Çalınan Dikkat: Bilişsel Kapitalizm Çağında Dikkat Ekonomisinin Eleştirel Bir Okuması

Öz

Bu inceleme, Johann Hari’nin Çalınan Dikkat (2022) adlı eserini, dikkat ekonomisinin politik ekonomisi ve bilişsel kapitalizm bağlamında eleştirel bir süzgeçten geçirmektedir. Çalışma, Hari’nin dikkat krizini bireysel bir irade sorunu veya psikolojik bir yetersizlik olmaktan çıkarıp, Shoshana Zuboff’un "gözetim kapitalizmi" kavramı ekseninde sistemsel bir "mülksüzleştirme" süreci olarak tanımlamasını merkeze alır. Eserin, Lauren Berlant’tan ödünç aldığı "Zalim İyimserlik" kavramıyla, yapısal sorunlara karşı sunulan bireysel "dijital detoks" önerilerinin yetersizliğini vurgulaması, kitabın en güçlü sosyo-ekonomik eleştirisi olarak değerlendirilmektedir. Kritik, Hari’nin gazetecilik anlatısı ile akademik literatürü sentezleyen "melez" metodolojisini hem bir avantaj hem de epistemolojik bir risk alanı olarak tartışır. Yazarın konuyu nörobilimden ekolojiye uzanan holistik bir spektrumda ele alması takdir edilse de; bilimsel verilerin kullanımındaki seçicilik, ampirik belirsizliklerin kesin yargılar gibi sunulması ve "teknolojik determinizm" tuzağına düşülerek kullanıcı failliğinin göz ardı edilmesi temel eksiklikler olarak saptanır. Özellikle DEHB konusundaki yaklaşımının, nöroçeşitlilik paradigmasını ihmal ederek indirgemeci ve medikalize edici bir tutum sergilediği eleştirisi getirilmektedir. Sonuç olarak bu inceleme, Çalınan Dikkat’i klasik bir bilimsel monografiden ziyade, dikkat krizini kolektif bir hak mücadelesine dönüştürmeyi amaçlayan politik bir manifesto olarak konumlandırır. Kitap, metodolojik boşluklarına ve ütopik reform önerilerine rağmen, neoliberal öznellik inşasını ve dikkatin metalaşmasını sorgulamak isteyen okuyucular için provokatif ve zihin açıcı bir giriş metni niteliğindedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Çalınan Dikkat
• Dikkat Ekonomisi
• Zalim İyimserlik
• Gözetim Kapitalizmi

Stolen Focus: A Critical Reading of the Attention Economy in the Age of Cognitive Capitalism

Öz

This study rigorously analyzes Johann Hari's Stolen Focus (2022) in relation to the political economics of the attention economy and cognitive capitalism. The research focuses on Hari's account of his attention dilemma, reframing it from an issue of personal will or psychological deficiency to a structural phenomenon of "dispossession" within the context of Shoshana Zuboff's notion of "surveillance capitalism." The book's most compelling socio-economic critique highlights the insufficiency of individual "digital detox" suggestions in addressing systemic issues, employing the notion of "cruel optimism" as articulated by Lauren Berlant. Criticism addresses Hari's "hybrid" methodology, which amalgamates journalistic storytelling with academic literature, presenting both a benefit and a source of epistemological risk. The author's comprehensive approach to the subject, encompassing neuroscience and ecology, is praiseworthy; however, the selective application of scientific data, the portrayal of empirical uncertainties as conclusive assertions, and the disregard for user agency due to a reliance on "technological determinism" are recognized as significant deficiencies. Its approach to ADHD has been criticized for being reductionist and overly medicalized, disregarding the neurodiversity paradigm. This assessment characterizes Stolen Focus not as a traditional scientific treatise, but as a political manifesto intended to convert the attention crisis into a communal rights movement. Notwithstanding its methodological deficiencies and idealistic reform suggestions, the book functions as a stimulating and perceptive introductory resource for readers aiming to interrogate the formation of neoliberal subjectivity and the commercialization of attention.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Stolen Focus
• Attention Economy
• Cruel Optimism
• Surveillance Capitalism

Kaynakça

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