May all be happy.
May all be free from illness.
May all see what is good.
May none suffer.
This prayer from the Taittiriya Upanishad is among the earliest articulations of collective well-being.
Different Kinds of Economies
Each era is defined by a specific genre of activity in which economic value is created. From an Agri Economy, we moved to an Industrial one, then to Services, and then to Digital and now we are firmly in an Attention economy.
The Rise of the Attention Economy
Our attention has become a product. Algorithms decide what we see, feeding us content that costs almost nothing to make but consumes most of the time we have. America and China have built the platforms that power this economy. With the rise of AI, this manipulation has become even more pronounced.
Increasing Cognitive Decline
Personally speaking, I am experiencing the effects of such constant checking the phone. Often times I want to call or message someone and by the time I open the app, I see another message that needs my attention and forget why I reached out in the first place. Or I call someone and while we are speaking, I forget why I called him or her. It is also becoming harder to read a book for a long period of time.
It is not just me alone. More and more studies are now showing that this constant scrolling and digital overload is taking a toll on all our minds. We are on the cusp of an impending cognitive disaster.
Need for Un-Attention Economy
I was listening to a Moon Shots podcast recently and the discussion once again veered around to what various technology companies are doing in terms of investing in infrastructure etc etc and how the battle for our attention is only going to increase thanks to AI. This set me thinking about the need for un attention strategy in order to recharge our minds and restore our cognitive decline.
Redefining Industries
Innovation often happens at the edges of any industry. It happens when industries are redefined by companies asking themselves as to which business they are in. We have seen several examples of disruption happening with such thinking. Carmakers are becoming mobility providers, movies has become an experience industry and so on. Examples are many to recount here.
Reframing Tourism
Each of India’s living traditions offers us the practice of attention and a way to become more aware. If viewed from the lens of Un attention, we can create new genre of economic value creation targetted at the global consumers that are seeking to restore their cognitive abilities. Whether it yoga, meditation, ayurveda retreats, or craft, textile and vegetarian cooking workshops, or participation in yatras, festivals and rituals, or teaching Vedic chanting and Kirtans or leveraging on our base of small farmers for dabbling in organic farming, we have all the necessary traditions that can help consumers connect with nature and their inner self. We just need to reframe our tourism sector as an experiential one that helps restore cognition.
Building a Global Well Being Index
West has institutionalised building various human development indexes. Closer home Bhutan measured happiness. May be we can take the lead and develop a Global Well-Being index ? A measure of how harmoniously humanity lives. Something that is grounded in holistic health, ecological balance and pluralism.
Conclusion
We are a land of living tradtions.Conceptually each and every one of these traditions is about inner well being and external balance and harmony. Yes we ourselves may have lost our intellectual understanding and emotional connection to these practices thanks to colonisation and modernity, but given that this knowledge is deeply embedded in our DNA, I believe we can reconnect to them very easily.
Given the impeding cognitive disaster, we must develop a policy to be a leader in the Un attention Economy as neither USA nor China can beat us on this front. As the technologies advance and vie for our attention, the need for un attention will only increase, which we alone can offer. This will then lead to a virtuous cycle of economic value creation of growth and restoration. Of attention and un attention.
Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah
Hari’s Curries
A Buffet of Reflections