As a 54-year old I call my kid and his buddies (they are all early to mid 20s) "kids". And to answer your question: I read books in public, while walking the dog, riding the subway amidst 99% saturation of consta-scrolling commuters, I bring a book to the rehearsal room recording sessions of my son's band so I can read it while they go on "smoke breaks" (aka sharing video content on their cocaine delivery devices aka smart phones). Ok, now I start sounding like the old white guy yelling at the clouds that are so beautifully arranged on the cover of "Infinite Jest" (of which I have - just in case - approx 5 copies laying around) but I guess what I am trying to say: I am trying to signal - virtue-ally - when I am public that RESISTANCE TO THE ATTENTION ECONOMY IS DOABLE. And I have success in the sense that some kids have started conversations with me. On the train, in the park, at the store/check out line. The empathy machine? READING READING READING you know it you said it, worry less Maxine, read more, THROW THE TV OUT THE WINDOW!
addendum: no clue if I answered your question or what that question was. I have no remedy for increasing engagement with the REAL world in this capitalist hellhole where hedonistic depression (did Mark Fisher coin this term) is rampant. But I see people here in the German mid size city around the uni in the Palestine solidarity camp, Jewish folks, Muslims, Germans, young, engaged, totally fluid in history, SO MUCH MORE FLUID THAN I AM so = there is HOPE!
As a 54-year old I call my kid and his buddies (they are all early to mid 20s) "kids". And to answer your question: I read books in public, while walking the dog, riding the subway amidst 99% saturation of consta-scrolling commuters, I bring a book to the rehearsal room recording sessions of my son's band so I can read it while they go on "smoke breaks" (aka sharing video content on their cocaine delivery devices aka smart phones). Ok, now I start sounding like the old white guy yelling at the clouds that are so beautifully arranged on the cover of "Infinite Jest" (of which I have - just in case - approx 5 copies laying around) but I guess what I am trying to say: I am trying to signal - virtue-ally - when I am public that RESISTANCE TO THE ATTENTION ECONOMY IS DOABLE. And I have success in the sense that some kids have started conversations with me. On the train, in the park, at the store/check out line. The empathy machine? READING READING READING you know it you said it, worry less Maxine, read more, THROW THE TV OUT THE WINDOW!
addendum: no clue if I answered your question or what that question was. I have no remedy for increasing engagement with the REAL world in this capitalist hellhole where hedonistic depression (did Mark Fisher coin this term) is rampant. But I see people here in the German mid size city around the uni in the Palestine solidarity camp, Jewish folks, Muslims, Germans, young, engaged, totally fluid in history, SO MUCH MORE FLUID THAN I AM so = there is HOPE!