Work | Michael Firus

A shift in Media – Unpacking David Gauntlett

The media environment in which we find ourselves is constantly changing. It is changing at a rate that surpasses that of any other field of the humanities, arts and mathematics. I can make such an audacious statement is because as an entity, media is created and consumed on a scale which surpasses that of any…

Work Ethic – My response to Cal Newport’s Article

Work ethic. It’s all about ethic. Well, if success is what you’re after. This is something that I and a great deal of others hold to be self-evident. It is also an idea championed by Cal Newport in his celebrated blog series. Newport, an assistant professor of computer science, takes aim at the concept of…

Focus and the Notification

I think that it’s pretty fair to say the notification tone is one of humanities biggest distractions from deep focus. Each mobile hardware and software platform has its own distinct set of chimes to let you know when the next frivolous message has reached your hand. These tones are heard constantly on the morning commute…

Deep vs Hyper Attention

The question of the merit of deep vs hyper attention-span is a prickly one to confront. It is unpleasant because at some point it leads to a self-reflection of how efficient am I? It can be constructive in this sense, but nonetheless unpleasant. It is a question explored by N. Katherine Hayles in this article…