Mechanism
Different media cultivate different kinds of want in receivers. A medium that rewards shallow engagement trains preconditions for shallow content; a medium that rewards sustained engagement does the opposite. McLuhan’s ‘the medium is the message’ restated at the want-formation level.
Connections
- Defined in: Lossy — Outline, Transport vs. Selection
- Discussed in: Ch 10 — Political Economy of Attention, Ch 5b — Selection As The Other Engine
- Evidenced by: Amusing Ourselves to Death, Psychology of Virality
- Derives from: Want as the prime mover
- Derived from by: Engagement-maximization as a captured equilibrium
- In tension with: Not Born Yesterday
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