ATTN: attention and the critical moment

I concentrate on Wealth Dynamics because the feeling inside me is that it is the same model as the attention model. And the best part of it is : it has been worked out, it is a stable product. This mirror of WD is the one least moving, and therefore the best entrance for me to hold the attention model against.

WEALTH = VALUE x LEVERAGE

In my attempt to convert the wealth formula into an attention formula, i came across this problem with the formula where this one dimension was missing. This can be easily seen, as there are 8 profiles and only two dimensions (value and leverage).

Now in the dialogue we want to avoid the "not invented here" syndrome. So i started out by assuming the formula is totally correct, and only then search for what is missing. I have come to the conclusion that leverage has two dimensions, not one. As such it can be written as A x B.

2**3 = 8 right? wealth = value x leverage seems to have only 2 dimensions. now lets have a look at them.

WEALTH = VALUE x LEVERAGE

WEALTH = VALUE x { A x B }

VALUE
2 polarities of value: innovation and timing.
Innovation is value created through new products, systems, ideas.
Timing is value created by buying low, selling high, timing the deal.

This is the dimension of space (innovation) and time (timing). This dimension of "serial time" is just another mental space dimension. Innovation is spring (new), going from innovation to timing is summer, timing is autumn (harvest), going from timing to innovation is winter. The value part is the visible or static part of the equasion.

LEVERAGE
2 polarities of leverage: multiply and magnify.
Multiply is reducing to lowest level: "How can this be done without me?"
Magnify is increasing to highest level: "How can this only be done with me?"

Accepting the formula to be correct, and also accepting the space/time dimension to be correct, which is VALUE, it means that the leverage part has the dynamic part of the equasion. There is another possibility which i ponder upon, and maybe we should investigate this further. It is the possibility that the equasion in itself is static. Look at it as a photograph of life. It is correct everytime you look, but it is not life itself because life can be photographed but is not a picture itself. This other possibility would therefore introduce the life part, or quantum part, or uncertainty principle, or whatever you would call it.

For a sportsman who is controlling time, at the critical moments they increase their processing speed and slow down time and hit the ball just right. When they look back at the game, the critical moments are very vivid, and the gaps in between appear to have gone by very fast.

Now, back to the formula. In terms of attention, VALUE is the source of attention (INPUT -> BLACK BOX -> OUTPUT). So VALUE is the part where attention is coming from. LEVERAGE is the destination of attention (OUTPUT). So LEVERAGE is the part where attention is going to. Now we have two dimensions: VALUE is paying attention to what is inside a person, while LEVERAGE is paying attention to what is outside a person.

Example#1: I am a supporter. On the VALUE axis i score ZERO, on the LEVERAGE axis i score MAX. Essentially what this means is that i am a parasite. I do not use any of my own attention (VALUE), i use all of other people's attention (LEVERAGE).

Example#2: I am a creator. On the VALUE axis i score MAX, on the LEVERAGE axis i score ZERO. Essentially what this means is that inside me there is a source of attention that needs to get out of my system as quickly as possible. I use all of my own attention (VALUE), i use none of other people's attention (LEVERAGE).

Please remember that this is not about morale. It is about streaming. If there is only creators, the system will block because the outside space is quickly filled with attention until it blocks. The stream cannot continue until some other profile takes in attention, thus making space for creators to fill up the outside again. This is why Supporter and Creator make such a great attention stream.

However, the third dimension is the BLACK BOX. And this is where 4 profiles become 8 profiles. It is the QUANTUM dimension of IMPLODE versus EXPLODE, of disappear (black hole) versus appear (the introduction of parallel time, speeding up, etc.). I wonder what label is appropriate?

An entrepreneur who is controlling time will look back and see that their times of greatest opportunity can be replayed frame-by-frame and in fact their entire wealth creation was created in these critical moments. Everything in between was just filling.

The four primary profiles : CREATOR, SUPPORTER, TRADER and LORD. They do not want to keep the attention in the BLACK BOX. They want to get rid of it as quickly as possible. In the summary below i will call this REJECT.
The four secondary profiles : STAR, DEAL MAKER, ACCUMULATOR and MECHANIC. They are completely happy to keep the attention in the BLACK BOX. In the summary below i will call this ACCEPT.
Here's the time element. Here's the critical moment. This is about timing, but really it is about attention.

Summary: The Attention Profile Square
CREA: SRC=inside BB=reject DST=outside
STAR: SRC=inside BB=accept DST=outside
SUPP: SRC=outside BB=reject DST=outside
DEAL: SRC=outside BB=accept DST=outside
TRAD: SRC=inside BB=reject DST=inside
ACCU: SRC=inside BB=accept DST=inside
LORD: SRC=outside BB=reject DST=inside
MECH: SRC=outside BB=accept DST=inside

Please continue the dialogue. These are only my first thoughts. Your input is highly appreciated (since i'm a supporter lol).

ATTN: Solve et Coagula

About time and speed.

There is this wonderful law of two in nature, the law of apparently opposites, in this case the apparently opposites of space (m) and time(h) ==> speed (mph).

Paradox exists only because we have the wrong perception or assumption.

One of the observations is that they look opposite (i.e. 2 dimensions) but really they are not (i.e. 1 dimension, or more accurate 0 dimensions). The reason that i think they are opposite is that i stand in between them, and i cannot see them both. So i project one to bend like 90 degrees. This way i can see both. But still i cannot see myself within this dimension. Hence the flaw.

A few months ago i attended an open class on astrology. The teacher had this great way of showing the movements of the planets. One of us stood in the middle of the class, she was the sun. A second person was the earth, about 3 ft away from the sun. I was the moon. The teacher said to me go run reverse clockwise around the earth. And to the earth he said go walk reverse clockwise around the sun. The sun should just stand still.

And so we did. During this exercise i had to accelerate when coming from behind the earth, and slow down in my orbit when ahead of the earth. Afterwards the teacher asked me : so what did you feel? And i said it feels like my orbit is elastic, like i make this egg-shape movement. He said yes you have just felt the orbit as it occurs in reality.

I can not even begin to tell u what a huge impact this experience, this circle which does not feel like a circle, had on my perception of reality. The experience was like an earthquake to me. Within this law of two there is this other observation of SOLVE ET COAGULA. I could feel all these observations at one time, how they are essentially the same: separate and unite, dissolve and bind, contract and (??? - like breathing out).

With attention directed towards other parts of the human complex (body + electric shields + ...) it is possible to "feel" this. I think in each person there are instruments that we seldom use, not because they are extinct but because we have learned to serve all of our attention to our mind. To be able to regulate attention means to me to have the ability to make choices in life. I have this feeling that more than 98% of my attention goes directly into my belief system. I want to undo this. And because i am the world, if i can undo the whole world will notice. I hope to create a new way of teaching, but it is as hard for me to surpass my mind as it is for anybody else. So i need to bring it the outside, by projection, by dialogue. I see this happen with you the reader and me the writer. We're on this road together.

ATTN: attention and the sixth sense

Ever since the tsunami i get flooded by email from people saying ANIMALS sensed the upcoming event days before. Also it is said that tribes that were least affected by modern society have the least casualties, simply because they went to higher ground days before the tsunami.

I don't know if all this is true. But i was wondering what if. What if the attention river is like a canal to modern humans? What if the dikes (here u go, a Dutch word) near this river need improvement? What if the attention river has no ways anymore to escape this unnatural path? What if the path to these sixth sense is not gone but just cut off? What if we invest in recapturing the KNOWLEDGE, like Rupert Sheldrake is doing despite all critics? Wouldn't it be worth to have a look at it?

ATTN: attention and the flow of time

Let me start by saying i have no idea what FLOW is in the context of attention.

In my current understanding, time only exists within this part of the human complex that i would refer to as the head-brains. Recent re-discovery of the BELLY BRAIN made me realize that there is some EVIDENCE for a physical distribution of attention. Hence i came up with the metaphore of the electric circuit.

I believe the attention river is like a CPU, it can never stop unless it is powered off. So where does this attention go? Part of the attention will go to the mind (as part of the head-brains). This mind, a tool as far as i'm concerned, is like a serial device. It can only do one thing at a time. Therefore, it needs these four dimensions of length, width, height and time. Kant may have mentioned even more dimensions. The fact that time and space really originate from the same source needs imo no further explanation.

Now, consider the fact that cause and effect are mere points along a time line. A mind cannot view them together, because its a serial device. But if i choose to send my attention to some other part of the human complex than the mind, for instance to this belly brain, then synchronicity starts to appear - which is ofcourse just a word the mind uses for something totally beyond its abilities.

What i am trying to say is - when time seems to slow down, like F1 racers report to happen when they are driving top speed - the attention river flows less into the head-brains, and more into other parts of the human complex. Currently i think that about 99.9% flows directly into my unconscious mind, which i call my transparent belief system. If the saying "time is your most valuable asset" is true, then i believe we human beings have infinite assets. Howmuch wealth is beyond unlimited wealth? What if i could decrease this waste of attention for as little as 0.1% ? Would it double my amount of energy?

With my quest for "What is attention?" i seek ways of exploiting this unlimited wealth. My Ecademy club Attention as a product is only a first attempt. The word "training" comes to mind...

PG: How to do nothing? Lesson#1 : the will-do matrix

Today i would like to introduce to you the Will-Do Matrix, courtesy of JIM VAN DEN BEUKEN.

Now Jim has made a beautiful set of cards called Pioneer and Pirates. Card number 8 from the "Be Wise" category is titled "What do you want?" - "Feel what you want, do what you want".

Reflection:
You know what you want if you feel what you like. Your will aims your creative energy at the difference between who you are and what you become. To want is rather an intuitive feeling than a wining action or duty. What would you like to be? What would you like to do? What would you like to not-do? Making contact with your intuitive will is seeking your destiny. Have to is the world according to others. Want to is the world according to yourself.

Will-do Matrix
Make a list of all activities that you spend time, attention and money on every month again (Include things like watching tv, traveling, sleeping etc). Divide the activities into four categories.

A) Activities that you DO and WANT to keep doing
Think of 3 ways to add even more quality and pleasure from these activities
B) Activities that you DO but DONT WANT to do
Think of a list for these activities to either increase your pleasure doing them, let other people do them or say goodbye to them.
C) Activities that you DONT DO and DONT WANT to do either
Accept the fact that you don´t want to do them, keep on saying no and explaining to other people.
D) Think of activities that you DONT DO but WANT to start doing
Choose one that gives you energy when you think of it. Start your plan within 24 hours.


Well, this was the Jim part. So where do we go from here?

First of all, take a piece of paper. Then draw the matrix, easy enough, draw a box and divide into 2x2.
The vertical (Y) axis is DO for the upper half, and DONT DO for the lower half.
The horizontal (X) axis is , the other axis is DONT WANT for the left part, and WANT for the right part.
If it is still too difficult, or better yet if you do not need this course on doing nothing, have a look at the artist impression.

Next, there is an evolution in this matrix. Like all movements in nature, its direction is reverse clockwise.

Movement#1: Going from (B) to (C) - the CleanUp
We find ourselves in the left half of the matrix, which is the DONT WANT section. The movement your activities make is from DO to DONT DO. It reads `well I used to do these activities but i stopped doing them`. Remember, quadrant C is your best friend. This is your trashcan for things done in the past. You have grown beyond doing them. Accepting this fact is crucial. You may need to reread the Reflection here.

Now, when you start NOT DOing them, people will probably notice. I mean, why else would you keep on doing them, right? If this question is other than a no-brainer to you, then you should really stop doing whatever you do instantly, and start contemplating the Reflection above. However, getting beyond this point took me about all of my life. Well, maybe reflection is my numer one DO and WANT activity.

Anyway, when you move an activity in the DONT WANT hafl from DO to DONT DO, you will not save time immediately. This is a common mistake. Here is what happens.
People need to get used to you not doing these activities any longer. And because they noticed, they need to change. Now the funny thing with human brains is, that they are not built to accept change. Unless ofcourse it means their brains need to spend less effort than before.
So you need to prepare for two actions. One is that you communicate to people you don´t do these activities any more. It won´t do you no good, because i told you about human brains. But it needs to be done. So then it really comes down to the second part, which is resistance. You need to teach the other person´s brains that convincing you to do the things you no longer want to do will cost them more effort than any other solution. This is where studying a character like Wally is extremely useful. Like in networking, you need to build up trust with the other person that you won´t give in, no matter how hard they try. You might want to study psychology to become aware of how extinction works. It is like this: when you say NO only nine out of ten times, people will forget all but this one time YES. So when you start this cycle, have plenty and i mean plenty of time to say no. It is an investment in your credibility, an investment in your own future as an expert in doing nothing.

Movement#2: Going from (A) to (B) - the Leverage
This time, we find ourselves in the upper half of the matrix, which is the DO section. The movement your activities make is from WANT to DONT WANT. It reads `well I used to like these activities but now i dont anymore`. See how easy it is? Before you know it, these activities are on their way to your best friend, quadrant C the TrashCan. Here is what to do.

Go study managers like Dilberts Boss. As Jim said, there are three roads to choose from. From the perspective of doing nothing, there is obviously only one road. You say goodbye to these activities, and move them on to the trashcan (C) as quickly as possible. However, sometimes you can gain a good friendship by exploiting your network to see if you can make someone else happy by letting them do the activity. If this too is impossible, choose road number three.

This is the road where you increase the pleasure you have in activities that you dont want to do anymore. Having tried road#1, there is bound to be a person who will stand up against you not doing them anymore. Keep an eye on this person, for he´s responsible for the activity. Remember, this is the person that should actually be doing this activity that you didn´t want to do in the first place. You may think this person is ahead of you in the art of doing nothing. But wait, you have an advantage. Study this person in depth, then you will know what to do. Chances are he´s too busy to do the activity, and then came up with the idea of having you do it. So the simple tactic is to go back to this person and ask them what he wants you to do, and why you should be the one to do it. Be stupid. Be naive. Don´t even think of trying to understand what it is. Here is where the investment is leveraged.

The outcome of these conversations are either one. Or this person will respect you as an equal, and only then a whole new life will open up for you. Or this person has promised to someone else that this activity will be done, and then he´s in deep trouble because you are in no hurry at all. This means that you do this person a favour. See why studying this person (and especially his environment) is so important? When this person realizes you hate the activity but you´ll do it just because of him, you will have a friend for life. Again, the extinction rule from psychology basic class will be to your extreme advantage. After nine times `why` (a NO would kill you instantly) this one time YES will be remembered forever.

Movement#3: Going from (D) to (A) - the Value
Are you still with me? Great. By the time you reach this level, life becomes a wonderful thing. You finally get to choose from all activities that you WANT to do, which is located in the right half of the matrix. The movement your activities make is from DONT DO to DO. It reads `well I would like to do these activities but i have not been able to`.
This ofcourse is not a quote from an expert. But you are well on your way of becoming one.

You may think: what should i choose? I never had the time to think of activities that i want to do, i was too busy with all these other activities! Again, please go and consult the Reflection. Now, making a choice may sound piece of cake, but really it is not. In order to make a choice, you need this measurement device called intuition. This my friend is where this exercise is all about. Why do you think did it take so long to get you here? Why were you so busy doing all these nasty little things that you don´t like? Is is because you owe the world? Is it because feeliig happy is last on the list? With duties first? Maybe Nelson Mandela was right when he mentioned something like the biggest of all fears is to be totally free? Maybe there was a reason for you to do all these DONT WANT activities?



I will let go of you now. You may have thought saving time is gonna make you happy :-) Well, go on and study one of these two characters. It all depends on what you like. Is it Dogbert? Or would you rather be like Catbert?

Movement#4: Going from (C) to (D) - the Womb of Creation
This is like satori for experts at doing nothing. The section you are in now is the DONT DO half. Whatever movement comes forth, in the end it will mean you just do nothing. Did you ever think people could come this far? The answer is ofcourse YES.

My favourite object of study is a character by the name of the Garbageman. And yes, without intuition you have no instrument to weigh the consequences of any choice. With only your mind at hand, each choice weights exactly the same, which is zero pounds. Welcome to reality. Welcome to the world of response ability. Give me your hand. You´ve made it.
----
Ron
Let the dialogue commence...
One can not change and remain the same person.

ATTN: speed and volume

Speed (value) and volume (leverage) are shown in the attention picture.



The VOLTAGE shows the VALUE DIFFERENTIATION (hi-lo)
The AMPERE shows the RIVER WIDTH.

Attention is like the water in the river. In itself it means nothing, just like the paper of which money is made of means nothing, despite the millions invested in the techniques used to make the paper uncopyable.

With VOLTAGE --> VALUE --> it is the diff between the amount of attention that i PAY and RECEIVE.



With AMPERE --> LEVERAGE --> it is the number of "attention particles" passing by at any given moment. It is like the WIDTH of the RIVER.

Here is the attention quality:
- pure attention can be mixed with INTEREST --> if i think something is important then i will give it more attention; hence the attention will get dense (basic belief = called the EGO) and thus the flow (speed) will decrease.
("interest is part of my identity")
- pure attention can be mixed with JUDGEMENT --> if i think something is absolutely true then i will no longer see any evidence against it.
("the more transparent my belief, the more certain i are of being right")

How to spend attention?
- i can spend attention on RESISTANCE

Resistance is like the leverage. The more resistance, the wider the river, the slower the attention stream. Resistance is measured in OHM. The (transparent) belief that i pay attention to (e.g. the EGO) is like the lamp in an electric circuit.
Interesting thing about the lamp is that its resistance changes with temperature (= EMOTION).

This is just a short introduction to what attention is from my "view from the hill" hillside. But please do not agree with me yes or no, because then you are stuck (Krishnamurti). Let us find out together.

ATTN: Redefinition of human behaviour in terms of attention

Talking to one of my friends yesterday, i heard myself say to her that i want to redefine the current terms in psychology, break them apart and recreate them into a new attention paradigm. I might even be on the look for the holy grail, the ultimate answer to the question why people act in the first place.

Here's an example. The definition is self-esteem. The Dutch word for it is eigenwaarde (self value).

If my self-esteem is very low, i need to do something about it. So i want the attention of other people, because energy follows attention and i need the energy. But maybe i don't want to face reality, maybe i had a worse than bad youth, maybe i'm scared of other people and i need to flee into my own fantasy world. I might become a writer like Patricia Highsmith, a celebrity like Andy Warhol, or a celebrity murderer like Mark David Chapman. Dutch author CONNIE PALMEN wrote a very interesting book about these and other people.

How could i translate this need for energy into the currency of attention? How to estimate the value of my own self? What scale should i use? What is the amount of energy / attention that is left inside my body?

So the question is: how could i redefine human behaviour in terms of basic need for energy and ways to get it? What basic terms in human behaviour could be re-termed in this way? If someone could understand what is happening here, then maybe we could do something about it.

ATTN: stages in the Thoughtstorm Group Process

Today I want to introduce to you a group of people from the Netherlands. We seek to find the answer to one of these fundamental questions about I and WE. We ask ourselves: what happens to me if I become WE? Do I dissolve? What does this border look like? Or maybe this border is not really a border, maybe it is an illusion? How do we know? How can we tell?

In the process we use several techniques. One of them is the Thoughtstorm. Reflections on a group process, conducted by my good friend Berry

Stages in the Thoughtstorm Group Process

by Berry Cloosterman, Avatar Wizard

A few years ago, a group of people from the Netherlands started to use the Thoughtstorm method on a regular basis. The author, being the initiator of this group, observed certain stages in their meetings. He would like to share his observations with the Avatar community. In this article the stages are related to another method called ‘creative thinking’ or sometimes ‘lateral thinking’.

1. Collecting and formulating the question

In an ‘open space’ form, known for its relaxed, open and honest atmosphere, each participant brings his/her essential questions about. By formulating and re-formulating we agree (by passing the question on to one another for consideration or by changing positions) upon one question that fascinates all of us, sometimes with one or two additional questions.


2. Shedding the known ideas. Convergence - Divergence

The question is asked and repeated on a regular basis.
The answers come from observation of patterns/feelings/attention and sensory impressions, imagination and association. A movement is noticed within the group alternating from convergence, this means focussing on one idea, group of ideas or answer, to divergence, at which point the answers differ strongly and barriers are widened and broken through.


3. Playfull/creative phase. Continuity is based on each participant’s personal commitment

Based upon positivity and free choice, alternatives are being looked for, first solutions fetched and helping and impeding beliefs (re-)cognized. The question is approached from multiple perspectives. This may lead to analogies (i.e. it resembles something found in nature) and metaphors (sharp as a knife, free as a bird). Making contact with the question based on feeling creates new possibilities. You feel how it feels.


4. The bottleneck. The mind empties. The ego uncouples

All well-known answers do not work to reach synergy. Final attempts are haphazard answers or enumerating characteristics. Attempts are made to find a common response by logically linking the most vital terms and characteristics. Frustration can lead to the inclination to give up or criticize the question or the process. Restrictions become visible. Switching over to a different individual attitude becomes necessary for the process to continue.


5. Intuitive phase. From a stop of thinking to inner silence

The question is being asked from a new interest. At answering the attention switches from talking to listening. From having answers to receiving answers. The group members support each other more and more. They hear others give their own answers. The personal conscience extends to the conscience of the group. Enthusiasm, appreciation and love carry the group to a corecept, the core idea, the answer that is an expression of the solidarity which has come over the group. This is the eureka moment..


6. Practical development. Sharing the solidarity and development of the answer

In this last stage evaluation to the question and critical testing are possible as an aid for deployment in everybody's daily reality. New perspectives arise giving energy and pleasure.

Much love and insight for you and your loved ones (!)
Berry Cloosterman

ATTN: a theory about attention

For some reason, order seems to be a vital ingredient in wellbeing. Everything being in the right place is a state that i would call
SATORI or enlightment.
Satori i think means you've climbed a mountain, and now you're on top of it, enjoying the view that you longed for. But at the same time reaching the top is reaching a state of inertia Where would you go from here?

I'm in a group that uses the THOUGHTSTORM technique to find answers to these and other questions. The question this time was: "why do we make life so difficult for ourselves?" and the corecept was : "I can't do otherwise". In order to live, i.e. contrary to staying inert, I the Ego, need to reach satori until i get there, and then i need to get on, away from satori.

I have a theory of an order beyond what i can see, or even feel. DAVID BOHM is one of the people who have worked out such a theory. I think of myself as a cell in an organism. I don't know what the use of living of this organism is. It is beyond my scope. But i do believe that there is a place, which i call my destiny, that is reserved for me - it is my rightfull place. When i was born, i was dropped somewhere near by or far from this destiny; i don't know. The salmon wouldn't know where the origin of the river is, but it starts to swim at some point in its life.

Life is about movement. The earth orbits around the sun, I orbit around my destiny. I call this movement attention. The thing is, my destiny is no absolute place, it is a relative place. Relative to other people. Therefore, in order to reach my destiny, i need to DIALOGUE with other people; with my neighbours. And as much as i need them to find my destiny, they need me to find theirs.

I live, therefore i move. Even when i think i don't move, i orbit around my destiny. My idea of not moving is an idea created by perspective - i look at my destiny, and i measure the distance between me and my destiny. If the distance doesn't change, i may believe that i'm not moving. But my movement is the orbit, the circle around my destiny. Attention is like gravity, other people are like other planets, or comets, or sometimes black holes. They change my orbit, and i change theirs.

I believe inside me there is a measuring device capable of measuring the distance between me and my destiny. This is what i call my intuition. It relates to other people, so in fact it is not really "inside" me, and it is also not "outside" me. My conscious mind can sometimes capture what my intuition measures. For instance, if the amount of synchronicity in my life increases, then apparently i move towards my destiny. If I feel that I need less effort to live my life, then it comes into my mind that i'm moving towards my destiny. It also works the other way around. If i try to do something and it costs me a lot of enery, if it won't go the way i would like it to go, then apparently i drift away from my destiny.

So what is attention? Attention is the movement, the energy, the language that people use to find their place in this organism. The place is relatively known, but not absolute. We're in the system / the organism / the order, so we cannot have a look on the system itself and at the same time be conscious of the fact that we are part of it. This i think is a property of the human brain that we cannot view two perspectives (part and whole) at the same time.

We can however feel that we in fact are the organism; this i call awareness.

- November 2004
(still puzzling...)

ATTN: attention in science

I talked to Eric Postma, he's a professor in artificial intelligence at Maastricht University here in Holland. I have translated his email to the best of my knowledge. Here it is.


Dear Ronald,

Thank you for your message. I find your questions regarding attention very inspiring. I distinguish in your questions three categories:

(1) questions regarding the mechanism of attention
(2} questions regarding the interhuman and emotional aspects of attention
(3) questions regarding the "esoteric" aspects of attention

As you will understand i am definitely interested in questions of category (1). There is a great deal of knowledge about the mechanisms of attention, but (like i said) that doesn't mean that one knows what attention is. I think it is because questions of category (2) have not been investigated enough. Cognitive neuroscience have (until now) mostly aimed at the individual aspects of attention. One the one hand because of the [tijdgeest] (sign of the times ?; literally = time spirit) and on the other hand because of practical restrictions (it is more difficult to do attention experiments with multiple persons). So it won't surprise you that I consider the questions of category (2) scientifically extremely defying.

Remains the questions of category (3). These questions may (and must) be posed, but as yet there are no indications for a mysterious force non-describable from the current scientific framework. In other words, a scientist can not (yet) "handle" it. To philosophise about it can and must be done. Surely scientific progress is partly based upon "crazy" or "esoteric" ideas. You could make a comparison to the (previously) esoteric subject "awareness". Recently past away DNA investigator (and Nobel prize winner) Frances Crick undertook serious attempts to explain awareness in terms of (individual) brain processes. He failed doing so, but he did manage to place the subject on the research agenda. The central questions are "what is awareness" and "where is it located?" Like attention, awareness exists by the [gratie] (virtue? literally = grace) of "other people". The solution should in my opinion be searched for in questions of category (2).

I hope this gives you an image of my opinion regarding attention and the questions thereabout.

Best regards,
Eric Postma