$$V_t \;=\; \frac{A_t}{c_v}, \qquad \phi_t \;=\; \frac{V_t}{G_t} \;=\; \frac{A_t}{c_v \, G_t}$$

Equation 6 · Institutions & Economy

When Generation Becomes Free, Attention Becomes the Scarce Good

This equation states an equality: the expressions on both sides have the same value under the article’s assumptions.

An accounting identity makes the consequence visible. Let $G_t$ be the number of claims placed before some audience in period t , let $A_t$ be that audience’s total attention budget, and let $c_v$ be the average attention cost of verifying one claim. The number of claims that can be verified, and the fraction $\phi_t$ of what arrives that is actually checked, are then $V_t \;=\; \frac{A_t}{c_v}, \qquad \phi_t \;=\; \frac{V_t}{G_t} \;=\; \frac{A_t}{c_v \, G_t}$. This is bookkeeping, not a finding. Its only content is what it forbids. Simon’s point was that $A_t$ is bounded by hours and by human processing capacity, and that this bound is not responsive to technology in the way that $G_t$ is. If $G_t$ rises by an order of magnitude, $\phi_t$ falls by an order of magnitude unless…

Meanings in this article

• $A_t$: the nothing pushes usefully on.
• $c_v$: the historically pushed on.
• $\phi_t$: the fraction.
• $G_t$: the number of claims placed before some audience in period t , let $A_t$ be that audience’s total attention budget, and let $c_v$ be the average attention cost of verifying one claim.

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