Your Attention Is Being Fracked – Princeton Scholar Challenges Us to Take It Back During Discussion at Iona University
Dr. D. Graham Burnett Delivers Presidential Speaker Series Talk on the Crisis of Attention in the Digital Age
New Rochelle & Bronxville, N.Y. – In an era where human attention is being mined, manipulated and monetized, reclaiming one’s focus is of paramount importance. But how?
To explore the topic, Iona University recently welcomed D. Graham Burnett, Ph.D., a distinguished Princeton University scholar and leading voice on the science and philosophy of attention, as part of its Presidential Speaker Series.
Burnett’s presentation, “Exploring Attention: Human Fracking, AI & the Future of Care,” challenged audiences to rethink how their attention is shaped – and often manipulated – by modern technology. Now it’s time for us to take it back, he argues, promoting a movement dubbed “attention activism.” The talks were held at Iona’s Bronxville and New Rochelle campuses in late February.
“Attention activism is the collective effort to push back against the damage that can be done – not just by your phone. It’s not like your phone is doing damage. Your phone is cool. Human fracking, though, is not cool,” Burnett explained, introducing the concept of human fracking, which he described as the systematic extraction and monetization of human attention by digital platforms.
“The brightest kids leaving college are all focused on one thing: getting you to look over here for an additional millisecond so that that time can be sold.”
Reclaiming Attention
A historian of science at Princeton University, Burnett critiques the narrow, task-based definition of attention that dominates today’s digital world. He argues that this limited view – shaped by decades of military-industrial research on tracking targets and sustaining vigilance – has led to the commodification of human focus.
“Let me make this more real for you. Why do you spend so much time glued to the screen in your life? Because about a quarter of the U.S. military's research projects went into figuring out how long people could stay focused on screens – for about 25 years,” he said. “Attention research in the 20th century was substantially funded by the military – and the military was not especially interested in Buddhistic practices of achieving enlightenment. What they were very interested in was how long people could look at radar screens… If you had given the entire research budget of the U.S. military to six Buddhist monks in 1938 and given them 40 years to spend a few billion dollars on research, you'd have a very different theory of attention widely promulgated today.”
By reducing attention to a measurable and marketable commodity, today’s digital platforms strip away the deeper, more meaningful aspects of human focus, including contemplation, creativity and care.
Burnett contrasted this with historical and spiritual traditions, particularly St. Augustine’s view of attention as a path to redemption. Rather than seeing distraction as a personal failure, Augustine considered it a sign of humanity’s fallen nature, and true contemplative attention thus became a means of restoring unity, purpose and redemption with God.
Much like industrial farming replaces a more robust biodiversity with basic, high-yielding crops, the digital age has narrowed attention to a single mode of efficiency and productivity, eliminating richer, more expansive ways of engaging with the world.
"We have basically performed monocultural ecosystem simplification on our own attentional universes so that we only have this one form of attention, which is: ‘I don’t understand why I can’t spend another 45 minutes on this particular task,’” he said.
Creating Sanctuaries
Burnett emphasized that spaces like Iona University are more critical than ever in resisting this attack on attention. He praised Iona as a place where deep engagement, reflection and dialogue still thrive, offering an alternative to the fragmented, hyper-commercialized attention economy.
"If we forget how to create spaces for thinking and talking together, we are totally screwed,” he said.
As part of his call to reclaim attention from the forces that commodification, Burnett highlighted the work of the Strother School of Radical Attention (SoRA), a non-profit organization dedicated to attention activism. SoRA promotes the study and practice of radical attention – forms of deep engagement that resist monetization. By nurturing communities committed to the attentive life, the organization seeks to restore attention as a force for human flourishing rather than a commodity to be sold.
The Presidential Speaker Series, launched by Iona University President Seamus Carey, Ph.D., is one such effort to foster meaningful, communitywide dialogue with world-renowned thinkers. Sponsored by the Gabelli Center for Teaching & Learning, the series has previously hosted Jeffrey Saviano ’89, a partner at EY Consulting, and Dr. Tom Chatfield, a British author and tech philosopher.
This year’s series will conclude with the Driscoll Lecture on April 22, featuring Shannon Vallor, acclaimed author of “Technology and the Virtues” and “The A.I. Mirror: How to Reclaim Our Humanity in an Age of Machine Thinking.”
Walk-ins are welcome for these talks, but registration is recommended. To learn more or RSVP, please visit the Presidential Speaker Series website.
Watch Now: D. Graham Burnett and Jim Mustich in Conversation
Watch Now: D. Graham Burnett Presents At Iona University's Presidential Speaker Series
ABOUT IONA
Founded in 1940, Iona University is a master's-granting private, Catholic, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers. Iona's 45-acre New Rochelle campus and 28-acre Bronxville campus are just 20 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. With a total enrollment of nearly 4,000 students and an alumni base of more than 50,000 around the world, Iona is a diverse community of learners and scholars dedicated to academic excellence and the values of justice, peace and service. Iona is highly accredited, offering undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees and numerous advanced certificate programs. Iona students enjoy small class sizes, engaged professors and a wide array of academic programs across the School of Arts & Science; LaPenta School of Business; NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences; and Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Iona also continues to be recognized in prestigious national rankings. Most recently for 2025, Iona has been named one of the nation’s best colleges by The Princeton Review, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and others. Additionally, U.S. News & World Report recognized Iona as one of top for social mobility in the country, while Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) ranked an Iona degree in the top 5 percent nationally for long-term return on investment. Iona’s LaPenta School of Business, meanwhile, is also accredited by AACSB International, a recognition awarded to just 6 percent of business schools worldwide. In addition, The Princeton Review recognized Iona’s on-campus MBA program as a “Best Business School for 2024.” Iona also offers a fully online MBA program for even greater flexibility. In July 2021, Iona announced the establishment of the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences, which is now principally located on Iona’s Bronxville campus in collaboration with one of the nation’s top hospitals. Connecting to its Irish heritage, Iona also opened a new campus in County Mayo, Ireland, located on the historic 400-acre Westport House Estate. A school on the rise, Iona officially changed its status from College to University on July 1, 2022, reflecting the growth of its academic programs and the prestige of an Iona education.