The Economics of Attention: Style and Substance in the Age of Information (review)

What can be said for the centuries-old academic discipline of rhetoric in today's digital age? A great deal, it turns out, according to Richard Lanham in his intentionally provocative new book, The Economics of Attention. This stimulating study grew out of the author's perception that the age of information has greatly increased the importance of attention, creating an economic order that empowers style and form ("fluff") at the expense of the industrial age's emphasis on physical goods and commodities ("stuff"). Whereas traditional economics deals primarily with the allocation of scarce material resources, the information age, Lanham argues, urgently requires an understanding of the allocation of attention, a central element in a digital world characterized by a superabundance of information.

Indeed, the economics of attention brings us back directly to the classical discipline of rhetoric—which happens to be Lanham's own discipline—in order to recognize the importance of looking at the texture and forms of communicative media (e.g., language or images), and not simply through those media at whatever is being discussed or referred to. But the at/ through distinction is not meant to force a choice between style and substance; instead, Lanham urges that genuine knowledge results from an ability to foster a kind of mental or intellectual oscillation, in which both sides of the equation are kept in play. Indeed, this idea of oscillation is at the heart of many of the book's arguments, including, for example, the desirability of maintaining a connection between what Lanham sees as the two opposing poles of human motivation. At one end of the spectrum is pure competition and self-interest, where winning is everything; at the other end is disinterested behavior, aptly described as play. A mature and fulfilled human being holds both ends of this spectrum in view, with ongoing oscillation between the two.

On a less philosophical plane, the book takes up three important issues that the digital revolution has brought to the fore and for which reflections on the economy of attention have important implications: the communicative possibilities of digital media, and especially multimedia; copyright law; and the organization of higher education. With regard to the first of these areas, Lanham points out that a vast amount of misguided effort has gone into making digital communication imitate traditional forms of communication—so that, for example, a digital book is made to function as much as possible like a traditional printed codex. And whereas there are many digital typefaces, there are almost no "alphabets that think." He asks us to consider the expressive possibilities of a kinetic version of the elaborate, decorative lettering used in medieval manuscripts, where letters perform part of the meaning intended by the text. Moving graphic displays, for example, could team up with text to deepen and enhance whatever is being reflected on or communicated. And sound and images could be brought very fruitfully together with text. (Perhaps the most striking area where an economics of attention has employed digital media to transform traditional behavior lies in the new forms of sociality created by online services like MySpace and online multi-player games—phenomena whose dramatic rise in popularity postdated the bulk of the writing of this book.)

The discussion of copyright takes the form of a hilarious dialog that simultaneously parodies a television interview show and the footnoting style characteristic of law journals. While drawing parallels between the litigation surrounding the unauthorized publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Mattel corporation's attempts to limit unauthorized use of the Barbie doll image, the sketch seeks to underline the ways in which copyright law—based on an industrial economy of stuff—does not take the needs of the economy of attention adequately into account.

Finally, Lanham examines the possibilities of the virtual university to raise questions about a number of the assumptions that underlie the organization and practices...