Where has our two-decade journey of building infinite, "always on" technological connections to each other taken us? How well do we manage technology -- or does it manage us?

Continuous Partial Attention describes the behavior of continuously monitoring as many inputs as possible, paying partial attention to each. We keep what we consider to be the highest priority contact or activity in greatest focus and constantly scan the periphery to see if something more important should be displacing our current top choice. Being busy, being connected, being a live node on the network, makes us feel alive. Or does it?! This talk explores a broader context for how we pay attention to each other now, how we have used our attention over the last few decades, and gives food for thought concerning implications that result as we consider new technologies and new interfaces.