Summary of How to Do Nothing: Resisting The Attention Economy | Jenny Odell | Talks at Google

00:00:00 - 00:50:00

In "How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy," Jenny Odell discusses how the attention economy is a problem and how individuals can resist it. She also talks about how public spaces, class, and urban planning are all co-produced and related to each other, which makes it difficult to fully resist the attention economy. However, if individuals have the time and financial capacity to do so, they should use it to disengage from the economy and think about more humane ways to live.

• 00:00:00 In her talk at Google, Jenny Odell describes how her work as an artist has led her to contemplate the concept of "doing nothing." Odell suggests that in order to create anything of value, we need to learn to say nothing and to not express ourselves in order to create new contexts.
• 00:05:00 In this video, Jenny Odell discusses how she thinks about public art, how public space can be threatened by the same phenomena that threaten free time, and how public art can be a way to resist these phenomena. She also discusses how she was inspired by the 19th century and how public space can be a place where people can connect.
• 00:10:00 The speaker talks about how the attention economy has changed how people spend their time, and how the bird population changes depending on the time of day. She also talks about how she takes photos of birds to remind herself of their presence.
• 00:15:00 The author talks about how her interactions with crows on her street inspired her to explore the idea of doing nothing. She talks about how self-care can help you be more productive, and how looking at nature can help you relax. She talks about the exhibit Mother of the Year, which celebrates mothers who have contributed to the well-being of their community. The author ends the talk by talking about how this idea relates to the current political climate.
• 00:20:00 The speaker discusses the idea of "doing nothing," or resisting the attention economy by focusing on ways to maintain personal space and time, care for oneself, and engage in non-instrumental, non-commercial activity. She also provides an introduction to her book, which focuses on the interconnectedness of capitalism, colonialism, loneliness, and the environment.
• 00:25:00 In "How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy," Jenny Odell discusses the importance of doing nothing at work in order to resist the attention economy. She also discusses the parallels between the longshoremen strike of 1934 and the gig economy, and the importance of practicing different types of attention. The book concludes with a discussion of ecology of strangers, which is Odell's attempt to think outside the typical filter bubble.
• 00:30:00 "How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy" is a book about resisting the attention economy and how to do things differently. It discusses the importance of context and context collapse, as well as the importance of community and relationships.
• 00:35:00 In this video, Jenny Odell discusses her book "How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy." Odell argues that "productive" does not necessarily mean "useful" and that the concept of usefulness is relative. The story of an old, gnarled tree that was once useless but is now very useful to support life is used to illustrate her point. Odell encourages people to be curious and to direct their curiosity towards themselves in order to be more productive.
• 00:40:00 In this video, Jenny Odell discusses how the need for a physical ground can help to ground the experience of being in a world where doing nothing is a possibility. She also points out how the availability of public space in cities has decreased in recent years, which can lead to a sense of vulnerability.
• 00:45:00 In Jenny Odell's book "How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy," she discusses how the attention economy is a problem and how individuals can resist it. She also talks about how public spaces, class, and urban planning are all co-produced and related to each other, which makes it difficult to fully resist the attention economy. However, if individuals have the time and financial capacity to do so, they should use it to disengage from the economy and think about more humane ways to live.
• 00:50:00 In this video, Jenny Odell discusses how the attention economy affects our daily lives and how we can resist it. She also recommends techniques for bird watching, such as paying attention to rare birds and listening for crows. Odell says that the attention economy is a form of control that we have very little access to, and that our last hope for resistance lies within our ability to control our attention.