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Technology and the Attention Economy: Postphenomenological Studies

Wed, October 6, 5:00 to 6:30pm EDT (5:00 to 6:30pm EDT), 4S 2021 Virtual, 25

Abstract

In what may be a defining aspect of our contemporary world, technologies vie for our attention at seemingly all times and from seemingly all angles. The implications are both theoretical and practical. They are relevant for our theoretical understandings of the mind, the user, and the constructed notion of the subject within STS. And they have practical consequences for everything from politics, to education, to design. In this panel we take up insights from the postphenomenological perspective to explore these theoretical and practical issues. Helena De Preester starts the session by bringing in insights from the work of Bernard Stiegler to draw out the ways our attention is manipulated by neoliberal capitalism. Jesper Aagaard explores the problem of Zoom fatigue in educational contexts in relation of the COVID-19 global pandemic as schools have moved to online teaching modes. The driver distraction of smartphones and dashboard infotainment systems is investigated by Robert Rosenberger, and especially in relation to a potential future of semi-automated vehicles. And Stan Kranc brings in the work of anthropologist Edward Hutchins to consider issues of instrumental perception, explored through the case of wayfinding technologies used in navigation.

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