The Cost of Paying Attention

Matthew B. Crawford writing for The New York Times on value of attention:

What if we saw attention in the same way that we saw air or water, as a valuable resource that we hold in common? […]

We in the liberal societies of the West find ourselves headed toward a similar condition with regard to the resource of attention, because we do not yet understand it to be a resource.

Or do we? Silence is now offered as a luxury good. In the business-class lounge at Charles de Gaulle Airport, I heard only the occasional tinkling of a spoon against china. I saw no advertisements on the walls. This silence, more than any other feature, is what makes it feel genuinely luxurious.