On Attention as Currency

The Economic Frame

Attention functions as currency in two senses. First, it is traded: we pay attention to content in exchange for information, entertainment, or connection. Second, it is the basis of economic value: platforms monetize aggregated attention through advertising.

This is not metaphor. Attention operates with currency properties—it is scarce, fungible, and subject to competition. The difference: we have no clear accounting system for tracking its expenditure.

Properties of Attention Capital

• Fixed supply: approximately 16 waking hours per day, non-expandable
• Depletable: quality degrades with sustained withdrawal
• Contextual value: attention worth more when rare, less when abundant
• Compounding effects: attention invested in skill development generates future returns

The Extraction Economy

The business model of the attention economy is extraction, not exchange. The goal is maximum capture of attention at minimum cost. The asymmetry is significant: platforms invest enormous resources in attention capture; individuals have no equivalent tools for attention defense.

This produces market failure. In traditional economies, prices communicate scarcity. In the attention economy, no such signal exists. We have no real-time awareness of our attention budget, no feedback mechanism warning of overdraft.

Implications

If attention is currency, financial principles apply. Budgeting becomes essential—explicit allocation of attention to categories of use. Investment thinking matters—attention spent on skill development yields compounding returns.

More radically: if attention has economic value, its theft is a form of robbery. The dark patterns designed to capture attention without consent are not merely annoying—they are extractive in the technical sense.