The document discusses the evolution of human consciousness in relation to technology and social tools, exploring how our cognitive processes adapt and change through continuous engagement with media. It emphasizes the concept of 'flow', a state of focused immersion in activities, and raises questions about the implications of attention scarcity in today's information overload culture. The text critiques conventional productivity metrics, advocating for a shift towards connectivity and social engagement as primary drivers of success.

1. Flow: A New Consciousness For A Web Of Traffic Stowe Boyd [email_address] +1 703 966 9854 625 2nd St, San Francisco CA 94107 cc - with attribution, non-commercial use, no derivatives

2. Re: Me /Messenger from /Message "Always beginning, never finished”

3. Tag Cloud Flow, Web of Flow, Traffic and Flow, ADD, Attention Deficit Disorder, Continuous Partial Attention, CPA, Darshan, Cyclic Time, Flow Time, Lived Time, Information Overload

4. Apologies and Explanations It was blogging what done this to me Fragments, conjectures, cheap shots, biases No pretty box with a bow “ Speak what you feel, not what you ought to say.” William Shakespeare, King Lear

5. Human? “ We make our tools and they shape us.” Kenneth Bouldin

6. Consciousness 2.0 How are we changing based on how we are using our brains, nowadays? How are our brains changing based on the tools we use to understand the world, and our place in it? What do we lose? What do we gain? How will sociality change based on using new tools that shape culture?

7. Starting With The End In Mind A new consciousness How we perceive our world and our place in it Moral sense A social consciousness: hive mind? Let’s start with what it’s like and what it isn’t

8. The Juggler’s Paradox How do jugglers juggle? They don’t focus on the balls, the movements They unfocus into a field of attention A learned state of consciousness

9. A Note On Martial Arts Learning To See: Field Of Attention Shortening the Delay: Catching the Dollar

10. Information Overload Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock

11. Are We Being Driven Crazy? Or is it something else? Are we learning to cope? Are we at the dawn of a new era? What sort of accommodations are humanly possible?

12. Attention Economy/Scarcity “ What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention” - Herbert Simon

13. Attention Economy/Scarcity “ The scarcest resource for today's business leaders is no longer just land, capital, or human labor, and it certainly isn't information. Attention is what's in short supply.” - Thomas H. Davenport and John C. Beck

14. Just Another Failed Metaphor Most attempts to treat aspects of human cognition in economic or industrial terms fail miserably (e.g., knowledge management)

15. Psychology of Attention Attention is not a single cognitive center, it may be an emergent property of several Basically, we don’t know what it is And conventional wisdom is likely to be wrong Especially the authors of best-selling business books, who largely advance agendas that (hypothetically) serve the goals of business, not people or society

16. Non-Rivalrous Media We can participate in more than one medium at the same time Subject to age and exposure Radio (post 1950s) TV (post 1970s) Movies (that’s why people are talking) Flow media (that’s where we are headed)

17. Attention Deficit Disorder Inability to focus Hyperactivity Treated (paradoxically) with stimulants Is our culture creating ADD in children? Linked to video games, watching television, etc. Is today’s childhood toxic?

18. Linda Stone: Continuous Partial Attention "It's crucial for CEOs to be intentional about breaking free from continuous partial attention in order to get their bearings. Some of today's business books suggest that speed is the answer to today's business challenges. Pausing to reflect, focus, think a problem through; and then taking steady steps forward in an intentional direction is really the key.” Linda Stone, Inc., Jan 2002

19. Contrarian View Flow is a different kind of load-balancing algorithm: not FIFO. It’s not about speed, it’s about remaining connected. We can't stay head down for hours or days at a stretch when critically important events may be occurring that require immediate response. FIFO: ok for super market check out, bad in the ER. Reverting to pre-agricultural/pre-industrial consciousness: one eye on the flint we are knapping, and one eye scanning the savannah for predators and prey, chatting the whole time.

20. The War On Flow Remaining connected is not a disease It is a new ethos Time as a shared space And the psychology to support it is emerging Conflict with industrial norms: personal productivity v network productivity

21. The Buddylist Is The Center Of The Universe I am made greater by the sum of my connections, and so are my connections

22. Flow Is Generational

23. Nature or Nurture? We are training our neurons by exposure Just like other inbuilt skills that require exposure to certain social stimuli, like language Anyone can learn martial arts: just go to the dojo, do what sensei says, and you will be changed from the neurons up

24. Whatchamacallit? Flow Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi A state of consciousness associated with peak experience and effortless involvement “ In The Zone”

25. Flow Flow: a mental state when you are fully immersed in what you are doing, characterized by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. (Wikipedia entry on Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi)

26. Flow Clear goals (expectations and rules are discernible). Concentrating and focusing, a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it). A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness, the merging of action and awareness. Distorted sense of time - one's subjective experience of time is altered. Direct and immediate feedback (successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that behavior can be adjusted as needed). Balance between ability level and challenge (the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult). A sense of personal control over the situation or activity. The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so there is an effortlessness of action. When in the flow state, people become absorbed in their activity, and focus of awareness is narrowed down to the activity itself, action awareness merging.

27. Four Flavors of Time: Physics, Linear, Cyclical, Flow Physics time: part of the fabric of the universe Linear (Industrial) time: Kant/Leibnitz shaped the western notion of time as something we are passing through Cyclical (Mystical) time: time as the unending moment Flow (Lived) time: we are in the unending moment through which everything flows

28. Media and Traffic: Different Registers Conversation flows through networks = Traffic Media hold the pieces, but not the sense of the conversation To understand the sense of what is being said, you have to be in the flow, not outside

29. Traffic and Flow Social applications: networked and social interaction. Social networks = how we discover meaning, belonging, and insight. Traffic flow is the primary dynamic of all future social apps. Flow: our tools will allow us to unfocus -- a field of attention based on sociality -- and remain engaged in various activities in parallel.

30. Pushing Dunbar’s Constant Are we augmenting our consciousness through tools (use and exposure)? Can we expand social span? Can you ‘know’ and care about more than 150?

31. Flow And You Time is a shared space Productivity is second to Connectivity: network productivity trumps personal productivity Everything important will find it’s way to you many, many times: don’t worry if you miss it the first time Flow is a state of mind Flow is a verb

32. Flow: A New Consciousness For A Web Of Traffic Stowe Boyd [email_address] +1 703 966 9854 625 2nd St, San Francisco CA 94107 cc - with attribution, non-commercial use, no derivatives