The Afterlife of Attention

By Damian Murphy

What happens when attention, once a form of reverence, care, and presence, is shattered by distraction, speed, and relentless noise in the digital age?

The Afterlife of Attention explores how our inner lives have been transformed by the rise of algorithmic systems, social media, and unyielding demands for productivity. Drawing on ancient philosophy, medieval contemplative traditions, and modern cultural critique, it traces the long history of attentional life from the sacred stillness of monastic silence to the fractured landscapes of screens and feeds.

Part philosophy, part cultural history, and part spiritual enquiry, this book is a meditation on what it means to see clearly, think deeply, and dwell meaningfully in a world that constantly pulls us away from ourselves. It uncovers how attention has shifted from wonder to capture and how, despite this, we might yet reclaim it as a form of resistance, intimacy, and care.

Urgent and contemplative, The Afterlife of Attention asks not only what attention has become but what it might still be: a way of seeing the world anew, of standing apart from the algorithmic churn, and of rediscovering the depth and quiet that make us human.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FLNN26NV
• ISBN13: 9798294056889
• Release Date: August 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 196 Pages
• Weight: 0.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"