I just finished reading a wonderful book called “The Economics of Attention” written by Richard Lanham, a retired UCLA English professor. It offers a great look at the interplay of style and substance in today’s economy. A quote by Epictus gets at part of the thesis: “It is not things but what we think about things that trouble humankind.” It’s a great read for anyone who works in the media, as our entire business is the attention economy. The book is essential for marketers, too. An interesting quote from Lanham’s book:
“Normally, the debate about attention as a scarce resource is about what you pay attention to in a crowded field of regard: the problem of plentitude. Revisionist thinking is about how you pay attention. Free market economists believe that freedom increases with the number of choices available to us. Freedom is the freedom to choose. But too many choices–the problem of plentitude–can obstruct freedom as effectively as too few. A tool that confronts the problem not by filtering the choices but by training the chooser can protect and refine the feedom that markets create.”
