It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Friday, August 18, 2023
Teeth could preserve antibodies hundreds of years old, study finds
Teeth could be capable of preserving antibodies for hundreds of years, allowing scientists to investigate the history of infectious human diseases, a new study has found.
Antibodies are proteins produced by the immune system as a natural response to infectious organisms like viruses and bacteria. Their job is to recognise those microbes so that the immune system can attack them and clear them from the body.
In the new paper, published by iScience, antibodies extracted from 800 year-old medieval human teeth were found to be stable and still able to recognise viral proteins.
The study, led by Professor Robert Layfield and research technician Barry Shaw from the School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, in collaboration with Professor Anisur Rahman and Dr Thomas McDonnell from the Department of Medicine at University College London, expands the study of ancient proteins, referred to as palaeoproteomics, potentially allowing experts to analyse how human antibody responses developed through history.
Palaeoproteomics can reach back into deep time with ancient proteins already successfully recovered and identified after preservation in 1.7-million year old dental enamel from an ancient rhinoceros and an ostrich eggshell more than 6.5 million years old. In this new study, the authors also found preliminary evidence that, like the medieval human teeth, mammoth bones nearly 40,000 years old appear to preserve stable antibodies.
Professor Layfield explained:“In discovery science we come to expect the unexpected, but the realisation that intact, functional antibodies can be purified from skeletal remains in the archaeological record was quite astonishing. Some ancient proteins were known to be stable, but these tend to be ‘structural’ proteins such as collagens and keratins, that are pretty inert.”
Professor Rahman added: “Antibodies are different because we are able to test whether they can still do their job of recognising viruses or bacteria even after hundreds of years. In this case we found that antibodies from medieval teeth were able to recognise Epstein-Barr virus, which causes glandular fever. In future it could be possible to look at how antibodies from ancient specimens react to diseases present during those periods, such as the Black Death.”
IMAGE: THE UNIQUE FLAVOR OF SOURDOUGH BREADS CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO JUST 21 KEY TASTE AND AROMA COMPOUNDS.view more
CREDIT: LAURA ECKRICH
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 16, 2023 — A few years ago, amid lockdown boredom, it seemed like everyone was perfecting their sourdoughs. A simple, fermented mixture of flour and water, the bread is powered by microbes that provide its one-of-a-kind tangy flavor. For over a hundred years, sourdough bread has been synonymous with San Francisco, where today, scientists will report that they’ve identified and quantified 21 key chemical compounds that make this bread taste and smell so unique. They’ve also compared the levels of the compounds in different breads.
The researchers will present their results at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Fall 2023 is a hybrid meeting being held virtually and in-person Aug. 13–17, and features about 12,000 presentations on a wide range of science topics.
Sourdough breads have existed for centuries, dating back to ancient Egypt — well before they hit their recent peak of popularity in 2020. Unlike other wheat or white breads, which often rely on baker’s yeast to rise, sourdough breads use a “starter” — a living colony of bacteria and wild yeast that causes the bread’s dough to rise through fermentation. Since the microbes come from the air of the local environment, certain places are reportedly home to the best loaves. For example, San Francisco’s unique foggy climate is said to help make its sourdoughs so famously delicious.
Even though these breads are common, little work has been done to understand what chemical compounds provide their characteristic taste and smell. This knowledge could be important to bakers who need to control the quality of their breads, preventing them from becoming too sour, and it could also help them create more consistent sourdoughs for consumers to enjoy. So, Thomas Hofmann’s team at the Technical University of Munich wanted to apply an updated version of a technique known as “sensomics” to sourdough bread crumb — the soft inside part of a loaf. Hofmann currently serves as editor-in-chief of ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
“With sensomics, you can take just a few key compounds and completely recreate the characteristic taste of a food,” says Laura Eckrich, a graduate student in Hofmann’s lab, who is presenting the work at the meeting. The approach involves chromatography, mass spectrometry and similar methods. The team has applied the method previously to other foods to isolate all the flavor-active compounds and to determine their structures and concentrations, as well as how they contribute to taste. The team has used this knowledge to re-engineer the flavor profile of various foods from the bottom up.
Hofmann’s team isolated, identified and quantified the flavor compounds in sourdough bread crumb, and then determined which ones were the most important. The resulting 10 key “tastants” and 11 key “odorants” were then combined into a sourdough “essence,” the flavor of which was confirmed by a human sensory panel. The key taste compounds include salt, which is directly added to the dough, as well as acetic and lactic acid, produced during fermentation. After these experiments, they applied a technique called “unified flavor quantitation,” which was previously developed by Hofmann’s team, to the sourdough bread. For the first time, this technique allowed them to analyze these unique taste and aroma compounds simultaneously.
The team then used the method in brand-new studies to quantify the concentrations of these compounds in different types of bread. They collected both yeast-based and sourdough breads from local bakeries and supermarkets made with either rye or wheat flours. Though key sourdough compounds, including lactic and acetic acids, were found in the yeast-based breads, they were present in much smaller amounts. These results confirmed the importance of the fermentation process to the sourdough’s special flavor.
Next on the researchers’ plates was an analysis of the best way to reduce the salt content in breads. They addressed this issue by unevenly distributing saltier doughs throughout a dough mixture. Since breads, especially sourdoughs, can contribute significantly to one's daily salt intake, the method could help reduce the amount of sodium while maintaining the bread’s unique taste.
Ultimately, the team says their discoveries should be welcome news for the baking industry. “This was the first time the key taste and aroma compounds of bread crumb were elucidated using the sensomics approach, and we hope what we learned will help bakers create the best sourdough breads they can,” says Eckrich.
The researchers acknowledge support and funding from the German Research Foundation.
A recorded media briefing on this topic will be posted Wednesday, Aug. 16, by 10 a.m. Eastern time at www.acs.org/acsfall2023briefings. Reporters can request access to media briefings during the embargo period by contacting newsroom@acs.org.
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Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Title Flavor elucidation and simultaneous quantitation of key tastants and odorants of sourdough bread crumb
Abstract Sourdough bread is highly appreciated for its unique taste and aroma. As a scientific basis, it is essential to identify the key compounds that contribute significantly to the flavor of bread crumb in order to investigate the influence of different ingredients and production parameters. By means of the sensomics approach, ten tastants and eleven odorants were identified as the key flavor compounds of sourdough bread crumb and verified by recombination and omission experiments. Based on this, a sensitive, high-throughput ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method using stable isotope dilution analysis (SIDA) was developed, validated, and applied. By derivatization with 3-nitrophenylhydrazine (3-NPH), this method allows the simultaneous quantification of both non-volatile key tastants as well as volatile key odorants in bread crumb. The knowledge obtained about the key taste and aroma compounds and the quantitation method can be utilized to control and optimize the flavor of bread and to acquire objective and independent information about the flavor quality of breads.
Spectrum of apps shrinks after ban on personalized ads
First empirical study on impact of targeted advertising ban
A ban on using apps to collect data in order to personalize advertising would significantly reduce the spectrum of available apps and the number of updates, according to a study by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) based on the ban concerning Android apps for children. The findings can assist companies in defining their business models and policymakers when regulating targeted advertising.
Most smartphone apps are free. The providers finance them with advertising, often with what is referred to as targeted advertising: The apps evaluate data such as usage behavior and the user's location and even photos and messages in order to display advertisements custom-tailored to the individual user. This practice draws criticism as a violation of privacy, and there have been many calls to ban it. The EU Digital Services Act will tighten regulations on targeted advertising starting in 2024, and there are similar plans in the USA. Companies are objecting to restrictions and argue that without the income generated by personalized advertising, it would be impossible to continue offering many apps and there would be no incentive to develop new products.
Prof. Jens Foerderer and Tobias Kircher of the Professorship for Innovation and Digitalization at the TUM Campus Heilbronn have for the first time conducted an empirical investigation of how the disappearance of by personalized advertising would impact the spectrum of available apps. In their study they analyzed the effects of a 2019 ban of targeted advertising which Google instituted in its Play Store affecting Android apps intended for children. The researchers compared the situation one year before and ten months after the ban.
Number of new apps reduced by one third
The study shows that after the ban on personalized advertising, fewer new apps came on the market, more apps than before were abandoned and fewer updates for existing apps were offered than before:
The number of new apps published per provider fell by more than one third.
The probability that an app would be taken off the market rose by more than 10 percent.
The providers deployed 17 percent fewer updates. This figure includes not only further developments of the apps, but also maintenance and security updates.
The researchers found this development with almost all providers. The trend was especially pronounced with small and young companies, i.e. primarily with start-ups. The only exception was extraordinarily popular apps on which the companies apparently focused their continuing development efforts. The researchers assume that a similar drop in the number of available apps would follow a ban on targeted advertising for apps intended for adults.
"Find out what users would be willing to pay for"
"Better data protection for smartphone apps is an important step, especially for children," says Jens Foerderer. "The question is: How do we find a way out of the trap that consumers are used to using apps for free, and the companies base their business models on personalized advertising? And how can we do that without reducing the number of available innovative apps which can be very useful to the consumer? Our findings can serve both policymakers and business as a basis for decision making."
Companies should make proper advance preparations for possible legal regulation. "Companies will have to expect serious impacts on their revenues in case of a ban on targeted advertising," says Tobias Kircher. "They should therefore find out as soon as possible which of their app functions users would be willing to pay for. And more: They should develop strategies to increase consumer willingness to pay."
IMAGE: A COMBINATION OF GENETIC HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT DETERMINE HOW A PERSON PERCEIVES NATURE. THIS IS THE FINDING OF A NEW STUDY BY RESEARCHERS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG AND SLU.view more
CREDIT: VALMIR ABREU BRAZ JUNIOR
Humans have a positive view of nature. But is this due to an approach we have learned while growing up, or is it something we are born with? The answer is ‘Both’, according to researchers at the University of Gothenburg and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Our love of nature is highly individual and should influence how we plan our cities, say the researchers.
It is well known that nature has a positive effect on people. In cities in particular, studies have shown that trees and other greenery contribute to people’s wellbeing. However, experts do not agree on the reasons behind this phenomenon, known as biophilia.
Some believe that it is natural for humans to feel an automatic positive attachment because human development has occurred in nature. Others argue that there is no evidence for this, and that influences during our childhood determine how we view nature.
A wide range of factors involved
Researchers from the University of Gothenburg and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) have reviewed several studies within this field that examine both innate factors and what individuals experience during their lives, primarily as children. In a new scientific article, the researchers conclude that both heredity and environment influence an individual’s attitude to nature, but that a wide range of factors also influence how love of nature is expressed.
“We have been able to establish that many people have an unconscious positive experience of nature,” says Bengt Gunnarsson, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Science at the University of Gothenburg. “But the biophilia hypothesis should be modified to link the variation in individuals’ relationships with nature to an interaction between heredity and environmental influence.”
Nature mean different things
This is because people react differently to nature. In a Japanese study, subjects were asked to walk in a forest and in a city while their heartbeat was measured. This showed that positive emotions while walking in a forest increased in 65% of people. Thus, far from everyone had a positive perception of nature. Another environmental psychology study found that research subjects are unconsciously drawn to nature instead of cities, and that this attraction was reinforced in those whose childhood was rich in nature.
“An additional study on identical and non-identical twins showed that a genetic component influences an individual’s positive or negative relationship with nature,” continues Bengt. “But the study also highlighted the importance of environment in terms of attitudes towards nature.”
Moreover, nature can mean completely different things to different people. Some enjoy parks with lawns and planted trees, while others prefer being in the wilderness. The researchers believe that this variation is also determined by both heredity and environment.
“So it’s important that we don’t standardise nature when planning greenery in our towns and cities,” adds Marcus Hedblom, a researcher at SLU and co-author of the article. “We shouldn’t replace wild greenery with a park and assume that it will be good for everyone.”
Urban nature brings many benefits
In today’s urban planning, densification has been a common way to achieve a more sustainable city. This can sometimes come into conflict with efforts to offer nature in cities. A large number of studies suggest that urban parks and green spaces contribute to increased physical activity and recovery from stress. The greenery in our cities is also important in other respects. Trees can clean the air and provide shade to create a tolerable urban climate on hot days.
“There are probably quite a large number of people who do not have such positive feelings towards nature, partly due to hereditary factors,” concludes Bengt. “Future studies that dig deeper into the interactions between hereditary and environmental factors are essential if we are to understand what shapes individuals’ relationships with nature. But we have to remember that we are all different, and take that into account when planning for different natural areas in towns and cities. Let people find their own favourite green spaces!”
IMAGE: SKULL AND A LIFE-RECONSTRUCTION OF SAUROSUCHUSview more
CREDIT: JORDAN BESTWICK, UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
The apex predators that roamed the earth 230 million years ago had a much weaker bite than previously thought, and likely couldn’t crunch through bone to consume the entirety of their kills.
In a new study published in TheAnatomical Record, palaeontologists from the University of Birmingham have recreated the original skull anatomy of Saurosuchus, a Late Triassic reptile that is the distant relative of modern crocodiles. Saurosuchus was thought to be an apex predator due to its size and diet, standing at between 5-8 metres in length and weighing over 250 kg.
However, the latest analysis of the skulls of the reptile and comparisons with the later well-known dinosaur Allosaurus found that despite their similar skull strengths, the earlier crocodile relative Saurosuchus had a much weaker bite than the dinosaurs that followed it. Saurosuchus would have had a bite with the force of 1015–1885 N, equivalent to modern crocodiles called gharials.
For comparison:
Allosaurus: 3,572 N
Saltwater crocodiles have a bite force of ~16,000 N
Tyrannosaurus rex: 17,000-35,000 N
Dr Jordan Bestwick, vertebrate palaeobiologist at the University of Birmingham and corresponding author of the paper said:
“We found that Saurosuchus actually had an incredibly weak bite for its size and thus predated animals in very different ways compared to later evolving dinosaurs. In fact, despite being one of the bigger lizards and an apex predator, the Saurosuchus had a bite that was on a par with the relatively measly bite of the gharial, and much less powerful than more fearsome crocs and alligators around today.
“You would still would have liked to leave Saurosuchus well alone, but they likely fed only on the soft fleshy bits of their kills as their bite wouldn’t have enabled them to crunch up bones.”
Careful eaters
Despite their relative size, Saurosuchus would have been a careful diner that used their back teeth to remove the flesh from their kills, the study suggests.
In contrast to later dinosaurs, the feeding behaviour of Saurosuchus is likely due to a weak bite and a more rectangular skull shape. Also these earlier reptiles had thinner bones in their noses compared to the later Allosaurus.
Dr Stephan Lautenschlager, Associate Professor in Palaeobiology at the University of Birmingham and senior author of the paper said:
“The Saurosuchus would certainly have been a fearsome reptile until it sat down to eat its prey, and we can see how evolutionary details in the skulls of these massive apex predators necessitated significant differences in eating behaviour. While dinosaurs that followed in the Jurassic period would have eaten the vast majority of their kills, Saurosuchus may have left more complete carcasses, which would have provided a secondary meal for carrion-feeding animals too.”
Molly Fawcett, co-author of the paper said:
“It is truly amazing how similar the skulls of top predators in the Triassic period (the time before the domination of the dinosaurs) look compared to the well-known carnivorous dinosaurs such as the T. rex. However, unexpectedly we found that the bite power of these Triassic predators were far weaker compared to the post-Triassic dinosaurs”.
A step-by-step process of the restoration of the skull
Functional morphology of the Triassic apex predator Saurosuchus galilei (Pseudosuchia: Loricata) and convergence with a post-Triassic theropod dinosaur
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
16-Aug-2023
Expropriation expert increasingly important, but hardly enshrined in law
Since the Rutte 3 government considered expropriating farmers to reduce nitrogen emissions in 2021, the issue of expropriation has played a prominent role in current affairs. But what is involved in expropriation proceedings, and how is the amount of compensation determined? Sam Schuite studied the role of damages experts in expropriation procedures and related procedures such as planning damage and compensation for loss, and will be defending his PhD thesis on that research at Radboud University on 30 August.
If the government expropriates land, or if a new zoning plan causes damage to citizens (so-called ‘planning damage’), some compensation must be provided. This type of process goes through a court (in the case of expropriation) or an administrative body (in the case of planning damage), which hires a damages expert to advise on the amount of compensation. Experts are quite common in law, but the role they play in expropriation or planning damage is unique, according to Schuite's research.
“In regular civil law, experts are often called in to provide the judge with expertise that the judge does not have. In an expropriation case, on the other hand, the expert also provides legal advice,” Schuite explains. “In expropriation and compensation for loss law, these damages experts actually play two roles at once: they advise the judge or administrative body both on the valuation aspects of the case, and on the legal aspects. This makes these experts’ opinion quite influential, as it serves as a kind of ‘outline judgment’ and can be directly adopted by the court.”
1811
“This is remarkable because the role and position of damages experts is actually hardly defined or anchored in law,” says Schuite. The lawyer examined the special position of these experts. “For example, should the nitrogen problem actually be ‘solved’ by means of expropriation, the experts will play an important role in that process. Legally, however, there is relatively little regulation around their appointment and position. Expropriation experts have existed in the Netherlands since 1811, when the first expropriation law was introduced. Almost immediately, experts began to brand themselves as a core player in expropriation cases, assuming control of much of the process.”
Later, the system in which damages experts play a central role in damage assessment was even ‘ext
It’s not just humans: City life is stressful for coyotes, too
Study also links sickness, social status to higher cortisol
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Though cars are the biggest threat to coyotes taking up residence in U.S. cities, a new study suggests urban living poses a different kind of hazard to coyote health – in the form of chronic stress.
Researchers from The Ohio State University examined the concentration of the stress hormone cortisol in the hair of almost 100 coyotes living in the Chicago Metropolitan Area. Results showed that coyotes that lived in the most-developed areas had higher cortisol levels – a proxy for chronic stress – than animals living in suburban or natural areas.
Two other factors stood out for their association to higher stress: poor body condition, mostly related to sickness with the skin disease mange, and being either a loner or an alpha in a pack – the males and females that constitute breeding pairs. Whether the stress linked to these factors can be traced directly to urban living or is just part of coyote life remains a bit of a mystery.
"This is the first mammalian carnivore that has been evaluated for stress in an urban environment," said lead author Stan Gehrt, a wildlife ecologist at Ohio State. "The city does present challenges for them, even though they’re really good at doing what they’re doing. This is helping us understand how well animals are adjusting to urban systems – or not adjusting to them.
"And we found that with coyotes, it’s complicated."
Gehrt, a professor in Ohio State’s School of Environment and Natural Resources, leads the Urban Coyote Research Project that has monitored coyotes living in Chicago since 2000. He and his colleagues spend a lot of time with the animals, collecting biological samples, microchipping them and tracking their movement, and documenting their reproductive success, dietary habits and other behaviors in the urban wild.
For this study, first author Katie Robertson, who completed the work as a PhD student at Ohio State, shaved a bit of hair from the rump just above the tail of 97 coyotes – most alive, but some captured after death from illness or being hit by a car. The animals were also outfitted with radiotracking devices that enabled researchers to monitor their space use and determine their social status. Data collection occurred between 2014 and 2018.
The hair samples were analyzed for their concentration of cortisol, a hormone produced as part of the body’s response to stress. Analyzing hair, as opposed to blood, was intended to provide an estimate of long-term stress over the previous weeks or months before collection rather than a reaction to an immediate stressor. Statistical modeling revealed the factors that were associated with higher stress.
The researchers predicted that coyotes living in the more developed areas of Chicago would have higher concentrations of cortisol – and stress – than coyotes whose packs had more flexibility of movement and less exposure to people in the less dense areas in which they lived.
The results bore out that hypothesis, but the findings also showed there is more to the story of modern coyote life: Poor physical condition is linked to higher stress – which poses a chicken-and-egg question of which problem came first. Sarcoptic mange infection itself doesn’t kill coyotes, but the loss of hair makes them susceptible to succumbing to cold Chicago winters.
In addition, the analysis suggested the responsibility of running a pack, or living outside a pack, is stressful.
"The alphas are the dominant animals in their pack, so they’re the ones that are responsible for all of the territorial defense and they’re the only ones that are breeding," he said. "So there’s a lot going on with the alphas, whereas the subordinates and the pups, they have a pretty easy life. Their parents are doing all the hard work and they’re just coasting a little bit. And that was actually reflected in the cortisol levels."
Transients, on the other hand – adult coyotes that have left their parents but not yet established or joined a pack – have a different set of worries.
"Transients were right up there with the alphas in terms of stress. They don’t have to defend a territory, but they have to avoid getting attacked by resident coyotes – they’re going through territories on a constant basis – and are trying to avoid people and trying not to get hit by cars," Gehrt said.
In 2014, Gehrt reported that some coyotes in Chicago had learned to look both ways before crossing a street – a finding that speaks to both their frequent exposure to risks that threaten their survival and their ability to deftly adapt to hostilities in their environment.
This new study showed plenty of individual variations in stress levels of animals even in the highest-stress groups, which Gehrt said makes sense based on their track record of thriving in the face of growing urbanization.
"We see them on a regular basis living in some pretty challenging areas, and it seems to me they’re adjusting quite well – their survival rates are high, and the food supply is great," he said. "And that’s what we found, that there are trends related to higher stress, but there are also coyotes that are doing quite well in the city with fairly low stress levels – even alphas in some pretty intense environments.
"Even without the urban system, this is the first free-ranging coyote population to be evaluated for stress. And we see there’s stress associated with their very complicated social system and a lot of rules they’re following – intrinsic sources of stress that other species don’t have to deal with. It’s an interesting look into another window of their lives."
E. Hance Ellington and Christopher Tonra of Ohio State also co-authored the study.
This work was funded by Cook County Animal and Rabies Control, the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation and the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. Support was also provided by Ohio State, the National Science Foundation and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Stress in the city? Coyote hair cortisol varies with intrinsic and extrinsic factors within a heavily urbanized landscape
WESTERN VS EASTERN PHILOSOPHY
Philosopher: Mindfulness rests on dubious philosophical foundations
Mindfulness is one of the most widespread forms of therapy for people suffering from stress, and many benefit greatly from it. But the philosophical assumptions on which mindfulness is based are dubious and should not be accepted as a matter of course.
Recent years have seen an explosive growth in mindfulness, which has been adapted from Buddhist meditation practices: in schools, the health services and workplaces, different forms of therapy based on mindfulness are on offer, and meditation apps such as Headspace and Ten Percent Happier are downloaded by millions of people all over the world.
In other words, there is no doubt that mindfulness is fulfilling a need and that many feel that they are being helped by the techniques it offers. But according to PhD Odysseus Stone from the University of Copenhagen, many of the philosophical assumptions about human beings and their relationship to the world on which mindfulness is based are quite dubious and should be examined carefully.
"One of the key claims of mindfulness is that we should learn to view thoughts and emotions that come and go in the mind as if they are clouds passing through the sky. This is an image that you often come across in mindfulness literature. The idea is that we must acknowledge our thoughts and emotions and notice them as events in the mind, but not invest them with importance or spend too much time worrying about them. And this, of course, may sometimes make sense. Consider, for example, if you are to make a presentation at work that you are nervous about. Then it might be sensible to practice mindfulness by acknowledging the nervousness, but trying to avoid letting it take up too much of your energy," explains Odysseus Stone, who has just completed his dissertation on mindfulness, but he also adds:
“However, it doesn't stop there. In mindfulness, this notion is supposed to apply to all our thoughts and emotions, or at least mindfulness offers no clear way of drawing the line. But this quickly becomes highly problematic. Consider our deeply held convictions and attitudes about ourselves, other people, and the social and political world around us. Take, for example, feelings of anger that we might have about the policy decisions of the Danish government. Is it beneficial to view such emotions as if they are passing clouds in the sky with little importance or relation to reality? We should remember that our thoughts and feelings form our perspective on, and open us up to, the world. They cannot and should not all be treated with suspicion."
Control your (own) attention
All the major tech companies are vying for our attention, which thus has become one of the most precious raw materials in the so-called attention economy. For Netflix, Facebook, Amazon or Apple, it's all about getting us to spend our limited time on their platforms.
"Attention is also a key theme within mindfulness, where a number of exercises that train practitioners to control their attention are often highlighted as a form of solution to the information overload we are exposed to. It's all about taking back control, and this is a central component of mindfulness-inspired treatment of stress. In many ways, this is also sensible. We all know the feeling of being highly distracted because of digital technologies" says Odysseus Stone and elaborates:
"But I would say that mindfulness’ focus on the individual's attention makes major structural social problems, such as the attention economy, a matter for the individual rather than something that we need to solve together. This criticism has also been raised in the context of workplace stress, where employees with stress are offered a course in mindfulness rather than changing working conditions. In both cases, the wider structures that give rise to the problems are not being addressed through mindfulness.
But this is not the only problem with the way mindfulness conceives of attention:
“In addition, we may also question the way in which mindfulness views attention itself. Often attention is seen as a bit like a little spotlight inside the head of the individual that can learn to be controlled. According to some philosophers and cognitive scientists, however, this picture is all wrong. Our attention is highly dependent on our embodiment, and is embedded in a material and social context.”
Can you live in the present?
An equally important part of mindfulness' philosophical foundation is the idea that we humans spend far too much of our time pondering the past and the future. These thoughts prevent us from living in the present, which we should focus our attention on instead. In general, we should strive to be present in our lives here and now.
"This is an idea that many other than mindfulness practitioners subscribe to. Often it is based on the philosophical idea that the present moment is especially real or fundamental, or at least more real than the past and the future. On this view, our sense of ourselves as beings with a past and future – our ‘narrative’ sense of ourselves - is based on a kind of mistake.
However, it is not clear that we should accept this idea either. On the one hand, our narratives give our live meaning and structure. It is not clear that they are simply unreal or mistaken. On the other hand, if we ask, “What exactly is this pure now or absolute present moment that is supposed to be especially real?”, it is very difficult to answer. If our experiences and actions are to be coherent and to make sense and make sense to us, they will have to refer to our past and future in one way or the other.”
