The market is shifting from trading your time to trading your presence, and most people don’t even realize they’re already invested.
Note: This article is for educational and informational purposes only. See full disclaimer at the end.
There’s a new type of company emerging in Silicon Valley that doesn’t produce anything tangible, doesn’t write software, and doesn’t even create content.
Their entire business model revolves around what they call “consciousness arbitrage”—buying cheap attention through algorithmic content, refining it through AI engagement patterns, and selling it at premium rates to luxury brands.
These companies are valued in the billions, yet when pressed to explain what they’re actually selling, even their executives struggle to articulate it beyond “engagement metrics” and “attention flows.”
This is the new economy taking shape around us—one where consciousness itself has become the primary unit of value. Not your labor, not your data, not even your creativity. Your raw, unfiltered awareness is now the ultimate asset.
The Great Inversion
For most of human history, economic value flowed from physical resources through human labor into finished goods. The industrial revolution mechanized labor. The information age digitized knowledge. But something unprecedented is happening now: we’re witnessing the complete inversion of the value chain [1].
Herbert Simon saw this coming in 1971 when he wrote that “a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention” [5]. But even he couldn’t have imagined how literal this poverty would become. Today, the average knowledge worker spends less than 11 minutes on any single task before being interrupted. Our consciousness has been fragmented, packaged, and traded on markets we never agreed to enter.
The numbers tell a stark story. Social media companies with “free” products command trillion-dollar valuations. How? They’re not selling software—they’re selling influence, and influence is nothing more than directed consciousness [3]. Every scroll, click, and pause generates value, not for you, but for those who’ve learned to mine consciousness like gold.
The Consciousness Extraction Industry
Think about your morning routine. Before your coffee finishes brewing, you’ve likely already surrendered fragments of consciousness to dozen different extractors. The notification that pulls you into email. The headline that hijacks your breakfast attention. The algorithmic feed that knows exactly which emotional buttons to push before you’ve fully woken up.
This isn’t accidental. As one researcher noted, we’ve “accepted the unrestricted, unregulated mining of human consciousness” as normal [3]. But unlike natural resource extraction, which at least produces tangible goods, consciousness mining often produces nothing but distraction and exhaustion for those being mined.
What makes this extraction particularly insidious is its invisibility. When a company takes your data, you might notice. When they take your time, you feel it. But consciousness? It slips away so quietly that most people don’t realize they’re running on empty until they can’t remember the last time they had an original thought.
The Paradox of Abundance
Here’s what doesn’t make sense: we live in an age of unprecedented information abundance, yet attention—our consciousness—has never been scarcer [4]. Every new app, platform, and device promises to save us time, yet we feel more time-starved than ever. Every productivity tool pledges to free our minds, yet we can barely focus long enough to finish reading an article.
This paradox reveals something profound: consciousness isn’t just another resource to be optimized. It’s the medium through which all other value is created and experienced. Austrian economist Randall Holcombe argues that economic progress cannot occur without conscious choice—not rational choice, but conscious choice [2]. The distinction matters. Rational choice assumes calculation. Conscious choice requires presence.
When we treat consciousness as a commodity to be extracted rather than a capacity to be cultivated, we create an economy that generates wealth while impoverishing the very faculty that makes wealth meaningful. It’s like building a fortune in a currency you’re too distracted to spend.
The Emergence of Consciousness Markets
But something interesting is happening at the edges of this extraction economy. New forms of value creation are emerging that don’t extract consciousness—they amplify it.
Consider what’s happening in the investment world. “Conscious investing” has grown into a $700 billion market with 20% annual growth [6]. These aren’t just ESG funds with better marketing. They represent a fundamental shift in how value is conceived—from extracting returns to generating what some call “return on energy” rather than just return on investment [7].
Or look at the emerging “consciousness commerce” platforms that trade in meaning rather than just merchandise. A furniture maker who livestreams their creative process commands prices ten times higher than mass-produced equivalents. A writer who shares their thinking process, not just their finished work, builds an audience that pays for proximity to consciousness in action.
These aren’t anomalies. They’re early indicators of a broader transformation. As AI handles more cognitive labor, human consciousness—genuine, present, engaged awareness—becomes the scarce differentiator [8].
The Premium on Presence
Walk into any high-end restaurant, and you’ll notice something peculiar. The most expensive experiences aren’t just about superior ingredients or technique. They’re about presence—the chef who explains each dish personally, the sommelier who doesn’t just recommend but educates, the server who remembers not just your order but your story.
This “presence premium” is spreading across industries. A mass-produced print costs $20. The same print, if the artist shares their creative process and personally signs it, sells for $200. A consulting report generated by AI might be free. The same insights, delivered by someone fully present who can read the room and respond to unspoken concerns, commands executive rates.
Why? Because in a world of infinite content and automated interaction, conscious presence has become the ultimate luxury. Not artificial scarcity, but genuine rarity—the rarity of another human being fully there with you, thinking with you, creating meaning in real-time.
The Sovereignty Question
This brings us to an uncomfortable question: who owns your consciousness?
Legally, you do. But practically? That’s less clear. When platforms use psychological techniques to capture and hold your attention—what Reed Hastings of Netflix admitted was competing with sleep itself [9]—are you really in control?
The philosopher Harry Frankfurt warned about losing the capacity to “want what we want to want” [10]. When algorithms shape not just what we see but what we desire, when our preferences are predicted and manipulated before we’re conscious of them, sovereignty becomes more complex than simple ownership.
This isn’t just philosophical musing. It has real economic implications. If consciousness is capital, then the question of who controls it determines who captures its value. Right now, that value flows predominantly to those who’ve built the infrastructure of extraction. But what if we could build different infrastructure?
From Extraction to Cultivation
The shift from consciousness extraction to consciousness cultivation isn’t just an ideal—it’s an economic necessity. As Oshan Jarow observes, the economies we’ve inherited are “poorly designed for the production of human beings” [11]. They excel at producing everything except the conscious humans capable of finding meaning in what’s produced.
But cultivation requires different economics. Instead of maximizing engagement, we’d optimize for emergence. Instead of capturing attention, we’d create conditions for sustained focus. Instead of fragmenting consciousness across infinite feeds, we’d support its integration into coherent experience.
Some companies are already experimenting with this model. Apple’s introduction of screen-time statistics and notification controls, while imperfect, represents a shift from pure extraction [4]. Subscription models that replace advertising remove the incentive for endless engagement. Platforms that limit daily usage or create natural stopping points prioritize cultivation over capture.
These aren’t acts of corporate charity. They’re recognition that consciousness extraction, like any extractive industry, eventually exhausts its resource base. The companies that learn to cultivate rather than mine consciousness will inherit the economy of tomorrow.
The Integration Imperative
Here’s what most discussions of the attention economy miss: consciousness isn’t just another form of capital to be accumulated or spent. It’s the integrative capacity that makes all other forms of capital valuable. Without consciousness, money is just paper, data is just noise, and even time is just duration without experience.
This means that consciousness capital operates by different rules. It doesn’t deplete when shared—teaching someone to meditate doesn’t reduce your own capacity for awareness. It compounds rather than accumulates—the more present you become, the more presence you can generate. And most importantly, it can’t be truly stolen, only surrendered.
This last point is crucial. Unlike other forms of theft, consciousness extraction requires our participation. We hand over our attention, moment by moment, click by click. Which means we also have the power to reclaim it, to rebuild it, to invest it differently.
Your Hidden Wealth
We stand at a curious moment in economic history. For the first time, our most valuable asset is also our most intimate resource—the very consciousness through which we experience existence. We can continue allowing it to be strip-mined for others’ profit, or we can recognize it as the capital it has become and invest it accordingly.
This isn’t about digital detox or returning to some pre-internet paradise. It’s about recognizing that in an economy where consciousness is capital, the most radical act might be simply being present. Fully present. Present enough to choose where your consciousness goes, rather than letting it be led. Present enough to create rather than just consume. Present enough to generate value through your being, not just your doing.
The venture capitalist was more right than he knew. There is a massive arbitrage opportunity in consciousness. But it’s not in buying low and selling high. It’s in recognizing that most people don’t yet realize they’re sitting on the ultimate asset. Your consciousness—your capacity for aware, engaged presence—is the new gold. The question isn’t whether you’ll spend it. The question is whether you’ll spend it on purpose.
As we move deeper into this new economy, those who learn to cultivate, protect, and consciously deploy their awareness will find themselves with the only currency that truly matters: the ability to be fully present in a world designed to keep us anywhere but here.
See you in the next insight.
Comprehensive Medical Disclaimer: The insights, frameworks, and recommendations shared in this article are for educational and informational purposes only. They represent a synthesis of research, technology applications, and personal optimization strategies, not medical advice. Individual health needs vary significantly, and what works for one person may not be appropriate for another. Always consult with qualified healthcare professionals before making any significant changes to your lifestyle, nutrition, exercise routine, supplement regimen, or medical treatments. This content does not replace professional medical diagnosis, treatment, or care. If you have specific health concerns or conditions, seek guidance from licensed healthcare practitioners familiar with your individual circumstances.
References
The references below are organized by study type. Peer-reviewed research provides the primary evidence base, while systematic reviews synthesize findings.
Peer-Reviewed / Academic Sources
- [1] Brodsky, A., et al. (2023). An attention economic perspective on the future of the information age. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016328723001477
- [2] Holcombe, R.G. (2025). Conscious choice and economic progress. The Review of Austrian Economics, 38, 1–13. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11138-023-00632-0
Government / Institutional Sources
- [3] Center for Humane Technology. (2024). The Attention Economy. https://www.humanetech.com/youth/the-attention-economy
- [4] Nielsen Norman Group. (2019). The Attention Economy. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/attention-economy/
Industry / Technology Sources
- [5] Wikipedia. (2024). Attention Economy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_economy
- [6] Girn, R. (2021). Why Conscious Economics Is the Leadership Style of the Future. Entrepreneur. https://www.entrepreneur.com/leadership/why-conscious-economics-is-the-leadership-style-of-the/369226
- [7] Akasha Life Team. (2025). Building the Conscious Economy of Tomorrow. The Chain. https://vocal.media/theChain/akasha-life-building-the-conscious-economy-of-tomorrow
- [8] Perez, C.E. (2025). Beyond Money: How AGI Will Transform Economics Through Expanding Consciousness. Medium – Intuition Machine. https://medium.com/intuitionmachine/beyond-money-how-agi-will-transform-economics-through-expanding-consciousness-95e803ab8ee2
- [9] Henson, G.S. (2025). Attention is the New Currency: Navigating the Attention Economy in the Digital Age. https://www.gregoryscotthenson.com/post/attention-is-the-new-currency-navigating-the-attention-economy-in-the-digital-age
- [10] Williams, J. (2018). The Age of Distraction: reclaiming our attention from technology’s hands. RSA Journal. https://medium.com/rsa-journal/democracy-distracted-cf3272ceb3c4
- [11] Jarow, O. (2024). The Capitalist Production of Consciousness. https://www.oshanjarow.com/essays/ubi-capitalist-consciousness
