Resonance, Attention, and Social Media

This AI transcription/summary was created on @November 27, 2023. Listen to the original recording here.

TL;DR Exploring the challenges of managing resonance and attention, especially in the context of social media, reveals how resonance can be a double-edged sword, offering positive experiences or trapping us in negative cycles. Personal struggles with morning phone engagement highlight the need for effective strategies. Considerations include pre-visualizing interactions for controlled engagement and using ratios to balance influences, concepts to be further explored in meditation sessions.

(daily creation - the images included in each post are taken from the day’s work. Maybe a theme or format will emerge, but for now I am just including snapshots of any results from my main work or learning tracks)
(daily creation - the images included in each post are taken from the day’s work. Maybe a theme or format will emerge, but for now I am just including snapshots of any results from my main work or learning tracks)

Transcript

It feels these days like everything is an exercise in creating distance from getting too drawn in. Every time that we are pulled into something, that is a sort of resonance, which is really hard to break from. And for all of the talk around resonance as a positive thing, oh feeling resonance with this or with that, there's also an aspect to resonance which is really about disassociating even from that resonance in order to have the discernment of what we want or what is right for us to be resonance in and what is detrimental for us to be in resonance with. An example would be opening up the phone in the morning and being pulled into the algorithm.

Obviously, this is one of the hardest things to fight because it has a strong intention to keep you there. And therefore, this is leverage of resonance for nefarious means. It's not all bad though, because there are things that are part of our behavior profile, which are inspiring, which are about reconnecting with friends. And that's also why we stay on social media because it's all enmeshed, the good and the bad.

But unfortunately, there's probably some ratio out there, which I would love to see a computation for of how many good things will keep you there despite the bad things. What is that ratio? Is it one positive interaction and then five kind of attention stealing ones? Or what is our tolerance?

And also, how could a very intentional human being use the tool so that the ratio is more like five good things to one attention stealing thing? Or how could one be so put off by a bad ratio that using social media becomes a very short relationship. And instead, one opts to make a list of all the people that they actually want to connect with and connect with them in a even more direct way. I noticed for myself that all these things can be treated as a workout, as an arena.

Because the richness of my life has other domains or dominions. Whereas any foray into the battlefield of social media or emails or whatever it is, is where my presence is tested. So for example, I woke up maybe around 535 or 540. And I didn't get into meditation until 636.

That's an hour. Now in that time, I did do a tiny, tiny bit of work, which was relevant about 10 minutes. But most of it was because I decided, first thing to open my phone. How can there be a preemptive measure?

Or what would that preemptive measure look like to prepare oneself for all the illusions that will come up, to remember what the path is, to remember what the path is, and then start on the path? How can one live that kind of life without it becoming dogmatic or restrictive? I think also in all of this is the ability to place attention where it is not at risk of either collateral damage or being immediately taken advantage of. What is a safe space for attention?

It's hard not to believe that our technologies are, would be anything but designed to pull attention in a million different ways. And so it makes me think of the question of what it makes me think of an earlier exercise of actually imagining the interface of whatever it is that we want to use and using a kind of non... I don't want to call it a non-digital because I think those terms are kind of confusing. Same with non-technological.

It's a non... It's an instancing through the imagination of something like a computer interface or an Instagram feed. So if we imagine using and logging in, we're not going to be... There is no algorithm to direct us anywhere.

It's actually we're in full control of where we want to go. And so I again, go back to simple ratios of these kinds of becoming used to a certain way of being only happens when there's a real proportion of time and energy spent in majority in that space. So I will not be... I will always be acclimated to Instagram as we know it.

If I spend more time in the real Instagram than if I spend in the instance. But if I can actually spend more time in the instance and then enter the real one, the contrast between the two will be marked. So I'm going to try in my meditation right now to instance out something and see what the effect is.

Notes

Main Points

  • Resonance can be both positive and negative, and finding a balance is crucial for one's well-being.
  • Social media algorithms are designed to capture attention, which can be a challenge to resist.
  • The good aspects of social media, such as reconnecting with friends, are intertwined with the negatives.
  • Understanding the ratio of positive to negative interactions on social media could help manage its impact.
  • Intentional use of technology could shift the ratio towards more positive interactions.
  • One could consider more direct means of communication rather than relying on social media.
  • The speaker observes that managing technology's pull on attention is akin to a workout or arena.
  • The speaker spent an hour in the morning on their phone, delaying meditation and reflecting on this experience.
  • Imagining the interface of social media before using it could be a way to exercise control over one's attention.
  • Spending more time in a controlled, imagined instance of social media could provide more resistance to its real-world counterpart.

Stories and Examples

  • The speaker's personal story of waking up early in the morning but spending the first hour on their phone instead of meditating, showing the challenge of digital distraction.

References and Citations

  • Imaginary interface as a method to control attention and resist the pull of algorithms, hinted at by the speaker's plan to instance out something in meditation.

Integration

Potential Action Items

Identify measures to avoid immediately opening the phone upon waking (2023-11-28).
Develop an 'instance' meditation strategy to pre-emptively manage interactions with technology (2023-11-28).
Create a list of actual contacts for direct connection outside of social media platforms (2023-11-28).
Calculate personal ratios of positive to negative interactions on social media to inform usage habits (2023-11-28).
Schedule time for meditation before engaging with digital devices in the morning (2023-11-28)

Follow-Up Questions

  • What specific strategies can be used to reduce the impact of social media algorithms on our attention?
  • What computational models exist for defining the positive to negative ratio of social media interactions?
  • Can a formal study on the effects of a controlled, imagined social media interface versus the actual interface be designed?
  • How can one differentiate between positive resonances and those with nefarious intentions?
  • What practices can assist in achieving the attention space ratio goal, favoring positive over negative engagements?

Arguments and Areas for Improvement

These are potential arguments and rebuttals that other people may bring up in response to the transcript. Like every other part of this summary document, factual accuracy is not guaranteed.

  • Social media's positive aspects might outweigh the negatives, questioning the need for a controlled, imagined approach.
  • Technology might not be as influential on one's attention as the speaker implies, and external factors may also play a significant role.
  • The practicality of consistently instancing out a digital experience as a means of control could be questioned for its feasibility.

Alt Text

Related Topics

  • attention economy and its effects on daily life
  • balancing online and offline life experiences
  • content consumption patterns on digital platforms
  • digital distraction and its consequences on productivity
  • direct communication as an alternative to mediated social interaction
  • intentional usage of technology for personal benefit
  • mindfulness practices in counteracting digital influence
  • resonance and its impact on human psychology
  • social media algorithms and their influence on user behavior
  • the psychology of habit formation and breaking

Meta

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  • Transcription Cost: $0.051
  • Chat API Cost: $0.044
  • Total Cost: $0.095

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