Includes bibliographical references and index.

"We do not simply "see" what falls before our eyes. Rather, we isolate certain of the elements of our visual field by a special power of the mind, and by this same power we screen out or dismiss other elements. This power-which operates paradigmatically in the domain of vision but which would seem to function across the whole of the sensory/cognitive domain-is called "attention," and it has been (and remains) of great interest to philosophers, psychologists, cognitive scientists, and creative artists alike. Because we are widely thought to be experiencing, today, a "crisis of attention" (a crisis unfolding in the context of new theorizations of the "attention economy"), close work on the historical evolution of our understanding of attention feels urgent-as does meaningful engagement with current critical and technical discourse in this area. What attention is and how to cultivate and activate it are, Burnett and Smith believe, among the most pressing questions of our era. Leading authors from a variety of fields take on a key moment in the shifting "ecology of attention," and each offers a trenchant analysis of the way human attention has been figured across the domains of media, technology, religious practice, and literary endeavor. The result is a dynamic, readerly, and imaginative reconnoitering of the problems of the focused senses and the attentive mind"-- Provided by publisher.