physics
Conservation of Energy
In a closed system, energy cannot be created or destroyed—only transformed from one form to another, and you are the closed system.
$ cat /tag/attention-economy/
physics
Kinetic Energy
Every swipe carries momentum, every scroll accumulates velocity—and someone else is measuring the energy you're spending.
physics
Energy
Every tap, every scroll, every moment of attention—you're converting your life's energy into data that powers someone else's empire.
physics
Work
In physics, work requires displacement—but in the attention economy, you're expending energy while going absolutely nowhere.
physics
Projectile Motion
Every scroll has an initial velocity, a predictable arc, and an inevitable landing point—you just don't know where yours ends.
physics
Free Fall
In the absence of friction, all objects fall at the same rate—and so do you, through an infinite feed designed to eliminate every form of resistance.
physics
Terminal Velocity
You've been falling through the attention economy long enough that the resistance finally equals the pull—and this is where it gets dangerous.
physics
Pop
In physics, cavitation creates bubbles that collapse with devastating force—in the attention economy, notifications do the same to your consciousness.
physics
Crackle
The third derivative of position describes how your acceleration changes—and how platforms engineer the jolts that keep you scrolling.
physics
Snap
In physics, snap is the fourth derivative of position—the rate at which jerk changes—and in your digital life, it's the violence of attention torn from one moment to the next.