Episode 154: Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys

TOPIC: The Attention Stack

This week, Dan and Merlin talk about—what?—maybe the attention stack. How what we pay attention to (and, yes spend our time on) can't help but affect how we see, think, feel, and decide.

Not happy with any of those things? Start working your way down the stack.

Links for this episode:

• [SPONSOR] Designer Frames & Online Eyeglasses - $95 Rx Glasses | Warby Parker
  
• [SPONSOR] Build a Website — Squarespace
  
• [SPONSOR] lynda.com/backtowork | Trial Subscription
  
• [SPONSOR] FreshBooks - Online Invoicing, Accounting & Billing Software
  
• Pronoia (psychology) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  In 2008 the writer and Electronic Frontier Foundation co-founder John Perry Barlow defined pronoia as "the suspicion the Universe is a conspiracy on your behalf".
  
• Bokononism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Bokononism is based on the concept of foma, which are defined as harmless untruths. A foundation of Bokononism is that the religion, including its texts, is formed entirely of lies
  
• What's new with the LayoutEngine? | 6 Squarespace Customer Care
  
• 5by5 | Back to Work #1: Alligator in the Bathroom
  In the inaugural episode of Back to Work, Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin discuss why they’re doing this show, getting back to work instead of buying berets, the lizard brain, and compare the Shadow of the Mouse to San Francisco, and eventually get to some practical tips for removing friction.
  
• Windsor (typeface) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  
• The Monkey's Paw - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  "The Monkey's Paw" is a horror short story by author W. W. Jacobs. It was published in England in 1902.The story is based on the famous "setup" in which three wishes are granted. In the story, the paw of a dead monkey is a talisman that grants its possessor three wishes, but the wishes come with an enormous price for interfering with fate.
  
• Untangling the Present: The Role of Appropriate Attention
  As anyone who has solved a complex problem knows, the trick to finding its solution lies in how you frame the issue: identifying the problem and sorting out the pattern of factors related to it. Seeing the pattern, you can decide which factors to focus on as crucial to its solution, and which ones you have to ignore so as not to get led down blind alleys. Framing the issue also means deciding how to approach each of the crucial factors so that instead of maintaining or exacerbating the problem, they aid with its solution. What this boils down to is, when faced with a problem, knowing which questions are helpful to ask about it, and which questions aren't.
  
• Amazon.com: Woolite Darks Laundry Detergent, 50 Ounce: Health & Personal Care
  
• 5by5 | Back to Work #153: Anxiety's a Goat
  This week, Dan and Merlin talk about anxiety, compulsive thoughts, and how to at least crack an air hole in a big problem.Way of the future.
  
• Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia, Revised and Expanded: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings: Rob Brezsny: 9781556438189: Amazon.com: Books
  Brezsny persuasively advises readers to go along with the universe's good intentions, but his rejection of cynicism and a bleak view of human nature isn't rooted in denial. On the contrary, he makes a case for a cagey optimism that requires a vigorous engagement with the dark forces.
  
• Cat's Cradle: A Novel: Kurt Vonnegut: 9780385333481: Amazon.com: Books
  Cat’s Cradle is Kurt Vonnegut’s satirical commentary on modern man and his madness. An apocalyptic tale of this planet’s ultimate fate, it features a midget as the protagonist, a complete, original theology created by a calypso singer, and a vision of the future that is at once blackly fatalistic and hilariously funny. A book that left an indelible mark on an entire generation of readers, Cat’s Cradle is one of the twentieth century’s most important works—and Vonnegut at his very best.

• Tetris - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  The game has been noted to cause the brain to involuntarily picture tetris combinations even when the player is not playing (the Tetris effect), although this can occur with any computer game or situation showcasing repeated images or scenarios, such as a jigsaw puzzle.
  
• Put This On, Episode 1: Denim on Vimeo
  
• The Living Wiccan, Curse Removal & Reversal
  So, here it is. Where I will discuss different methods to remove, reverse, and break curses that you’ve cast or that have been cast on you.
  
• Removing Curses, Hexes, Bindings
  Collect the hair, nail clippings or anything of the person upon whom the spell was cast. Consecrate the ground and cover it with a layer of salt to prevent evil from interfering. Pile the Oak wood and light it. Place what ever was collected from the person into water in the cauldron and boil. Add mistletoe and perform an incantation. The spell is reversed.
  
• Brain Games & Brain Training - Lumosity
  
• Designing Web Graphics Edition: Linda Weinman: 9781562055325: Amazon.com: Books
  
• 5by5 | Myke Hurley
  
• Young Girl-Old Woman Illusion -- from Wolfram MathWorld
  A famous perceptual illusion in which the brain switches between seeing a young girl and an old woman
  
• Mojo
  Mojo, in the African-American folk belief called hoodoo, is an amulet consisting of a flannel bag containing one or more magical items. It is a "prayer in a bag," or a spell that can be carried with or on the host's body.

  Alternative American names for the mojo bag include hand, mojo hand, conjure hand, lucky hand, conjure bag, trick bag, root bag, toby, jomo, and gris-gris bag.
  

This week’s episode of Back to Work is kindly sponsored by:

• FreshBooks (They’re giving away birthday cakes!)


• lynda.com/backtowork (Start learning now with a 7-day free trial)


• Squarespace (10% off with offer code, “FEAR”)


• Warby Parker (free 3-day shipping for Back to Work listeners)