Comments on: The Pseudo-Mathematics of Attention http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2009/06/09/the-pseudo-mathematics-of-attention/ What's Hot & What's Cooking in Scholarly Publishing - from the Society for Scholarly Publishing Mon, 13 Feb 2012 05:01:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: ann michael http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2009/06/09/the-pseudo-mathematics-of-attention/#comment-3458 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:00:33 +0000 http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/?p=4391#comment-3458 Andrew – that is so interesting. I’m going to have to go back and read that link a couple more times.

So perhaps we can substitute “relevance” with usefulness” at which point time becomes a choice or a function of the attention we’re devoting, not a requirement to find a useful resource.

Thanks!

]]> By: Andrew Spong http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2009/06/09/the-pseudo-mathematics-of-attention/#comment-3451 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:02:35 +0000 http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/?p=4391#comment-3451 Re. ‘Defining attention with time is an interesting approach, and potentially problematic. We may choose to devote time to a highly relevant resource (which is good) or we may be forced to devote time because of irrelevant resources. I’m not sure how to reflect the difference.’

For me, the utility of any information is always going to contingent upon its relevance, its validity, and the amount of work I have to expend in availing myself of it.

I’ve always admired the principle of ‘information mastery’ ( http://tr.im/o0gH )

‘The ultimate in useful information must have three attributes: it must be relevant to [your] everyday [activity], it must be correct, and it should require little work to obtain. These three factors can be conceptually related in the following manner:

Usefulness = (relevance X validity) / work’

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