Podcasts about our light freedom

Is this the age of outsourcing? This is not a show about call centres in India. Rather, it's a look at a much deeper shift in who we are, how we think, and where value is created. In some ways, it's the most dizzying and philosophical shift of all. In this episode, we attempt to understand outsourcing at the macro level - how corporations have outsourced so much that they've become hollow. And we look at the micro level - how we've outsourced our minds and memories to technology. Contributors Margaret MacMillan, Emeritus Professor of International History at the University of Oxford and author of several acclaimed books. James Williams is an author and technology advisor. He worked for Google for more than 10 years where he received the Founders Award for his work on search advertising. He's the author of Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy. John Key is author of The Corporation in the 21st Century. He's a visiting professor at the London School of Economics and a columnist for the Financial Times.Production team Editor: Sara Wadeson Producers: Emma Close, Marianna Brain, Michaela Graichen Sound: Tom Brignell Production Co-ordinators: Janet Staples and Katie MorrisonArchive Steve Jobs launches the Apple iPhone, 2007

Matthew Syed asks what it means to be distracted in a media world vying for our attention.In this final episode, he considers where our media consumption might be headed. Many are concerned about smartphone addiction and a disintegration of public discourse, but others see a brighter future and our current times as a turning point to a world where the capacities of technology are used to benefit of society.Matthew speaks to a former tech engineer who has become a philosopher and activist on attention, a historian who believes that our current era has many precedents, a psychologist who is wary of headlines about collapsed attention spans and a behavioural economist who can see a way that our society will adapt to the digital world.Contributors:James Williams, author of Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy Matthew Sweet, Historian and Broadcaster Professor Pete Etchells, Psychologist, Bath Spa University and author of Unlocked: The Science of Screen Time and How to Spend it Better Michael Muthukrishna, Associate Professor of Economic Psychology and author of A Theory of Everyone: The New Science of who we are, how we got here and where we are going.Presenter: Matthew Syed Producer: Sam Peach

Hello! Do you ever glance at your phone to check an email then look up to discover that two hours have gone by? In a world where information is abundant, our attention is hot property. What exactly do we know about how our attention is drawn and held by the environment and technology around us? We talk to Professor Polly Dalton who researches the psychology of attentional capture and to tech ethicist James Williams about why the issue of the attention economy cuts deep. Does it have the potential to change the course of our lives and restrict our freedom? We try to break free from the shackles of Silicon Valley with Tom Hodgkinson, editor of The Idler, who tells us about his strategy to resist the demands on our attention and time without even having to resort to a brick phone.Plus: Ed's in denial about his National Portrait Gallery debut…GuestsJames Williams, technology ethicist at the Oxford Internet Institute and the author of Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy (@WilliamsJames_)Polly Dalton, professor of cognitive psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London (@PollyDalton)Tom Hodgkinson, editor of the Idler magazine and author of How to Be Idle (@idler)More informationBuy or read a copy of James' book (open access) hereWatch a video of James talking about the attention economy (Youtube)Subscribe to the Idler or purchase Tom's book How to be IdleIs modern life ruining our powers of concentration? (The Guardian, 2023)Ed mentions The Shallows by Nicholas Carr Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nights Philosopher Ann Kerwin looks at a book by former Google strategist turned Oxford-trained philosopher, James William called Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy.

Technology is designed to grab your attention — but that's not all you end up paying, according to James Williams. He worked for Google for more than a decade before becoming an Oxford scholar. He is the author of Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy. And for the French philosopher Simone Weil, the act of paying attention was a moral imperative — so much so that some argue it cost her her life.

“I can never underestimate the creativity of people who want to take part of your life and monetize it.”SummaryJames Williams is the author of “Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy,” and cofounder of the ‘Time Well Spent' campaign, a project that aims to steer technology design toward having greater respect for users' attention, goals, and values.Previously, James worked for over ten years at Google, where he received the Founder's Award, the company's highest honor. He is also a frequent speaker, consultant for companies and governments, and commentator on technology issues in the media.In this episode, James shares his firsthand experience of the inner workings of the attention economy and habit-forming technology, and his motivations to craft his passionate message for us to find a better way.Key Takeaways:It was designed this way. Social media and every facet of digital marketing, overt and covert, are designed to manipulate our emotions and maximize their hold on our attention- and its creators, when pressed, admit it.The current generation of online technology, such as smartphones and social media, is intended to shape us as consumers. The business incentives that modern consumer technology create specifically incentivize the invention of systems that steer human behavior and shape our psyches in ways that favor their profitability.Taking intentional, mindful control of our inputs is central to improving our individual situations. The fundamental source of nearly all harm from new media is the information overwhelm and the overconnectedness that disrupts our natural human instincts to find meaning and form bonds. The only solution is to change the dynamic to one of strictly thoughtful, rather than passive, consumption.Favorite Quotes:“As the Web matured, and these tech titans emerged… I saw that we were doing the same thing as before the internet… persuasion and manipulation as the business model amped up times a million because of the algorithmic logic and proliferation of data of everything we know about human psychology.”“The core thing these platforms are doing… is shaping the human will and charting people's paths through their lives.”“The technologies that play the dirtiest are going to get the greatest part of our attention.”“In terms of the sustainability of the attention economy, I don't know if it worries me more whether it's sustainable or unsustainable.”--jomocast.comSupportThis podcast is made possible by you — our listeners all over the world — from Brazil to Australia, the USA to Singapore. Please support the JOMO(cast) for just $3 a month at patreon.com/jomocast.Christina CrookTwitter: https://twitter.com/cmcrookInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thechristinacrookCreditsHosted by Christina CrookProduced by Christina Crook and Thomas J IndgeEditing and Music by Thomas J Indge See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Digital technology is playing an increasingly large role in our lives. We use our smartphones to communicate, post photos, read breaking news, watch videos, and more — to the point where we touch our phones an average of 2,600 times a day, according to a study by research firm Dscout. Author James Williams joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang in this episode to discuss his new book, “Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy.” The book examines the attention economy and how this relentless competition for attention from our digital products and services is undermining individual human will and democracy at large. The book was chosen by Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber ’83 as the pre-read selection for the Class of 2023. Williams joined Eisgruber and other faculty (including Wang) at a Sept. 9 book talk. The recipient of the inaugural Cambridge University “Nine Dots Prize” for original thinking in 2017, Williams recently completed his doctoral work in philosophy at Oxford University. Before that, he worked for Google as a technology and business strategist. He also is a co-founder of the Time Well Spent campaign, a project that aims to steer technology design toward having greater respect for users’ attention, goals, and values. His writing about the philosophy and ethics of technology has been published in The Observer, WIRED, and other publications.

Yin Yoga This Yin Yoga Class from the Attention Economy Series focuses on Intention and our Human Goals vs. the goals that technology and the social media platforms have for us. Intention setting in yin yoga aligns well with your gallbladder meridian which runs along your side body. Your gallbladder is responsible for decision making, judgment and courage. Your gallbladder is seen as a pivot organ and helps you with new beginnings and new stages in your life. It is about taking appropriate action based on the circumstances of your life. It may seem that the technology we use from our laptops to smartphones to the social media platforms and software on them have come into our lives to fulfill all of our needs and desires. After all they are allowing us to connect right now. Maybe you are watching this yoga class on a tv, or on a laptop or a smartphone. This technology is allowing me to communicate a message and teachings to you. All of that is incredibly positive. However, the premise of the attention economy is that we question, what are technology’s goals for you? Do they align with your human goals of spending more time with friends and family, of having closer relationships, of bettering your physical and emotional health, of having more energy and transforming your spiritual life? Or, if we are honest are the goals of technology and technology platforms simply engagement goals. In other words, asking us to maintain as much time as possible with their product. Are they simply designed to get us to keep clicking, tapping and scrolling? And if so, are those goals in alignment with our human goals of better relationships, improving our mental, emotional and physical health, more energy and transforming our spiritual life? The yin yoga poses in this class will focus on your side body and hips with some of my most favourite yin yoga poses including bananasana, pigeon pose, shoelace pose with a side bend, figure four with a twist. We focus on the principles of yin and modifications are given especially for knee issues but also for SI joint issues in this class. Resource: Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy by James Williams  

Former Google employee James Williams talks to John Thornhill about his book: Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy and why he turned to philosophy to try to understand how the tech industry is undermining our free will. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

CRASSH is delighted to invite you to the book launch for Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy by James Williams, winner of the inaugural Nine Dots Prize. This event is free and open to the public, and a drinks reception will follow the event. Author: James Williams (University of Oxford) Discussants: Maria Farrell (Writer and Technology Consultant) John Naughton (The Observer's Technology Correspondent) WINNER OF THE INAUGURAL $100,000 NINE DOTS PRIZE Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy Published by Cambridge University Press on 31 May 2018 Paperback or Open Access Former Google advertising executive, now Oxford-trained philosopher James Williams launches a plea to society and to the tech industry to help ensure that the technology we all carry with us every day does not distract us from pursuing our true goals in life. As information becomes ever more plentiful, the resource that is becoming more scarce is our attention. In this 'attention economy', we need to recognise the fundamental impacts of our new information environment on our lives in order to take back control. Drawing on insights ranging from Diogenes to contemporary tech leaders, Williams's thoughtful and impassioned analysis is sure to provoke discussion and debate. Williams is the inaugural winner of the Nine Dots Prize, a new Prize for creative thinking that tackles contemporary social issues.

We catch up with James Williams, winner of the Nine Dots Prize, ahead of the publication of his prize-winning book Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy. What is the relentless competition for our attention doing to our well-being? How can we fight back against the endless pull of the phone in our pocket? And what does it all mean for politics? The book will available free to download from Cambridge University Press on 31 May. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.