Palimpsest

Attention thus is a form of social capital—we offer “attention-worthy” things to a community of which we wish to be a part and then maintain or improve our status within that community (or more likely, within the several communities of which we are simultaneously a part) by continuing to collect, produce, and exchange attention. Viewed in this light, attention then is less a currency or commodity than it is a tribal identifier.

Smith saw each person as having an inner spectator—what he called “the man in the breast”—who watches and judges our own behavior, appealing to our vanity, our desire to be well thought of by others, as the spur to better behavior. In Smith’s words (as quoted by scholar A.L. Macfie): “To be observed, to be attended to, to be takennotice of with sympathy, complacency and approbation, are all the advantages which we can propose to derive from [vanity].”

As explored by Smith, this “vanity,” or the desire to be thought of well by others, is a fundamental element for social cohesion, helping to resolve the paradox of why people whoare driven primarily by self-interest will, in his view, work for what in sum is the greater good of society at large.

Interesting overview of early theoretical developments around the idea of ‘Attention Economics’.