Of a more livable, more equitable world through individual and collective action.

To other entities as singular presences, for Odell, will lead to the maintenance Means to an end, entailing the possibility of abuse and appropriation. Less than this semimystical connection is an instrumental relationship, merely a Which full equality is granted in terms of subjectivity and value. Person’s experience and identity are always relational the most revelatoryĮncounters are with entities-including even a tree, in Buber’s famous example-to In support of this idea she has a nice sectionĮxplicating the philosopher Martin Buber’s influential book I and Thou. Treating other entities-people, of course, but also the natural world-as The book is also a manifesto of sorts against the prevailing capitalist priorities that underlie the attention economy: efficiency (which demands a “ frictionless” experience, so coveted by web designers, in order to maximize time spent on commercial activities) productivity (in which people need to be creating “value”-whatever that term means-at all times) and progress (the catchall justification for prioritizing economic growth and technological advancement over other values).Īttention from the distractions of social media feeds requires, sensiblyĮnough, paying attention to things of a qualitatively different sort.

The book is about how to defy the machinations of powerful digital platforms that seek to capture the scarce resource of a person’s attention long enough to sell something. How to Do Nothing’s true subject is the subtitle: Resisting the Attention Economy. The title of Odell’s book is, as she notes, not entirely accurate it’s not a primer on inactivity, as absurdly apropos as that might be for the present moment. Not unimportant, exactly, but elbowed into theīackground by this new and frightening disease. The pre-pandemic world, many of which Odell writes about thoughtfully in herīook, seem very distant. Much besides the pandemic, and few people take the bus anymore. Whether people are still reading the book. By “everyone” I mean the hosts of aĬouple podcasts that I listen to and a woman on my bus to work.

Jenny odell's how to do nothing