Attention Economy → Attention Commons
Introduction: The Attention Economy and Its Limits
In today’s world, we live within what scholars call the attention economy—a system where attention, not material goods, is the scarcest resource. Herbert Simon foresaw this in the 1970s, noting that “a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” As digital platforms have matured, they have optimized themselves to capture and monopolize our attention. From the endless scroll of social feeds to the metrics-driven demands of venture capital, our focus is continually fragmented, redirected, and monetized (Simon 1971, Ifo Institute 2023).
The consequences are not abstract. Over-exploitation of attention has tangible externalities: mental fatigue, weakened social fabric, superficial discourse, and wasted effort in competition rather than collaboration. Attention becomes “overgrazed,” depleted like a common meadow mismanaged under the pressure of short-term incentives.
This leads to an urgent question: if attention is scarce, contested, and prone to market capture—how might we reclaim it? The answer I want to propose is through the creation of an attention commons: a collective structure that protects, organizes, and channels attention in service of life and regeneration.
A Few Thoughts on Our Purpose
I keep coming back to a thought I haven’t yet shared on a Regen Commons call: the most fundamental purpose of our work might be precisely this—to create an attention commons.
Our intention at Regen Commons is simple but profound: to dedicate as much of our attention as possible to regeneration—of Earth, of our bioregions, of our communities, of our families, and of ourselves. Yet our attention is constantly being robbed: by markets, by the “peacocking” required to secure funding, by TikTok, by VCs forcing us to compete against each other, and by our own confusion and chaos.
As a result, we end up overgrazing the meadows of attention, meadows that must be treated as a commons. The real purpose of Regen Commons, then, is to organize our attention together—through co-ownership of brand, IP, and knowledge—in ways that free us to focus on what truly matters: living the good life. A life in service to life. A living economy.
The experiment we are engaged in is to weave a new kind of organization, one that cultivates and protects attention—both collective and individual—in service of life. We call this, along with the lore, vibes, and tools that support it, Regen.
A Farmer’s Co-op for Attention
When I think about what form this should take, the analogy that comes to mind is a farmer’s co-op. I’m a member of my local co-op, and I love it. For a one-time buy-in, I gain access to essential tools and inputs—equipment, seed, feed—at cost. No overhead. Just value.
How do we make Regen Commons work like that? How do we ensure our attention commons is genuinely useful—not some procedural tyranny of digital bureaucracy or “network nannying” that consumes even more of our focus?
No. Absolutely not. Regen Commons will only succeed if it frees attention: by coordinating actions, reducing the effort wasted on competing for funding, and cutting through the noise of who is “real” or not. Like a co-op supports a farmer’s core purpose—growing food for the community—Regen Commons must support our members’ core purpose: regenerating their communities, their ecosystems, and each other.
Closing
The attention economy extracts and exploits. An attention commons could regenerate and restore. By organizing our shared focus as carefully as farmers organize shared land and tools, we open the possibility of living and working differently: not in competition for visibility, but in cultivation of what matters most—life itself.