Stand Out of Our Light
by James Williams · first published 2018
15mentions
4recommended by
5HN commenters
2019–2025first – last mentioned
80% recommend20% neutral
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
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There's a little book by James Williams titled Stand out of our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy that I highly recommend. <https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/stand-out-of-our-light/...> If you're not up for a whole book, however short, Ian Leslie's…
on “Big Tech as the New Big Tobacco” ↗there are a few on the topic of the attention economy: - stand out of our light by james williams - the attention merchants by tim wu - the shallows by nicholas carr and not on the attention economy, but nervous states by william davies is very much in the similar thread.
on “How to Do Nothing (2017)” ↗…pull-to-refresh are in line with the user’s intention but foster technology addiction (Monge Roffarello and De Russis 2022), which represents an impairment of user autonomy I argue, with James Williams in Stand Out of Our Light, that this is still a "subversion of users’ intentions". No one intend to get sucked into an internet hole and become addicted to technology. Williams points out this while the effect may be in line with…
on “Dark Patterns” ↗…https://blogs.openbookpublishers.com/covid19-information-and..., https://www.oapen.org/researchers/13516596-funder-compliant-..., or https://www.oaspa.org/] & doabooks[https://www.doabooks.org/]). I like reading that sort of thing. I've been enjoying Stand Out of Our Light[https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/stand-out-of-our-light/...] by Cambridge University Press, which is legitimately engaging and not written very academically. Wikipedia: Duh. Favorite page is the…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite websites in 2024 and why?” ↗…Surveillance Capitalism" - Long and details but extremely thorough. A must read for anyone with that excuse "I have nothing to hide". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Surveillance_Capita... - "Stand Out of Our Light " - Similar message as "Surveillance Capitalism" - from an ex-Google'r - but without the depth and breadth. Not as heavy but packs a near similar punch. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/stand-out-of-our-light/...…
on “The sins of the 90s: Questioning a puzzling claim about mass surveillance” ↗…paintings B) It’s who pulling to strings. Behind every screen based experience is some Big Inc doing all it can to influence you in way that often are not in your best interest. I recommend reading “Stand out of our light” and if you have the time “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism “. Cave paintings would be welcomed compared to what is effectively psychologically warfare.
on “Alarming New Study Finds Smartphones Ruining Our Brains at Unprecedented Speed” ↗Books such as: “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism” and “Stand Out of Our Light” might not change your mind, but you’re likely to end up realizing customer data hovering is more of a driver of modern business decisions than you realize. To say nothing of the assets such activities…
on “Europeans' health data sold to US firm run by ex-Israeli spies” ↗…mentions: some "dickweasel" hijacked the update system to push crapware or do something user-hostile for purposes completely unrelated to what the user would want. James Williams discusses this in his book "Stand Out Of Our Light", and likens it to a GPS that takes you off to places that you never wanted to visit in the course of (maybe) getting you to your intended destination. Of course, you arrive late, if ever, and burned…
on “I help seniors with technology issues” ↗Interestingly, James Williams points out in his book Stand Out of Our Light that the technology of the "attention economy" doesn't does distract us from our immediate goals and into internet holes, but over time diverts us from wanting what is good for us.
on “How to Like Things” ↗…https://journal.businesstoday.org/bt-online/2021/the-attenti... 2 Forget Data. Free Labor Is Facebook’s Lifeblood – https://mashable.com/article/free-labor-facebook-profits 3 Williams, James. 2018. Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 4 The Scientists Who Make Apps Addictive – https://web.archive.org/web/20210416052902/https://www.econo... 5…
on “Next Week, the Supreme Court Could Destroy Everything Good About the Internet” ↗…developing a different kind of attention (especially one that is situated in places relatable to myself) makes this so much more meaningful than other, still excellent, but more View From Nowhere texts such as Stand Out of Our Light, or The Attention Merchants. Reading this post earlier this year stopped me in my tracks and would highly recommend the book if you enjoyed this!
on “How to Do Nothing (2017)” ↗…is that the "curators" (?) of the experience(s) provided by the tool have their own best interests in mind. They're not working to better us, they have their own self-serving agenda. I recently read "Stand Out of Our Light". To paraphrase what was for me a key paragraph: "Some of the best and brightest experts on human behavior are being generously funded by some of the most influential and wealthiest companies in the…
on “A practical guide to quitting your smartphone” ↗Phone meta data is tracked. Car meta data is tracked. Supplement with credit card data, browsing history, the Rings in your neighborhood, etc., etc., etc. Per, "Stand Out of Our Light", we don't stand a chance. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/20/stand-out-of... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MaIO2UIvJ4g
on “Class Action Against General Motors LLC, OnStar LLC, LexisNexis Risk Solutions [pdf]” ↗…private sector competition, as well as update anti-monopoly enforcement to address 21st century problems. Sure, we can say that. And likely chuckle. Books such as "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism" and "Stand Out of Our Light" tend to say or at least infer otherwise. This is about control. These companies are now better positioned to influence social expectations and social norms better than the government. Take away the…
on “Biden administration is going after Tech Titans” ↗Hear, hear! See also [1]. [1] https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/stand-out-of-our-light/...