How to Do Nothing

by Jenny Odell
Philosophical Life Reading

Not really a guide to Doing Nothing or Resisting the Attention Economy as a matter of fact but interesting book nevertheless.

How to Do Nothing is well written and thoughtfull about philosophical and seemingly abstract concepts of the self, attention, bioregionalism, and community. More than a guide the book poses as an essay on what we are missing when social media grasps our attention, and whether our idea of “usefulness” is the right one. Should we really consider time and attention to be a commodity we can exchange for salary? And are we expressing ourselves honestly when we are limited by 280 characters and want to please each and every follower?

There is really no summary to this book as it flows from one concept to another with sometimes hard-to-grasp diversions to art, birds and nature. Would I recommend the book? I don’t know. It wasn’t my cup of tea yet I somehow unintentionally finished the book and learned to like it on the way.

Info

Title: How to Do Nothing - Resisting the Attention Economy
Author: Jenny Odell
ISBN10: 1612197493
ISBN13: 9781612197494