them entirely<\/a>? Queer theorist Samuel Clowes Huneke (A Queer Theory of the State<\/em><\/a>) notes that critics find themselves trapped between \u201cthe empirical need for the state and queer theory\u2019s inability to articulate why [we need it]\u201d. Hayes faces a similar contradiction: He critiques the attention economy as a form of systematic exploitation, yet his solutions depend entirely on trusting that the same regulatory apparatus that enabled attention capitalism<\/a> can be reformed to constrain it.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hayes acknowledges significant challenges in implementing such systemic changes<\/a>. Technology companies possess enormous political influence and financial resources to resist regulation. The global nature of digital platforms complicates national regulatory approaches, and the technical complexity of attention extraction makes it difficult to craft effective regulations without stifling beneficial technological innovation. But the ultimate goal Hayes articulates is to create an economic system where human attention serves human flourishing rather than corporate profits.<\/strong> This would require not just regulatory changes but cultural shifts in how society values and protects cognitive resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Challenges of Regulating the Attention Economy<\/strong>

Experts might disagree about whether Hayes\u2019s specific ideas are feasible, but most agree some form of government intervention is necessary and possible. Research suggests that transparency measures\u2014like requiring apps to display \u201ctypical daily minutes of use\u201d or warning labels about cognitive impacts\u2014could reduce demand<\/a> for attention-harvesting products. The European Union has begun implementing attention-focused regulations by banning manipulative \u201cdark patterns\u201d<\/a> (interface designs that trick users into unwanted actions, like making it easy to accept cookies but difficult to refuse them), requiring transparency about recommendation algorithms, and mandating risk assessments for mental health impacts.

However, several obstacles complicate Hayes\u2019s vision of attention regulation. First, measuring attention costs proves technically difficult: Unlike environmental pollution, attention capture operates through complex psychological mechanisms that vary between individuals and contexts. Second, the global nature of digital platforms means that national regulations can be circumvented, necessitating international coordination<\/a>. Third, the tension between regulation and personal freedom remains unresolved: Even experts who support intervention worry about whether tech companies or governments should decide what constitutes healthy attention use, and if such oversight could lead to authoritarian control over how people think.

While Hayes draws parallels to labor laws and environmental regulations, critics note that attention differs from these precedents because it\u2019s harder to measure objectively and more tied to personal autonomy and freedom of thought<\/a>. The most promising regulatory approaches may be incremental rather than comprehensive, focusing on transparency and choice rather than direct limits. Some scholars propose economic interventions like taxing attention costs or breaking up tech monopolies<\/a> using metrics like \u201cadvertisement load\u201d or \u201cconsumer time spent\u201d as measures of market power\u2014approaches that could address concerns about corporate profit extraction while avoiding the challenges of attention caps.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How many times per day do you reach for your phone? Do you want to regain power over your attention? In The Sirens\u2019 Call, MSNBC host Chris Hayes demystifies the mechanics of an economy built to commandeer your attention. He reveals how our attention has become a commodity seized and controlled by media platforms and advertisers for their profit. 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