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attentional lenses. spitballing still but i think a lot of good software is a way to shift attention, either to expand it's capacity (ghidra lets me pay attention to compiled outputs more easily) or aim (tiktok is a machine for funneling attention to assholes) or provide return on it (making stuff)

i feel like analyzing software quality does well to hit it from this pov; what does this software do to my attention, how does it permit me to apply attention, what does it ask of my attentional quality. lean is hard to use with low attentional control; instagram with high attentional control

human attention has been a prime currency of the western world for decades, but i feel like the internet makes that very quantifiable, really formalizes attentional economics as a foundational principle of the lived experience. how does the new thing impact your attention budget is the omniquestion

much less "is this good/bad" than "do i have time for this, does this give me time back" with time as a shorthand for attentional bandwidth, because attention-depleted time is low quality, low value. no one wants your attention-depleted time