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A review by daniholstrom
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell
3.0
There is a lot to chew on in this book. I don’t entirely agree with how Odell phrases her titular thesis - that “doing nothing” is another way of referring to doing a different *something* with greater intention - or think it’s entirely realistic, but she does make clear her proposal necessitates a give and take such that there is more than one way to achieve the Herculean (or would Odell say Copernican?) task of redirecting our attention.
This segues into my favorite part: Chapter 3, where Odell argues that the best place to make said change is within the “third space” - since we can neither remain under the spell of the attention economy nor head to the hills and remove ourselves from it completely - allowing us to resist (let’s come right out and say it, “fight”) it from the inside. (Know thy enemy, perhaps?)
Honorable mention: the frequency at which Odell admits privilege plays a part in our ability to resist such things.
3.5 stars
This segues into my favorite part: Chapter 3, where Odell argues that the best place to make said change is within the “third space” - since we can neither remain under the spell of the attention economy nor head to the hills and remove ourselves from it completely - allowing us to resist (let’s come right out and say it, “fight”) it from the inside. (Know thy enemy, perhaps?)
Honorable mention: the frequency at which Odell admits privilege plays a part in our ability to resist such things.
3.5 stars