Critical Ignoring
I love a good turn of words and today’s new discovery (for me) is “Critical Ignoring.” I had saved a link in my Notes document of Substack Ideas, with a link to this study:Critical Ignoring as a Core Competence for Digital Citizens1
We argue that digital information literacy must include the competence of critical ignoring—choosing what to ignore and where to invest one’s limited attentional capacities. We review three types of cognitive strategies for implementing critical ignoring: self-nudging, in which one ignores temptations by removing them from one’s digital environments; lateral reading, in which one vets information by leaving the source and verifying its credibility elsewhere online; and the do-not-feed-the-trolls heuristic, which advises one to not reward malicious actors with attention.
I have been failing at this lately. My explanation aka rationalization is that I’m fiercely interested in the world I inhabit. The news pace is accelerating and the devastations du jour are increasing, too. I am intellectually aware of the addictive designs of modern technology, and yet, I keep drinking it up. Writer Jennifer Egan expressed it so well:
It’s important to me to hear about these very extreme experiences that I will never have but that enrich my understanding of the world and give me material that I can access later imaginatively. So it’s a tremendous — I don’t want to say gift, because that sounds so clichéd, but it feels like a real advantage to be able to do that. It becomes so easy, I think, as a middle-aged or older person, to just settle into your own experience. And I feel it is essential that I do precisely the opposite.2
On the plus side, I’m getting very excited about some ‘imminent indictments’ as most of my life has been oriented around seeing more justice for my fellow humans, along with fairer pay, and general overall support for making it through the day-to-day responsibilities of life.I know, Life. Is. Not. Fair.Still, there are many of us, I even venture to guess most of us, do not want to see our fellows suffer. It’s a daily task to sort how much of my attention and energy I want to give the myriad causes trying to level the playing field. As a card-carrying codependent, I generally err on the side of over-giving, whenever possible. And guess what? It’s always possible. Now, I want to give my attention to that which gives back. Not so much in a transactional, tit-for-tat way, but as a way of being initiated into the larger world of spirit and nature.
Paying attention is a form of reciprocity with the living world, receiving the gifts with open eyes and open heart.Paying attention acknowledges that we have something to learn from intelligences other than our own. Listening, standing witness, creates an openness to the world in which boundaries between us can dissolve in a raindrop.~ Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass3As I write this piece, the clouds darkened (LOL = my mood) and then released a long, steady gush of rain, enough to bounce onto the windows and draw me out of my chair, away from the screen. And now the air has cleared. Can it be that easy? To just move one’s attention to something in the natural world, and she will respond? Apparently, yes. And it also helps to unsubscribe from the many repetitive and redundant political activism texts and emails I receive. If something awful happens that needs my attention, I am still so connected, I will not miss it.Now, I know, the point of this publication is “Let’s feel better together.” So, how do we do that in the face of so many traumatic events? OK, it’s not likely to pass, but hello, we said Roe would not be overturned, either. We are living in a period of humanity where we’re being liberated and some in power want to use their power to harm others. I remind myself, this is not new. The scope and scale of it does feel new, though, so it’s time to re-anchor myself in the belief that HOPE is our best friend, the idea that cannot be defeated, the emotion that exists outside of daily events. Without it, we lack the energy to resist and persist in pursuit of more common good."No movement is possible without hope"~ Angela DavisI’ve curated some of my favorite messages on hope here, to have in our tool kits. As we develop our critical ignoring skills, let’s make extra room for our “hoping” coping skills. And in case you haven’t discovered this yet, I write these missives weekly to remind myself the things I easily forget and the other things I passionately want to remember and integrate into my consciousness more and more."Hope" is the thing with feathers4Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published“Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all - And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - And sore must be the storm - That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm - I’ve heard it in the chillest land - And on the strangest Sea - Yet - never - in Extremity, It asked a crumb - of me.
Refusing to Give Up
Hope can also be defined as refusing to give up, or give in. This animated short film won an Oscar last night and I heartily recommend it. It’s another positive use of our attention, something to move towards as we practice ignoring that which is depressing and anger-making. This trailer is only 1:20; enjoy.
As always, I want to hear what you ignore and how you ignore along with where you find hope.Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash