Economics I suspect. Focused attention costs because it involved at
least the time of another person. On the other hand, we *do* see a lot
of low cost tries. Telemarketing for one. Ads which try to simulate
attention.
> I remember reading in one of the science journals about a study done
> where subjects just stared into each others eyes for certain periods. It
> turned out that the longer you locked eyes, the more likely you were to
> develop feelings of attraction for the opposite person. Does this sound
> like an analogue to the focused attention effect?
Might be. There is a lot to be learned in the way we primates react to
each other.
------- Message 2
Anders Sandberg wrote:
> Hmm, I think this is a very common technique. Many religious groups (even
> fairly benign) use it, it exists in introductory courses (my psychology
> professor used it to get us very motivated and social; it was almost
> chilling how well it worked), some people get addicted to attention
> (especially if they have a weak self-image), just look at many parties.
> Once you look for it, it is everywhere.
Excellent example. In fact, the reason we do a lot of things, including
posting to this mail list, is because of the status it gets us, which we
can sense by the level of attention we get. Not that I expect many of
us will improve our reproductive success (or even get extra mating
opportunties) by these activities, but none-the-less, that seems to be
the origin of the motivations involved. <g> Keith Henson