Filtered dossier

selective attention

  • 3 / 3
  • No visual on file
    Attention & Memory Entry #0178

    Why the room goes quiet when someone says your name

    You can ignore a conversation completely and still catch your own name inside it. The filter that discarded the rest was checking for it all along.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0178

    Unattended input is screened, not discarded. Personal salience is one of the few keys that opens the filter.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Attention & Memory Entry #0188

    Why the second viewing of a film shows a different film

    Nothing on the screen changed. Knowing the ending frees the attention that suspense was consuming, and freed attention lands somewhere new.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0188

    The first viewing spends attention on the ending. The second viewing spends it on the film.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Attention & Memory Entry #0191

    The reason you miss the obvious when counting something else

    Attention is not a window that shows whatever stands in front of it. It is a budget, and anything the current task did not request goes unpaid.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0191

    Attention is a budget, not a window. What the task did not request goes unpaid, and the unpaid item leaves no receipt of having been missed.

    Open file