“Achtung Baby!” Commanding Cognition in the Age of Distraction: A Genealogy of Attention from Victorian Anxieties to Digital Overload, 1750-2024

Greg Conrow

Advisor: Roger N Lancaster, PhD, Cultural Studies Program

Committee Members: Denise Albanese, Rachel Lewis

Online Location, https://gmu.zoom.us/j/5515439923
November 25, 2024, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Abstract:

This study reexamines the high prevalence rates of ADHD by tracing the genealogy of attention as a site of intervention and eventual optimization from the 18th century to the present. Beginning with early medical discourses, it charts the evolution of attention through key historical periods: from juvenile courts and Taylorist workplace practices in the early 20th century, to the mid-century rise of psychopharmaceuticals like Ritalin and widespread cognitive testing in schools. The analysis culminates in the post-Fordist digital age, where multitasking - originally a computer design principle - becomes standard in the workplace and eventually internalized as an ethic of self-optimization. By illuminating how attention evolved from a heterogeneous set of behaviors to a measurable, manageable, and ultimately malleable cognitive resource, this study situates ADHD within broader normative anxieties about cognitive performance in late capitalism. It argues that contemporary prevalence rates must be understood as a reflection of the demands of an emerging 'attention-ethic' that valorizes multitasking, cognitive productivity, and self-regulation as moral imperatives in our increasingly attention-driven economy.