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The Attention Trap: Why AI and Blockchain Must Drive the Intention Economy
“The attention economy is not growing our intellect; it’s starving it.”
– Tim Wu, author of The Attention Merchants
The world has grown accustomed to being shaped by the attention economy, a system that treats human focus as a commodity. For over a decade, the business models of the digital age — built by tech giants like Meta, Google, and others — have thrived on maximizing the time we spend glued to screens. These platforms use sophisticated algorithms to monetize our clicks, views, and interactions, but the cost is steep: polarization, misinformation, and an erosion of personal agency. Now, on the brink of a technological and economic transformation, we face a question that is as political as it is philosophical: What would it mean to shift from an economy of attention to one of intention?
The implications of this shift are profound. At its core, the attention economy prioritizes distraction. It rewards content that is shocking, viral, or addictive — whatever keeps users scrolling. But an intention economy flips this dynamic, focusing instead on empowering individuals to act on their goals, values, and preferences. If the attention economy profits from the chaos of our distracted minds, the intention economy aspires to profit from clarity, purpose, and agency. This…